LP Tank Usage

[toneumanns]

How long can I expect my 23 gal. LP tank last heating my coach during cold weather keep the coach at 65 degrees?

[TXiceman]

Depends on how cold it is outside...

Oh and it will last until it is empty.....

Ken

[sdennislee]

Depends on too many factors to answer correctly.

How well is the rig insulated? WIll you be placing anything around the outside to keep the wind and cold away from the underside.

Determining how long a tank of LP-Gas will last:
1) Combine the BTU input totals of all appliances, and the approximate length of time these appliances operate per day.
2) Multiply the number of liquid gallons in the LP- Gas tank by 91,502.
3) Divide the total of BTUs of the LP- Gas tank by the total number of BTUs the appliances consume, equals the approximate number of hours of operation before refueling.
* LP-Gas appliances are rated in Input BTU (British Thermal Units). The rating is usually stamped or printed on a tag affixed to the appliance. For example: the Input rating of the appliance is 10,000 BTUs.
* One gallon of LP-Gas produces 91,502 BTUs.
* Divide the amount of BTUs of one gallon of LP-Gas (91,502) by the rating on the appliance in this example 10,000. Net continuous operation time for one gallon of LP-Gas for this appliance would be approximately 9.2 hours.

The above formula can be useful when trying to determine the approximate length of time
a tank of LP-Gas will last. Generally, LP-Gas appliances do not continuously operate. An example would be the typical cycling of the refrigerator.

[Cat320]

Originally Posted by sdennislee

Depends on too many factors to answer correctly.

That's for sure...probably the most important are how warm you keep it and the quality of your coach (insulation, tight seams, etc).

[Clay L]

With the temp getting down to 20 at night and 40s in the daytime, mine will last about a week.

[wa8yxm]

Originally Posted by TXiceman

Depends on how cold it is outside...

Oh and it will last until it is empty.....

Ken

I nominate this for the best answer!!!

In fact, I truly can not tell you more than that. IF it's 10 degrees out it won't last as long as if it's 30, and if the wind is blowing doing the speed limit (55mph) it won't last as long as if it's calm. How much sun hits the house (Motor home) makes a difference too. All these, however are summed up above by "how cold"

And as someone else said how well insulated, (and how tight) the MH is.

The only way to be sure.. is to fill it, and mark your calendar, and wait for it to NOT heat.

Now: a suggestion:

Get an "Extend-a-stay" or equal (I think CW is currently selling one called a "Stay-A-While" by Mr. Heater, may well be same thing different paint job), Put it on, This is a brass assembly that goes between your on-board tank and your regulator.. It comes with a 10' "Extension" hose so you can use your on-board tank (Via it's "Quick Disconnect" fitting, this looks like the top of one of those disposable bottles) to run your Grill or whatever. It also comes with a 5' hose that hooks to a portable 20 pounder and to the Extend-a-stay.. It has check valves and other safety features to protect you from accidently filling one tank from the other and such. Get a portable tank and that way when (not if) the big tank goes dry.... You are at least good till morning.. I've run 2 nights at around 30 degrees on a 5 gallon bottle.

[TDiGuy]

Most hams have good answers... lol... k9jtg here...

I had to use 5 gal... fill to 4gal of course... one winter.. that 20pounder would last about 3 to 5 days if it never got above freezing and the thermo was set for 68'...
I started adding ceramic heaters and it still did not help much... then I installed 2 infrared heaters and found that my day nite shades would go down further which made the draft go away... Last night it got to 11' and my gas furnace ran 3 times for 20 min... it makes a lot of noise and wakes me up.. so if you got shore power and don't like to fill the tank.....

just my 2 cents..
jeff