How long will 2x20 lb propane tanks last?

MORSNOW wrote:

PSUJIM85 wrote:
You have a propane generator but use a gasoline one? How does it hook up to work. Do you take the propane one out to run it? Do you run off batteries for AC?

The propane generator is mounted in/on the camper and runs off the propane tanks that also fuel your refer, furnace, water heater, etc. The gasoline generator is a portable unit that you connect to the camper with the 30a shore power cable. Both will provide 120v power to the camper.

Bingo! We actually only take it and use it when we know we are going to be needing a fair amount of AC electric,i.e. air conditioning etc. Running AC off of a inverter would be counter productive as it would run the batteries (2 29's) down in a hurry even thought we have a moderate sized solar panel. Here in the Southwest there are times when you're out for a few days with high temps in the triple digits and you "need" to run the air conditioning during part of the day. It's just more efficient (and quieter) than the propane.

PSUJIM85 wrote:
You have a propane generator but use a gasoline one? How does it hook up to work. Do you take the propane one out to run it? Do you run off batteries for AC?

The propane generator is mounted in/on the camper and runs off the propane tanks that also fuel your refer, furnace, water heater, etc. The gasoline generator is a portable unit that you connect to the camper with the 30a shore power cable. Both will provide 120v power to the camper.

palmwhit wrote:
Our Lance 1181 has 2 7 gallon tanks and they hold more than 20#! Propane weighs a shade over 4# per gallon which is why a 7 gallon tank is referred to as a 30# tank 7X4.125= 28.87#. I realize that's not the question, but the capacity and useful duration are going to be quite different between a 5 or 7 gallon. But make sure you know which size tank you actually have. The biggest draw is going to be from a propane generator, which is why we avoid using ours if we are going to be needing a lot of AC, then we take along the Yamaha(gasoline but more efficient).

You have a propane generator but use a gasoline one? How does it hook up to work. Do you take the propane one out to run it? Do you run off batteries for AC?

Our Lance 1181 has 2 7 gallon tanks and they hold more than 20#! Propane weighs a shade over 4# per gallon which is why a 7 gallon tank is referred to as a 30# tank 7X4.125= 28.87#. I realize that's not the question, but the capacity and useful duration are going to be quite different between a 5 or 7 gallon. But make sure you know which size tank you actually have. The biggest draw is going to be from a propane generator, which is why we avoid using ours if we are going to be needing a lot of AC, then we take along the Yamaha(gasoline but more efficient).

billtex wrote:

MORSNOW wrote:
I only use less than one of my two 20# tanks a year.

Wow...that's very efficient. When did you start camping in your 2014 WC?

I picked up the camper in July 2013 and started camping in August. I used it for weekend ATV trips well into the fall/early winter, and then loaded it back up as soon as the snow melted this spring. I don't run the water heater all the time, I just fire it up when I need to wash dishes and clean up after riding ATV's. The furnace honestly doesn't run that much, but I keep it around 65 degrees at night, and just do a little warm up in the morning. The refrigerator seems to cycle on/off pretty regularly but doesn't use much gas. I have been getting by with one group 24 battery also (no solar). We have daylight for 20 hours in the summer, so the only real draw is the furnace and water pump.

MORSNOW wrote:
I only use less than one of my two 20# tanks a year.

Wow...that's very efficient. When did you start camping in your 2014 WC?

I only use less than one of my two 20# tanks a year. I use it for heat, refer, and water heater, weekend use only. I only fire up the water heater once a day to wash dishes and clean up, refer all weekend, and heater in the morning to warm it up and a little in the evening before going to bed. I'm never in the camper all day, I live in Alaska where we are outside enjoying the scenery on ATV's.

It depends also on the camper. From anecdotes related here, some campers require a lot more heater run than others - depends on size, insulation, windows. etc. There is not way I could go through 30 lbs in a weekend, even in 10 deg weather.

A few weeks at least, but as others have noted, it depends. Its not usually that cold in my area.

I have a 2.5KW propane Onan generator in my TC. It uses about 1.5 lbs of propane per hour of general use. So I can get about 3+ hours of run time per gallon of propane or approximately 15 hours per 20 pounder. I seldom use the generator so it tends to be a nonissue for us.

Last summer we were on the road for almost 3 months, staying in some campgrounds and some dry camping other times. Our 2 twenty pounders lasted the entire trip. We were mainly in the mountain west at high altitudes so didn't need the AC, or the furnace, did some cooking, ran the fridge on propane when off the grid and the water heater. But when we were plugged in to electricity, every thing worked on AC power.

Propane consumption that summer was very low, but cold weather camping or generator use will suck the fuel down quickly as mentioned above. On some of our trips to the north country, I planned to buy a 20 pound refill about every other week, as we were seldom staying in campgrounds. Most of us, I suspect, have auto switching propane regulators so when the first tank is empty and the system changes to the remaining full cylinder, it is time to stop somewhere and refill the empty tank. That way you don't run completely out of propane.