Propane Furnace vs. Electric Space Heater

Thank u so much for all ur wisdom. I stink at math, but I will attempt to guestimate. Electricity 11 cts/KWH. Propane last time was $3.00 a gallon.
Excellent points about keeping the furnance on when it gets below freezing to help with the sewer/water tanks, pipes and water lines.

In your situation the costs are almost identical

jhilley wrote:
I have become some what of an expert on this subject. We are living in our motor home while our new house is being built. We moved into the motor home in the middle of October. We are in NE North Dakota and the outside temp right now is 7F. We have been down to -14F. We have two 1500 watt Infra Red electric heaters, one at each end of the motor home. Each heater raises the temperature inside the motor home 20F above the outside ambient temperature, so with only electric heat with the outside at 7F we would have 47F inside. We have had problems with the propane heat with below zero temps. We have an external 125 gallon tank connected with an Extend-A-Stay. When it was filled to 80% last, after the 40,000 BTU propane heater ran for awhile the propane liquid to vaporization couldn't keep up with the furnace. We now have enough vapor space in the tank to keep up. I had to temporarily use a smaller tank kept warm in the heated garage to get us by. Also temporarily used a Big Buddy and Portable Buddy with 1# bottles to get us through the tank changes.

So to sum it up, if you get down to 40F, one heater would keep the RV at 60F and two could keep it at 80F.

I also put electric heaters in the water, sewer and water heater bays. I put a small Lasko 200 watt personal electric heater near the dining room table where we sit.

Wow....I sort of feel like a wussy for giving up winter camping after reading your post.

I think it's always a wash price wise. The difference in energy cost in generally negligible Especially considering propane furnaces are 70% efficient.
I will run 3-1500 watt oil filled space heaters and avoid the propane furnace altogether.
The system works well down to about 25ºF. I will set the furnace at 66º or so and it may come on occasionally during the night.
For me another advantage of using electric as much as possible is not having to refill the LP tanks. The convenience of minimal refills is worth any potential price advantage as well.

FWIW the calculation I posted earlier included typical efficiencies. What it probably didn't include was the cost of electricity to run the furnace fan. Since about everyone else ignored the question on relative costs and just posted what they do, I'll post that I run one space heater, no more, and if it doesn't do the job I switch to propane furnace. If I am boondocking, which is my usual over-night mode, I just use the propane. It costs what it costs and I don't care, because I'm not using it in a long term situation my focus is on comfort, not economics.

Brian

Bart31 wrote:
Thank u so much for all ur wisdom. I stink at math, but I will attempt to guestimate. Electricity 11 cts/KWH. Propane last time was $3.00 a gallon.
Excellent points about keeping the furnance on when it gets below freezing to help with the sewer/water tanks, pipes and water lines.

The output from the program I posted above says electricity is somewhat cheaper in your case.

Hi,

Try -37 c (-34 f)(my personal "best") or -42 C (-43 f). That second temperature which is, so far as I know, the current "record" for low temperature RVing, requires a heater on the propane tank!

I will not use a non vented combustion heater. They are too risky. I'll also not use a generator if I am asleep.

Electric whups propane in one or two areas. If you have a fixed tank then moving the RV to get a refill is a pita. The other is when electricity comes with no additional charge as part of the site rental.

In extreme temperatures it takes about 19000 btu's to keep my RV comfortable at 20 c (68 f). That means it really can't be done with only a 30 amp service. I got around that by having two auxiliary shore power cords in addition to the OEM 30 amp, and a "break out box" for a 50 amp pedestal. I use my propane furnace as a back up should the power fail.

Two Jayhawks wrote:
Wow....I sort of feel like a wussy for giving up winter camping after reading your post.

Down here in south central FL, what I do to minimize lugging 30 lb. tanks around for refills, is supplement the propane w/electric. We have a small electric "fireplace", that takes up very little floor space. It has a low (500W) and high (1,000W) setting.

We keep thermostat at 72, and just before going to bed, I check forecast, and if the low is to be under 46, I turn heater on HIGH. If forecast is 46-55, I turn on LOW. Works great! Propane heater comes on only once or twice at night.

Do not forget most outlets in a MH. run through the inverter and inverters do not like long term high wattage appliances.

You risk burning up your inverter to save a few bucks. Inverters are very expensive.

We use mostly propane but our MH. has close to 50 gallon propane tank so we never run out.

Pogoil.

Bart31 wrote:
Hi All,
I was wondering if I could save money by using space heaters instead of the furnace on the about 7-10 days a month I can't use the heat pumps down here in SC during winter.

Which costs less to heat the Coach?

Thanks for ur input :)

the short straight answer which is impossible to get is yes, you can save money by using an electric space heater over your propane