I'm trying to find the actual efficiency rating of our Suburban RV furnace... but so far have found no published specifications.Anyone have the real world efficiency rating of the typical RV LP furnace... I'm guessing 70 to 75%.I'm trying to compare the cost of electric heat at 13 cents per kilowatt hour vs LP at $2.79/gallon and assuming 75% efficiency.Using the link below... LP @ 2.79/gal vs 13 cents per kW hour... its less expensive to heat with electricity.http://www.maxmcarter.com/fuels/fuelscalc.htmlElectric vs Fuels - Comparison ResultElectric:Electric rate (per kilowatt-hour) = 0.130Cost of heat (per 100,000 BTU) = 3.81Fuel:Propane cost per gallon = 2.79Burner efficiency factor = 75%Cost of heat (per 100,000 BTU) = 4.03

You are high. Try 60-65 percent efficiency.

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.

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.

60% is more likely for efficiency. I did some searching a few years ago and best info I could find was mfg data indicating effiencies in the 60% range. could even be less than 60%.more like what a home furnace was 40 years ago. even a 80% efficiency home furnace has significant improvements in the heater box, air intake, exhaust to even get to 80% efficiency. anything above 80% requires having a second heat exchanger in the exhaust and capturing the latent heat in the water produced. E.G. a condensing furnace.

SidecarFlip wrote:You are high. Try 60-65 percent efficiency.Actually closer to 80%, our 30,000 btu Surban is 30,000 I put, 27,600 btu output. We do have a Cheap Heat add on unit and on a 50 amp 240 volt it is 5,000 watts about 17,060 btu,’and heats our 32’ three season Copper Canyon very well.

RV LP Furnace Efficiency? | Good Sam Community

sidney
Explorer
Feb 17, 2018
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.
Gdetrailer
Explorer III
Feb 17, 2018
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.
SidecarFlip
Explorer III
Feb 17, 2018
You are high. Try 60-65 percent efficiency.

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