LP or electric on a meter
Hey everyone, I have a seasonal site where I have metered electric, so for fridge, heat and hot water, is LP or electric cheaper?
Forum Discussion
- I found this link several years ago. Can't vouch for the figures but it looked like someone did their homework. http://www.adventure.1tree.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=292&Itemid=285
valhalla360 wrote:
Cost really is a non-issue in the choice.
Unless you use a ton of propane, the convenience of electric makes it worth paying an extra $5-10 per year with electricity.
If you use that much on a seasonal site, see about getting a propane company to bring out a big 100gal tank but unless you do a lot of winter camping, it's unlikely to be worth it.
This^^^^. Why go through the effort of monitoring and changing tanks.
Electric does not require any input from the end user.
The cost difference is negligible either way.- The water heater and fridge use comparatively little energy when compared to the furnace/heaters. Absorption fridges tend to run at very roughly a pound of propane a day, or maybe 3ish kWh per day. The difference between those costs is probably on the order of a few cents. The water heater is probably similar in cost to operate.
(For the water heater especially, it's a bit more likely that electricity will be cheaper because the immersion element is considerably more efficient than the burner in terms of lost energy: virtually all of the energy it uses goes towards heating the water, while a portion of the heat from the gas burner escapes with the exhaust.) - Back in April (when it was cold) I was using 1 30lb / week LP. The ppl here at the campground said it'd be cheaper than electric.
I suppose the question would be, is the fridge and hot water cheaper on LP too?
I have not received my first bill yet, so I am not sure how much they're charging / KWh - Cost really is a non-issue in the choice.
Unless you use a ton of propane, the convenience of electric makes it worth paying an extra $5-10 per year with electricity.
If you use that much on a seasonal site, see about getting a propane company to bring out a big 100gal tank but unless you do a lot of winter camping, it's unlikely to be worth it. - I's seen written a few times that $2 a gallon is approximately equal to 10 cents per kWh.
- Generally LP is cheaper..
HOWEVER it depends on how much you pay per unit for each and sadly I do not have the conversion factors handy.
