Elec. vs Propane

[toneumanns]

Going to the Texas coast next week for a month. Having not been put on a RV park electric meter before I have a question. Is it better to heat the coach, hot water & refrig using propane or electricity? I am told that Texas limits RV parks price per KW. Any thought would help.

[TXiceman]

Texas has a free market electric rate and it is a mess. The camp ground has signed up with an electric provider in most cases and cannot mark it up to you. They can pass it along. You can look at the rates available in a particular area if you Google Texas Power to Choose.
Power to Choose

Ken

[jwomack]

We always use electric. Our electric fireplace will usually keep us plenty warm. Maybe use the furnace for a quick blast in the morning to take the chill off.

[paz]

Originally Posted by toneumanns

Going to the Texas coast next week for a month. Having not been put on a RV park electric meter before I have a question. Is it better to heat the coach, hot water & refrig using propane or electricity? I am told that Texas limits RV parks price per KW. Any thought would help.

It all depends on what they charge for electric and what you pay for propane. I have seen several formulas of calculating which is cheaper, but the one that I remember is dividing the cost of a gallon of propane by the cost of a kW-hr of electric. If the result is less than 22, propane is cheaper. If the result is over 22, electric is cheaper.

Example 1: You buy propane at Flying J for $2.99 a gallon and the campground charges 15 cents per kW-hr of electric. $2.99/$.15=19.9
19.9<22 so propane is cheaper.

Example 2: You pay $4.50 a gallon to fill your propane tank at the campground, and the campground charges 11 cents per kW-hr of electricity. $5/$.11=37.5
37.5>22 so electric is cheaper.

We usually avoid high campground prices for propane, so the cost between propane and electric is usually fairly close for us; but we like to use electric even if it would be a little more expensive just to avoid the hassle of having to fill the propane tank as often. Not only that, but our electric heater is a lot more quiet than the furnace.

[jrhartle]

If you stay for one or two weeks the electric is included in the normal fee. If you are staying long term the electric is calculated seperately in most parks in TX. We have stayed all over the lower part of the state and have never heard of having to pay for electric seperately on a less than one month stay.

[milasman]

I ran 2 1500 watt space heaters over the course of two days plus the normal hook- up (30 amp) and it cost an extra $10 bucks and some change.

[steve9910]

Originally Posted by paz

It all depends on what they charge for electric and what you pay for propane. I have seen several formulas of calculating which is cheaper, but the one that I remember is dividing the cost of a gallon of propane by the cost of a kW-hr of electric. If the result is less than 22, propane is cheaper. If the result is over 22, electric is cheaper.

Example 1: You buy propane at Flying J for $2.99 a gallon and the campground charges 15 cents per kW-hr of electric. $2.99/$.15=19.9
19.9<22 so propane is cheaper.

Example 2: You pay $4.50 a gallon to fill your propane tank at the campground, and the campground charges 11 cents per kW-hr of electricity. $5/$.11=37.5
37.5>22 so electric is cheaper.

We usually avoid high campground prices for propane, so the cost between propane and electric is usually fairly close for us; but we like to use electric even if it would be a little more expensive just to avoid the hassle of having to fill the propane tank as often. Not only that, but our electric heater is a lot more quiet than the furnace.

444

[Murf2u]

Originally Posted by milasman

I ran 2 1500 watt space heaters over the course of two days plus the normal hook- up (30 amp) and it cost an extra $10 bucks and some change.

Good grief! How cold was it?

2 heaters of 1,500 watts each and electricity at about $0.11 / kWh means that both heaters were running more than 15 hours a day.