RV LP Furnace Efficiency?

Gdetrailer wrote:

sidney wrote:

Gdetrailer wrote:
As Sidecar mentions, they are not built for efficiency, but neither is most RVs.

Your in Alaska, I hope you are not planning to live in a RV for the winter..

You have at the most R3 in the floor and the walls R6 and roof R11 in the center, single pane windows with nice cold aluminum frames..

You have not much more than a oversized wooden fishing hut on wheels.

You are going to use twice as much energy whether it is propane or electric than what you think you might.

Yeah, you ARE going to be cold and broke..

I would be looking at super insulating before trying to calculate the cheapest heat.

Nope not in Alaska... we are in Utah right now. ( Our 5th wheel has never been in AK... we store it in the lower 48.)

I'm cheap and just trying to save a buck.

Still gets COLD in Utah, still have the same insulation problem, still have the same windows, still have the same furnace..

Still not cheap to heat or stay warm in a poorly insulated box on wheels.

Electric RESISTANCE heat if you are paying for it WILL be MUCH MORE EXPENSIVE than propane even counting in the lack of efficiency of the RV furnace.

The only way electric heating cost can be lowered is if you have an electric heat pump. Heat pumps are an air conditioner that reverses, it extracts heat from the colder outside air when heating.

Downside is it costs more to buy, is more complicated and costly to repair and tends to drop efficiency as the outside air gets colder and there is a point when it is too cold for outside air and relies on resistance heat..

Additionally, if you are stuck with 30A shore power you WILL be limited to 1,500 watts or about 5500 BTU of electric heat which in a big RV is nothing, and that is long as you turn off the electric heat to the water heater if equipped.

You would need a 50A shore power setup to be able to supply more than 1500W of electric heat..

RVrs using electric heat tend to be the ones that DO NOT HAVE METERED ELECTRIC. In other words they pay a flat fee for the lot which includes electric at no additional cost.

Pony up or find a different campground that doesn't meter the electric as a separate fee..