Questions about RV

Thank you

rvten wrote:
Fill propane tank about 2 times a year.
Use heat pump or small cube heater as much as possable.
Use induction cook top a lot.

Use full hook ups. Than can use bath room as much as you would at home.
Most IL. RV parks close in late fall and winter.

Thank you very much for taking your time to answer all my questions. I will have my husband read this too, thank you. You're very helpful

tatest wrote:
I fill the propane (top it off, at least) at least once every two years. But one time when traveling during winter in Texas, I was having to buy more LPG, about 6-8 gallons, every 2-3 days.

I can use my shower as often as I want to. When the waste tanks fill up, I dump them. Sometimes I have a sewer hookup at my parking site, more often I've had to unhook and drive to the dump station. There is also the option of dumping into a portable waste tank (often called a Tote, that is one brand) and hauling that to a dump station.

Two people might fill my black waste tank in 3-4 days, six people might fill it in one day. My gray tank will fill with 4-5 showers, combined with a couple days washing dishes. But this depends on patterns of use and waste tank size, there are tanks smaller than mine, and tanks much bigger than mine.

You can live in a RV in Illinois, but in the winter you might be cold no matter how much LPG you burn in the furnace, and you might have to be creative about getting a water supply and keeping it from freezing. Not all RVs are the same, some are much more usable in winter than others. The great majority of what is sold is designed for two or three season living, and that is to keep weight down for mobility, and keep costs down to meet low price points. But there are RVs that are as livable as mobile homes.

The issue with winter in Illinois will be where to live in it. Not all RV parks provide full utility services in the winter, many are not even open. But people do live in RVs in the far North, converted for winter use on a permanent site, i.e. the RV becomes a smaller equivalent of a mobile home, no longer moves like a RV.

You will find dump stations at RV parks, some travel centers, and at public campgrounds intended for RV use. Some states have dump stations at rest areas, haven't paid attention to that in Illinois, but I think I've seen this at least at one rest area on I-57 between US-24 and Urbana.

Not all dump stations will be open in winter.

If you are thinking about buying some kind of RV, parking it in a driveway somewhere to use as a permanent home, then you need to be thinking about converting the RV into a small permanent home. That's not really difficult to do, but you need the kind of winter-protected utility hookups found at mobile home parks, not RV parks. And once converted to use these, the RV becomes less useful as a RV.

Wishbone51 wrote:
1) If you're just cooking, the propane will last a very long time. Months? If running the furnace, it might last a week or two depending on how cold it is, and how big your propane tanks are.

2) If you have full hook-ups, you can shower and use the toilet as long as you want. You can leave the grey water (sink/shower) valve open, but leave the black (toilet) valve closed until at least 2/3 full. If boondocking (no hookups) the gray tank will fill up fast if you take normal leisurely showers.

3) Google

Thank you. Have a great day!

I fill the propane (top it off, at least) at least once every two years. But one time when traveling during winter in Texas, I was having to buy more LPG, about 6-8 gallons, every 2-3 days.

I can use my shower as often as I want to. When the waste tanks fill up, I dump them. Sometimes I have a sewer hookup at my parking site, more often I've had to unhook and drive to the dump station. There is also the option of dumping into a portable waste tank (often called a Tote, that is one brand) and hauling that to a dump station.

Two people might fill my black waste tank in 3-4 days, six people might fill it in one day. My gray tank will fill with 4-5 showers, combined with a couple days washing dishes. But this depends on patterns of use and waste tank size, there are tanks smaller than mine, and tanks much bigger than mine.

You can live in a RV in Illinois, but in the winter you might be cold no matter how much LPG you burn in the furnace, and you might have to be creative about getting a water supply and keeping it from freezing. Not all RVs are the same, some are much more usable in winter than others. The great majority of what is sold is designed for two or three season living, and that is to keep weight down for mobility, and keep costs down to meet low price points. But there are RVs that are as livable as mobile homes.

The issue with winter in Illinois will be where to live in it. Not all RV parks provide full utility services in the winter, many are not even open. But people do live in RVs in the far North, converted for winter use on a permanent site, i.e. the RV becomes a smaller equivalent of a mobile home, no longer moves like a RV.

You will find dump stations at RV parks, some travel centers, and at public campgrounds intended for RV use. Some states have dump stations at rest areas, haven't paid attention to that in Illinois, but I think I've seen this at least at one rest area on I-57 between US-24 and Urbana.

Not all dump stations will be open in winter.

If you are thinking about buying some kind of RV, parking it in a driveway somewhere to use as a permanent home, then you need to be thinking about converting the RV into a small permanent home. That's not really difficult to do, but you need the kind of winter-protected utility hookups found at mobile home parks, not RV parks. And once converted to use these, the RV becomes less useful as a RV.

green1 wrote:

2oldman wrote:
These questions are way too vague for me to want to answer them.

Thanks anyway, you didn't have to waste your time typing if you didn't want to answer :p

That's a hint that you may get more meaningful answers if your questions are more detailed. If these answers are helpful to you, then great.

Fill propane tank about 2 times a year.
Use heat pump or small cube heater as much as possable.
Use induction cook top a lot.

Use full hook ups. Than can use bath room as much as you would at home.
Most IL. RV parks close in late fall and winter.

donn0128 wrote:

green1 wrote:
I have some questions about living in RV. I'm hoping you guys could answers me, Thanks.

1. How often do you have to fill propane in RV? I know it depends on the usage, but I want to know how often you guys do it. So far this fall when the temps have been reasonably warm we have the tanks filled every two weeks. 3 to 5 gallons. Tomorrow we get a large tank delivered.

2. How many times can we take a shower and use the bathroom?As often as you want to. we have a 10 gallon HW heater and can wash a load of clothes and take a shower and have not run out of hot water.

3. I also want to know if we can live in RV in Illinois. Maybe some of you are from Illinois, and where is the dump stations.

If your in an RV park, then you will have full hookups. Living in the cold north is not going to be any fun unless you have a Teton or similar trailer designed for it.

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Thank you so much. This really helps. God Bless you

2oldman wrote:
These questions are way too vague for me to want to answer them.

Thanks anyway, you didn't have to waste your time typing if you didn't want to answer :p

Using propane for heating makes a huge difference. The furnace will use an enormous amount of propane while simply cooking, heating water, and running the fridge is minimal. We (2 adults) are usually living in our motor home from 7 to 10 months each year. during that time I usually only fill propane once. I have a 30 gallon tank. I try to stay in rather warm places so I use very little furnace heat, relying mostly on my heat pumps and ceramic space heaters.

Water usage is another matter entirely. With normal use, i.e. two showers every day, two loads of dishes, flushing toilet etc. we can usually go for 3-5 days without dumping the gray tank. Understand this is NOT trying to conserve very much. If we have to focus on conserving tank space or fresh water usage we can stretch that to 6 or 7 days.

I have never lived in Illinois but I have spent winters in Kentucky,

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