Propane vs Electric Heating
So I know this will vary widely by location, but I live in Southern California and I'm curious to know which would be the more cost effective solution. Electricity out here is expensive, but I think ...
Forum Discussion
avarusbrightfyre wrote:Eric&Lisa wrote:
Electric when on-grid (pay per night camping). Propane when off-grid dry camping.
If you are running on a meter, then it becomes a math problem. Electrical: Wattage of heater, hours run per day, cost of a kilowatt/hr, determine a dollar amount for daily usage. Propane: Cost to fill the tanks, estimated days per tank, determine a dollar amount for daily usage. One will be cheaper. My bet is on electric will be cheaper.
Ultimately you need to plug in the numbers and do the math. It will be different for all of us.
-Eric
Ok, so I need to make sure I'm doing my math right. Most of the space heaters I'm seeing are 1500 watts. I estimate 6 hours per day (cutting on an off from 6 pm to 6 am). It might be less, but I'm not sure. 1500 watts x 6 hours = 9 kwh. Current price per kwh for electric is $0.28, which puts me at about $2.52 per day, or $35 for two weeks.
My average price to fill a tank is about $18 every 10 days or so, or about $25 per 2 weeks, so it appears on the surface that propane is cheaper.
I guess now the question is am I willing to spend $20 per month for the convenience of not having to cart the tank around every 10 days. My first guess is probably yes, lol.
Probably the more accurate way to compare costs is to figure cost per BTU. One kWh is equivalent to 3412 BTU, assuming 100% conversion efficiency from electricity to heat, and for an electric space heater it's close enough to 100% efficiency to disregard the error.
For propane, it's about 21,500 BTU per pound or 91,500 BTU per gallon when burned, but the RV furnace is nowhere near 100% efficient; 60% or thereabout might be closer to accurate. Assuming a 20 pound tank that you're getting filled to its full usable capacity (and not exchanging for one filled to only 75%), your $18 in propane is buying somewhere around 15,000 BTU of heat in the RV per dollar. If your electricity is cheaper than about $.20 per kWh, you're saving money heating electrically; if it's more than about $.25 per kWh, propane is probably cheaper; and if it's in between, they're pretty close to a wash. The exact numbers do of course depend on the efficiency of your particular furnace.
