Cost effective Heating

[Tall Paul]

I’m in my first year of retirement with a brand new granddaughter, so we are doing some extended stays in an RV park. We are in Portland OR, so it won’t get supercold (nor will we be staying in Dec-Feb).

I also realize that costs of electricity & propane vary greatly across the country.

But my question (finally!!) is this - how do you vary between electric spot heaters, heat pump, and the propane furnace to keep your rig comfortable during the cool weather? Is there a $$$ sweet spot between the devices? Since we are in a park long term we are paying for the electricity. We are also fortunate enough to not have to turn the heat way down and keep bundled up in long Johns.

And before you suggest it, I’ve already suggested to my wife the best way is to move down south during the winter

Paul

[FT4NOW]

We've never been on pay for electric sites, but we use the fireplace with 2 additional space heaters when it's cold. If the temp will go below freezing for an extended period of time we run the furnace to ensure the underbelly is heated.

You could try to calculate the cost of electricity vs how long and how many heaters you will use. Not sure of the efficiency of propane though. I know when we lived in our Momentum and the temp was in the teens for about a week we would use a 30lb bottle of propane in about 2.5 days.

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[Cajun Couple]

I’m in my first year of retirement with a brand new granddaughter, so we are doing some extended stays in an RV park. We are in Portland OR, so it won’t get supercold (nor will we be staying in Dec-Feb).

I also realize that costs of electricity & propane vary greatly across the country.

But my question (finally!!) is this - how do you vary between electric spot heaters, heat pump, and the propane furnace to keep your rig comfortable during the cool weather? Is there a $$$ sweet spot between the devices? Since we are in a park long term we are paying for the electricity. We are also fortunate enough to not have to turn the heat way down and keep bundled up in long Johns.

And before you suggest it, I’ve already suggested to my wife the best way is to move down south during the winter

Paul

On our rare camping days in cold weather we use propane first to heat up the coach quickly. We then switch to our heat pump and fireplace to run off the park's electricity. We usually camp along the Gulf Coast so it's not too cold...maybe in the 20's in the morning.

[jkwilson]

A heat pump is more efficient than straight electric heating. A good one about 4 to 1 for moderate temperatures.

You can use a calculator like http://maxmcarter.com/fuels/fuelscalc.html to compare propane and electric costs. Most RV furnaces are only about 80% efficient.

Likely the heat pump will win until it gets in the 30s. Then propane may be better.

[livinthelife]

I’m in my first year of retirement with a brand new granddaughter, so we are doing some extended stays in an RV park. We are in Portland OR, so it won’t get supercold (nor will we be staying in Dec-Feb).

I also realize that costs of electricity & propane vary greatly across the country.

But my question (finally!!) is this - how do you vary between electric spot heaters, heat pump, and the propane furnace to keep your rig comfortable during the cool weather? Is there a $$$ sweet spot between the devices? Since we are in a park long term we are paying for the electricity. We are also fortunate enough to not have to turn the heat way down and keep bundled up in long Johns.

And before you suggest it, I’ve already suggested to my wife the best way is to move down south during the winter

Paul

We mostly use both our electric fireplace and the furnace. At night (when colder) we have both on, with the furnace set 3 degrees cooler than the fireplace. That way, if the furnace doesn't keep it warm enough, the furnace will kick in. Now, our rig is fairly small and the fireplace is fairly close to the step up to the bedroom. Since heat rises, it keeps us warm enough at night with minimal furnace use.

[boyscout]

Likely the heat pump will win until it gets in the 30s. Then propane may be better.

@Tall Paul, many if not most of the factory-installed heat pumps won't run at all when the temp drops into the 30s. Maybe @jkwilson has done something to extend the usable range of his/hers?

Most of them by design will not even start when the outside temp is in the low 40s. You can set the thermostat for Heat - Elec but it just ignores you and starts up Heat - Gas (the furnace).

Even in the low 40s our heat pump roars endlessly - the main source of heat from it becomes my wife who gets steamed up because it's so noisy. However she's one of those people who thinks 65 is "freezing" so we do use the heat pump in a range from the high 40s to the mid-60s. It's great to have and as @jkwilson said it *may* be most efficient because it heats up a big volume of air relative to other heat sources.

We've never stayed on a site that didn't have electricity included in the cost so I haven't done the thinking you're doing. I've run the fireplace and up to four little space heaters at times when electricity was "free".

However you can test with an amp meter, or otherwise figure out with documentation, how much power the heat pump, fireplace, and any space heaters you add will consume, and the park can tell you what you're paying for that power. Pretty simple math.

It's hard for anyone here to advise you about propane vs. electricity without knowing the costs of them where you are. The propane furnace is not cheap heat, though. I've found that in near-freezing temps it can gulp 30 pounds of propane in 2-3 days. Our furnace also draws nearly 8 amps of DC electricity when it's running, which power your converter will have to put back into the batteries at some cost in the 120V AC power you're paying for.

Let us know what decisions your calculations produce!

[Tall Paul]

A heat pump is more efficient than straight electric heating. A good one about 4 to 1 for moderate temperatures.

You can use a calculator like http://maxmcarter.com/fuels/fuelscalc.html to compare propane and electric costs. Most RV furnaces are only about 80% efficient.

Likely the heat pump will win until it gets in the 30s. Then propane may be better.

.
Thanks John. This was exactly what I was hoping for. Based upon what I think the rates are (waiting for our first bill), looks like electricity is 6-10% cheaper than propane. Of course that doesn’t mean we wont run the furnace at times.

In Portland Oregon during the shoulder season we are unlikely to see extended cold weather where the heat pump won’t work. As Boyscout noted: it is pretty noisy so we try to get the initial cold out while we are still moving slowly getting out of bed. Of course, having bad hearing helps

[Tall Paul]

It is interesting that several of you don’t pay electricity directly at your sites. In the Pacific Northwest and Southwest I’ve found it common for people staying more than 30 days is to charge these directly. If I had a shorter stay, electricity is included in the rate.