Propane refills - how, where, and how much?

If you start with 2 full propane tanks they may last an entire summer with several weekend trips unless you are using the furnace.

Don't remember the latest price, but I get refills at the local RV campground. I probably could get them filled a little cheaper at my local Tractor Supply. However, the campground will let me dump there on those occasions I can't dump while on the road for free.

At this point, we both come out well.

all great advice remember there heavy.

Just to add to the list, After refill and you are ready to open the valve on the propane tank, open very slowly.
If you open too fast, the tank will think that there is break in the line somewhere and shut itself off (even though the valve is open).
Then go to your stove and light a burner. The burner may light right up or may just blow air for a moment and then light. If it doesn't light, go back to the tanks and close the valve and start over.
Pat

Depending on your plumbing, you may or may NOT have a automatic valve that switches tanks when one get low. Some propane refill stations charge a flat rate to fill a tank, regardless of how full or empty it is (maybe more true for 20 lb tanks). Only remove the "empty" tank.

If you do NOT have an automatic valve, never open both valves at the same time. If one is empty and one is full, you will quickly have TWO half full tanks.

Some propane stores may fill them while they are still mounted on the trailer, but you will likely have to disconnect/connect the hose(s) yourself.

Assuming these are DOT cylinders (probably 30 pound ones), similar to barbecue ones but taller, you'd generally shut the valve on the top of the empty one, unscrew the pigtail to the regulator, and take the tank to a place that fills them. They'd take it, fill it, and you'd pay them for the propane, and then put it back in place. I assume you have an automatic changeover regulator, which would mean flipping a lever or something to swap which cylinder is the primary one and which is the secondary/backup one...the instructions for the RV presumably would include the details for your regulator.

Places would charge by the gallon or by the pound; a 30 pound tank holds 30 pounds or about 7-8 gallons. The prices vary with the region, filler, market conditions, etc. but somewhere in the vicinity of $20 would not be an unreasonable very rough guess to fill one of the cylinders.

I don't know about California, but around here many hardware stores, Agway stores, TSC stores, propane dealers (the ones that have trucks and deliver propane to houses for cooking etc.), and quite a few commercial campgrounds sell propane. Home Depot and Lowes and similar big box home supply stores seem to rarely if ever have it. If you're in the national forest, you of course need to go somewhere that sells propane to get one refilled; but if you aren't using the furnace, you should not need to buy propane frequently, maybe once every couple weeks or so.

Soon after returning home, I go to U-Haul to fill my propane tank, then fuel up my RV, then park it in my driveway. With clean-up, its ready to go on a moment's notice.

You need to remove the tanks from your camper yourself, and you will need to put them back in place and hook them back up.

You can get your tanks refilled at pretty much any RV dealership, any variety of home hardware stores like ACE hardware and True Value. You can also get them refilled at any place that sells propane for home use, and pretty much any big box Home Depot or Lowe's type stores.

If camping in a new area or part of the country I am not familiar with, I always ask the campground host or the attendant at the park entrance where the closest place is to get propane refills. In over 20 years of camping with propane tanks on 4 different RV's, the farthest I've ever had to drive from a campsite to an RV fill station of some sort was 5 miles.

At home, I prefer to use the closest RV dealership to my house. They have most of my RV business anyway and are a great bunch of folks there. The price for a 30 pound tank fill up has ranged from $26 to $31 over the last 12 months, depending upon the month. Winter months will coast a bit more for fill ups than Summer months no matter where you fill up.

Of course, prices vary across the country, and even location to location within your own home territory. A few weeks ago I had my 30 pounder filled at the dealership for a little over $26. In South Eastern Indiana, a couple weekends ago, it was $28 for 30 pounds. So, prices vary.

You can always check a Google search for Propane Refill (not exchange) and see what pops up in the area you are at. But when camping, I found just asking the attendant on duty is the easiest and quickest (and often the best) location.

Edit:
If your tank is permanently affixed to your camper, then you have no choice but to take the camper to the propane fill up. You won't remove the tanks then. Larger motor homes usually have the non-removable tanks (like 100 pounders). 5ers and TT's usually have the removable 20 or 30 pound tanks.