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Casinojunkie's avatar
Casinojunkie
Explorer
Dec 08, 2013

Cost difference of propane vs electricity

Wish to find out which might be cheaper to operate when outside temps are the same.
Electricity cost at .17c per KW.
Hot water heater, (Atwood 10 gal. GC 10A-4E) is on only when needed, can be used with propane and/or electricity.
Furnace propane (Atwood model 85311VDCLP), also have electric ceramic 1500w space heater, If needed.
Hope I have given enough info.
Thanks

21 Replies

  • A gallon of propane is equal to 26.85 kilowatt hours.
    At $0.17/kWh X 26.85 = $4.56 per gallon of propane
    So as long as your propane costs less than $4.56/gallon it is cheaper to run on propane than electric.
    I used strictly electric for a week and used about $18 of electric. I then switched the fridge and hot water heater to propane for a week and used less than $5 of electricity for everything else in the motorhome. The amount of propane used was about 2 gallons.
    So the cost for the second week was 2 X $3.10 (propane in Yuma) = $6.20 + $5 = $11.20 VS $18 (that's per week). $27.20/month
    You have to take into consideration how easy it is to get your propane refilled. We have a local company that delivers for the $3.10 per gallon used in the calculation. It's not a big difference but the fridge runs cooler and the water is hotter on propane.