living in a 5th wheel gas or electrict $$$

[drae0814]

Just moved into an rv park for the next year while my wife finnish Med school. we are in a nice park in Southern California the weather is 77 out but it gets cold for us at night is it cheaper to run the gas for hot water and heat, or electric advice please from some of you folks that have been doing this for awhile i will have a electrict bill but we have only been in the park for a week

The RV we are in 2011 Douthchman Colorado 37ft 5th wheel


Thanks folks

[whiskyrunner]

If you want to see how much elect you used tomorrow, read the five numbers on the meter tonight and then use your electric as needed and then check your meter numbers the next day and see what the difference is... is if your meter reads 13579 today and next day reads 13600 you only used 21 kw of electric. This will give you a idea of what you will use in months time, 21(or whatever you used in one day ) x days in month

[laknox]

drae0814 wrote:
Thanks Don i will check that site, Iam worryed about my first electrict bill now as we have been running our 1500watt heaters alot to keep the RV around 70 when relaxing in the evening and running only a 1200watt at night set at 65 in the bedroom.

We are not snowbirds so when we leave for work we turn everything off for the day. only thing using power is the converter bedroom clock microwave clock fridge. I guess that is about it

Another thing you can do is to bring your slides in when you leave, or even at night. That way, you're not bleeding off heat from the roof and floor of the slide. Again, think about skirting, including the under-hitch area. =Anything= to make a dead air space will help.

Lyle

[drae0814]

Thanks Don i will check that site, Iam worryed about my first electrict bill now as we have been running our 1500watt heaters alot to keep the RV around 70 when relaxing in the evening and running only a 1200watt at night set at 65 in the bedroom.

We are not snowbirds so when we leave for work we turn everything off for the day. only thing using power is the converter bedroom clock microwave clock fridge. I guess that is about it

[pianotuna]

Hi,

Here is a calculator to compare costs:

http://www.maxmcarter.com/fuels/fuelscalc.html

Electric heaters are very nearly 100% efficient. I prefer 1/2 size oil filled units which I can tuck away into otherwise wasted space.

Where I am forced to winter, electricity is included in the campsite. Clearly that is cheaper than paying for propane.

Turn on the water heater on electric as soon as you wake up. Leave it on until after the showers happen, then turn it off until the next needed use. Mine cycles about every four hours, if no water has been used, and runs for about fifteen minutes. Since there are six cycles per day that adds up to 1.5 hours of unnecessary run time.

From water at ambient temperatures to first cycle takes about 90 minutes for a ten gallon tank on the electric setting. It is about 45 minutes on propane and about 25 using both.

Using electricity for space heating can work well. Is your RV 30 amp or 50 amp? If only 30 you may find it convenient to add a second shore power cord.

[neal10a]

It is all about btu's. What is the cost/btu for gas, electric, oil and etc. saying that if your propane costs 3.25/gal and electric is .12/kw then it is a draw assuming the gas heater is 80% efficient and the electric heater is 95% efficient.

[SkiSmuggs]

Get a good comforter/thermal blanket and flannel sheets for the bed. With all three, we have slept comfortably down into the forties INSIDE the camper. We set the furnace for 50 degrees just in case, but that does allow the living room to go down to 45. A small ceramic or oil fill heater can supplement the bath/bedroom if you feel the need. No need to heat the entire unit for those 8 hours.
Also, put towels or other insulating materials along the slider seals and look for other insulating opportunities like Styrofoam panels in the basement storage ceiling to help keep the bedroom warmer.
An electric mattress pad or blanket can pre-warm the bed for you.
You can also shrink wrap the larger windows with kits from any hardware store and a hair dryer.

[alboy]

In a colder month like dec/jan we have used 275.00 per month elect only, heating a 36 ft with winter pkg in Palm Springs.Some elderly campers i know have bills in the 350/ 400 range heating it like a home.

[sdetweil]

drae0814 wrote:
we have gas and electrict not sure what a heat pump is? we will receive a bill its only been about 2 weeks no bill yet, i guess the bill will help me decide

heat pump is effectively a reverse A/C, it takes outside warmth and expels it inside..

my Alpine has
A/C
heat pump
furnace

A/C and HP run on electric, furnace on propane
My house is all electric, uses a heat pump..

good reading here http://www.damouth.org/RVStuff/PortHeat.shtml
search for 'Heat Pumps:'

[laknox]

Get an oil-filled radiator-style heater. We have one next to our bed at home and have as yet to fire up the house heater. Were we to do any winter camping, I'd be using one. Do check into the big propane bottle; much easier to deal with. If your park will allow skirting, that also helps. Putting a couple 100w bulbs underneath will help warm the floor, though you won't have tank freezing issues.

Lyle

[Racine96]

OP, the figures I mentioned was for both LP and electricity combined. Last winter was my first in south TX and i did not know how cold it can be at night. Maybe is different where you are. Wish you well

[drae0814]

should say cold not gold

[drae0814]

Yes Dave but even in Socal it gets gold to me when it gets down to 48-50 i need heat

and 9111 i will look into that thanks all for your help

[drae0814]

Good point Michelle, I see some larger tanks around the park , will have to check into that

[Michelle_S]

Even if Propane is a little cheaper, unless you get a big external tank, pulling tanks and taking them to be refilled will get old really fast. Where as the electric only requires opening the wallet a little farther.