I'm paying for both the propane and electricity. 43' fifth wheel with four slides- around 400 sf or so. 2013 Dutchmen. Winters here in NW FL are mild. We get 40-50° temperatures at night typically. Occasionally it will get into the 30's and we will have a few days of subfreezing weather per year. I have a heat pump in the main ac but the reversing valve has failed so it's just an ac for now. I have two 1500W electric fireplaces and they seem to do a good job of keeping the place warm enough for me and my Golden Retreiver. But would I save money if I use the propane furnace instead?

If you pay per KWH, propane is cheaper.If electric is included in the sit, electric is cheaper.

Prove it to yourself.Even if electricity was dirt cheap at ten cents a kilowatt hour just your two heaters would mean thirty cents per hour -- ten hours three dollars -- ninety dollars per month.But ten cents per kWh is like the days of the buck and a quarter breakfast special and grocery store Ten For A Dollar chicken pot pies.The actual cost is more like three times that. I remember my aunt in Seattle hooting "We pay three cents per kWh for power!" That was sixty years ago.Your propane furnace probably has 500% more heating power available.

I paid apx .21 per KWH in the RGV and heated with electric or propane. Mild winters cost per month was pretty much equal electric or propane. Apx $48 per month.

Propane is probably cheaper but you’d have to refill whereas electric you don’t.

Is it cheaper to heat my RV on propane or electric?

HadEnough
Explorer
Dec 06, 2018
Propane is cheaper.
valhalla360
Navigator
Dec 06, 2018
If you pay per KWH, propane is cheaper.

If electric is included in the sit, electric is cheaper.
MEXICOWANDERER
Explorer
Dec 06, 2018
Prove it to yourself.

Even if electricity was dirt cheap at ten cents a kilowatt hour just your two heaters would mean thirty cents per hour -- ten hours three dollars -- ninety dollars per month.

But ten cents per kWh is like the days of the buck and a quarter breakfast special and grocery store Ten For A Dollar chicken pot pies.

The actual cost is more like three times that. I remember my aunt in Seattle hooting "We pay three cents per kWh for power!" That was sixty years ago.

Your propane furnace probably has 500% more heating power available.
DustyR
Explorer
Dec 06, 2018
I paid apx .21 per KWH in the RGV and heated with electric or propane. Mild winters cost per month was pretty much equal electric or propane. Apx $48 per month.
guidry
Explorer
Dec 06, 2018
Propane is probably cheaper but you’d have to refill whereas electric you don’t.
RJsfishin
Explorer
Dec 06, 2018
Don't know how propane could be cheaper when 25% of the heat is going out the exhaust. But nothing is cheaper than my 2 Olycats on propane
TenOC
Nomad
Dec 06, 2018
guidry wrote:
Propane is probably cheaper but you’d have to refill whereas electric you don’t.

I am not sure that propane is cheaper because the RV furnace is not very efficient. If you have a unvented Mr Heater propane heater that is APPROVED for use in a close RV or other type catalytic heater. That is no problem with CO, the propane is cheaper. However, with an unvented heater water vapor can be a problem.
prichardson
Explorer
Dec 06, 2018
It really depends on the cost of each in your area. The combined draw of the space heaters is 3 KW per hour of running. Your furnace will draw its rated BTU per hour of running. A gallon of propane contains apx. 90,000 BTU.
larry_cad
Explorer II
Dec 06, 2018
Cost difference is small, but convenience factor makes a difference. I use both, but because of convenience, I use electric more during times when it is above freezing. However, when the temp goes down below freezing, I use propane more in order to keep the basement warm, to prevent pipes there from freezing. Electric heaters don't heat the basement.

By using a combination of both, it makes my propane last longer.
wa8yxm
Explorer III
Dec 06, 2018
The answer depends on how much you pay per KWH and how much per gallon.. There is a formula plastered on several web sites as to how to compare them..

USUALLY propane is cheaper.. USUALLY.. not always.. Especially if you are paying park prices for propane.