What's less expensive: heating with propane or campground electric?

[db4570]

So we are winter camping for a few weeks, and got a special rate at the campground. But electricity isn't free, as we are used to, but is metered.

I am assuming they are charging the utility rate for electric and not marking it up, but could be wrong. I will check into that. The local rate is 16 cents a Kwh.

After the first couple of days heating with electric, I noticed the meter was cranking away at a high rate, as would be expected. It was using a few buck worth of electricity a day.

So we switched over to propane heat, because we usually use propane at a very moderate rate so I thought it might be more economical. But, naturally, we emptied a tank in just a couple of days. (I had another furnace issue which may have exacerbated this, described in another thread.) Propane I can refill fairly cheaply at Tractor Supply, but it's still $12 or so for a full tank.

Night time temps are in the 20s, daytime 50s.

The electric heat is radiant, not heat pump.

I could keep experimenting and monitoring propane vs. electric usage, but I am wondering if anyone has any general rules of thumb they have come up with for which one is cheaper.

[rvwiththefam]

We're also used to electric being included, but spent one (and only one!) winter in the northeast, as well as some time out west where it was metered. In both cases, with no markup, heating with electric was quite a bit cheaper than propane (tried propane first and spent a small fortune ). But we weren't paying anywhere close to .16 at that point.

Nice sleuthing on that furnace issue though, hope that ends up helping!

[ArtJoyce]

Propane is normaly less expensive. But in some parts of america electric is cheap.

[MooseCountry]

Took two empty 40 lb cylindrical propane tanks from our ORV and an empty 20 lb on Monday to our nearest Tractor Supply which is 40 miles one way for refill due to visitors have been using the furnace in our winterized TT. I believe that 100 lbs is the legal limit to transport here. It was busy so I waited in a long line to ask for refill. No one was available until later in the week to refill propane I was told.

Our closest diesel fuel station pump price down our highway that we drive pass on the way is $5.399 per gallon, so we're burning that up while we're wasting time going to Tractors Supply and not getting propane. We had the refills done at Murdochs Ranch and Home Supply which is some 8 miles closer, but more expensive per gallon.

Electricity is readily available and there's no fuss to resupply, but we use both heat sources due to it's currently below 0F. I dug a 225 foot long trench through rock to put in a 120V/30 AMP electrical to our TT last summer which has been fantastic.

[AlanTerry]

Not helpful with the cost comparison but with propane you will need a dehumidifier to keep condensation at bay.

[SafariBen]

No furnace should vent moisture inside. An unvented propane heater would put moisture inside, but I would never sleep with one running etc. Unacceptable carbon monoxide risk for me.



There are lots of calculators to compare the cost of various fuels. You'll need to estimate the propane furnace efficiency, unless you have access to HVAC tools to measure better than a guess. I'll guess 60-80% efficiency for a typical RV propane furnace, but it could be 40-85%.



Radiant will be cheaper IF you keep the room cooler than with other types of heat (because you can feel the radiant heat). Otherwise all electrical heat INSIDE is 100% inefficient, all goes into heat.



The other factor is the conversion of $12/tank to gallons. Google says a 20 pound tank is 4.6 gallons. Rough estimation those prices are quite close, probably within the margin of error for my estimate of furnace efficiency, but you could still go through the calculators.

[Dave Pelletier]

the idea that a propane furnace raises humidity is an urban myth that comes from misunderstanding how a furnace works; the furnace has an HXR and does not allow the products of combustion into the airstream. Humidity is an issue for unvented radiant propane heaters.

I can't say about which is cheaper because the price of both propane and electricity varies and people tend not to keep the space at the same temperature using both. Remember that the furnace on trailers with heated and enclosed tanks is what keeps the basement water lines, etc. from freezing and an electric heater does not protect your water system so I'd use propane in below freezing temps even if it was marginally more expensive.

Dave

[d23haynes57]

Originally Posted by AlanTerry

Not helpful with the cost comparison but with propane you will need a dehumidifier to keep condensation at bay.

Why would it be any different unless it is a non-vented heater?

[d23haynes57]

Electricity is ~3,412 Btu/Kwh.
Conversion form electric to heat is near 100%

Propane is ~92,000 Btu/gallon.
I would be impressed if your furnace is 80% efficient.
Some of the heat may be going to tank or plumbing compartments.

Do the math for your actual cost. For the electric, look at the total cost, fees and taxes. In NY we are near $0.26/kWh.

Consider having a local propane supplier provide a large tank and filling it on site if this is long term.

[Dave Pelletier]

Originally Posted by d23haynes57

Electricity is ~3,412 Btu/Kwh.
Conversion form electric to heat is near 100%

Propane is ~92,000 Btu/gallon.
I would be impressed if your furnace is 80% efficient.
Some of the heat may be going to tank or plumbing compartments.

Do the math for your actual cost. For the electric, look at the total cost, fees and taxes. In NY we are near $0.26/kWh.

Consider having a local propane supplier provide a large tank and filling it on site if this is long term.

Yep and, of course, efficiency and cost are two different metrics. Here our electricity costs can vary by the time of day....


Dave

[Jay D.]

the overall cost between the two can't be much, but it does depend on where your at. i wouldn't worry about it, if its to much maybe just stay home. BUT then you have heating cost there also.
Jay D.

[RVfixit]

Originally Posted by db4570

So we are winter camping for a few weeks, and got a special rate at the campground. But electricity isn't free, as we are used to, but is metered.

I am assuming they are charging the utility rate for electric and not marking it up, but could be wrong. I will check into that. The local rate is 16 cents a Kwh.

After the first couple of days heating with electric, I noticed the meter was cranking away at a high rate, as would be expected. It was using a few buck worth of electricity a day.

So we switched over to propane heat, because we usually use propane at a very moderate rate so I thought it might be more economical. But, naturally, we emptied a tank in just a couple of days. (I had another furnace issue which may have exacerbated this, described in another thread.) Propane I can refill fairly cheaply at Tractor Supply, but it's still $12 or so for a full tank.

Night time temps are in the 20s, daytime 50s.

The electric heat is radiant, not heat pump.

I could keep experimenting and monitoring propane vs. electric usage, but I am wondering if anyone has any general rules of thumb they have come up with for which one is cheaper.

I use a sort of Hybrid method. I have an electric oil radiator type heater that is used to supplement the propane heat so it doesn't run so often. The oil heaters don't use a lot of power and are pretty efficient. Really the only time the furnace came on was at night when the temps dipped.

Safe Travels!

[d23haynes57]

All electric heaters have the same energy consumption vs. heat energy produced. Only difference is how that heat is radiated or distributed and how that makes you feel.
This only way to get more heat out of a given amount of electricity is a "heat pump". These can typically provide three times or more heat per watt than resistive heating. There are out temperature limitations, but most will work near freezing and above. Something to consider for future rig purchases or if an existing roof top needs to be replaced.

[TonyMac]

Also depends on what you're camping in. Many RVs use the furnace to keep the wet bay from freezing. If you're using electric, either supplementally or solely, the furnace may never come on, thus never supplying heat to the wet bay.