RIP Propane

[oneolddog]

Class A's started going all electric more and more years ago and we are now seeing that trend move down the line to Class C's. It is now well know that you no longer need propane to dry camp. I still buy propane for our company equipment and are finding it harder and harder to buy as more stations quit selling it due to lack of demand.

Down the road it may be only available for the remaining forklifts etc. from specialty suppliers. This could be a real pain for people with older model RV's that still use propane. Has anyone else experienced more difficulty in buying propane than they used to?

[oneolddog]

k6ncx wrote:
Huh?

I just bought a brand new Class A. It uses propane, as did EVERY ONE I LOOKED AT on a huge dealer's lot. So did the Class A coaches I looked at on manufacturers' websites. Who are you kidding?

Class A diesels. I initially mistakenly left that out. Class A gas propane yes.

[k6ncx]

Huh?

I just bought a brand new Class A. It uses propane, as did EVERY ONE I LOOKED AT on a huge dealer's lot. So did the Class A coaches I looked at on manufacturers' websites. Who are you kidding?

[Mr_Mark1]

Also, let me clarify, I'm not trying to 'sell my goods' to anyone who likes boondocking vs. RV parks. They make coaches/travel trailers for every use. Pick what works for you.

All types of camping are good!
MM.

[oneolddog]

Mr.Mark wrote:
I think 'age' has a lot to do with people buying a 'boondocking unit' vs. an 'all electric unit' used for pole to pole use.

In my late 50's and I have no interest in boondocking as a mode of camping. Actually, I've never 'tented', etc. I'm a very late bloomer to camping but hit the ground running as I love it!

I have joined my camping group in Quartzsite BLM land for 5 days or so for couple of years and that's my extent of 'boondocking'. We like full hook-ups and resorts!

We can certainly boondock for weeks as we have a 235 gallon diesel tank and a large holding tank (165 gallons for black and grey), 165 gallons fresh tank.

I never wanted propane on board as it's so flammable. Our first coach was all electric with the Aqua Hot for heated water and furnace. One fuel worked for us then and now.

Safe travels,
MM.

With your Coach you could boondock for ten days easy without propane. Coach's with propane may not last as long as they would run out of fresh water way before you ran out of diesel. People with REAL life experience with an 'all electric' know this.

[Mr_Mark1]

I think 'age' has a lot to do with people buying a 'boondocking unit' vs. an 'all electric unit' used for pole to pole use.

In my late 50's and I have no interest in boondocking as a mode of camping. Actually, I've never 'tented', etc. I'm a very late bloomer to camping but hit the ground running as I love it!

I have joined my camping group in Quartzsite BLM land for 5 days or so for couple of years and that's my extent of 'boondocking'. We like full hook-ups and resorts!

We can certainly boondock for weeks as we have a 235 gallon diesel tank and a large holding tank (165 gallons for black and grey), 165 gallons fresh tank.

I never wanted propane on board as it's so flammable. Our first coach was all electric with the Aqua Hot for heated water and furnace. One fuel worked for us then and now.

Safe travels,
MM.

[Searching_Ut]

I think there are probably several factors involved in your seeing fewer places that fill propane bottles. Economy of scale and cost make the exchange bottles a better option than the cost of equipment and training and personnel time to refill bottles. I think the larger type bottles installed in the rig permanent are much less common and not a very large part of the market.

When it comes to class A motorhomes, and even the mid range and higher fifth wheels, many are going to electric refrigerators and stoves now, although the non diesel powered rigs still seem to stick to Propane for heating beyond what the heat pump type AC units might provide. When we were shopping last year and asked about this and the reasoning behind it, every dealer we asked said the primary factor driving this was that dry camping and boondocking were something very few people buying these rigs were doing.

[usersmanual]

OLYLEN wrote:
You really think all the gas BBQ's outnumber the All electric A's sold every year. And you think of all the propane heated homes with both hotwater and cooktop. Me thinks you might do a map search for dealers and the map will turn red like in my area with locations and delivery.

LEN

If you care to read OP post and fully understand his point he was not referring to anything to do with propane going by the wayside of the 8 track player.All he ever suggested was that the bottle/rv filling stations seem to be diminishing possible because of all electric RV.it has nothing to do with home use at all

[Chum_lee]

Mile High wrote:

westernrvparkowner wrote:
RVers have to take at least some of the blame for businesses not wanting to fuel their rigs. When we sold propane, I couldn't begin to count the number of people who pulled in to "top off their tanks" to the tune of a gallon. Others seemed to wait until the worst weather possible. Still others had RVs that took a contortionist laying on their backs to reach the fill connection. No matter what we charged, we were constantly barraged by whiners complaining we were ripping off the public. We have never looked back with any regret at our decision to quit.

Like fuel, I like to head out on vacation with a full tank of propane, and I don't always get to pick the weather when I need to fill. I really don't like feeling guilty about that, but I guess I am part of the aggravation. Part of what makes self service so appealing and successful I guess. I realize it would be hard to do with propane, but I hope you realized that if I showed up I didn't like the fact you had to help me anymore than you liked the fact I showed up. Just a necessary evil for LP camping.

It's interesting to note that you can refill your CNG POWERED VEHICLE yourself, but, you can not refill your LPG POWERED VEHICLE yourself or any of your LPG tanks without proper certification!

CNG = Compressed Natural Gas
LPG = Liquified Propane Gas

What's with that?

Chum lee

[Mile_High]

westernrvparkowner wrote:
RVers have to take at least some of the blame for businesses not wanting to fuel their rigs. When we sold propane, I couldn't begin to count the number of people who pulled in to "top off their tanks" to the tune of a gallon. Others seemed to wait until the worst weather possible. Still others had RVs that took a contortionist laying on their backs to reach the fill connection. No matter what we charged, we were constantly barraged by whiners complaining we were ripping off the public. We have never looked back with any regret at our decision to quit.

Like fuel, I like to head out on vacation with a full tank of propane, and I don't always get to pick the weather when I need to fill. I really don't like feeling guilty about that, but I guess I am part of the aggravation. Part of what makes self service so appealing and successful I guess. I realize it would be hard to do with propane, but I hope you realized that if I showed up I didn't like the fact you had to help me anymore than you liked the fact I showed up. Just a necessary evil for LP camping.

[usersmanual]

No one was inferring that ""propane"" was being impacted in any way shape or form. what he(OP) suggested was the small bottle fill and RV filling places were on the down trend in his opinion possible due to more and more electric to all electric coach production.

[hipower]

Removable tanks like BBQ grills and smaller RV trailers, etc are not difficult to get refilled or replaced in most markets. If an exchange service is all that is available many customers won't want to exchange a new or nearly new tank for one with a unknown history. That's completely understandable.

Larger trailers with 30# cylinders are a somewhat different story since there are few to none in the exchange systems simply due to demand vs expense. A new 30# steel cylinder is at least double the cost of a new 20# steel cylinder.

The OP mentioned having trouble finding actual refillers for his company's sweeper cylinders. The 20# and 33# cylinders used in that application are not typically involved in exchange service unless it is done by a company who delivers to your business. Those would generally be propane companies and welding supply companies. Nearly every welding supply company has propane available in cylinders, either as a walk-in or delivered item, some refilled on-site some exchanged. That may be a solution to his problem for his sweeper cylinder refills. Unfortunately for smaller users welding supply companies are frequently way over priced for small LP purchases. Many times the price may be negotiated based on long term commitments and annual volumes. Very few of them are set up for RV tank filling like our frame mounted tanks on our motorhomes.

Regardless of all the above thoughts and opinions, I don't see propane being impacted in any significant way by the trend toward more all electric motorhomes, it is simply not that big a part of the market. I'm not even convinced that the trend is customer driven. It may be an effort by the manufacturers to eliminate an additional system which must be included in their designs and can be eliminated and replaced with the all electric at far less cost to them.

[barmcd]

oneolddog wrote:
Class A's started going all electric more and more years ago and we are now seeing that trend move down the line to Class C's. It is now well know that you no longer need propane to dry camp. I still buy propane for our company equipment and are finding it harder and harder to buy as more stations quit selling it due to lack of demand.

Down the road it may be only available for the remaining forklifts etc. from specialty suppliers. This could be a real pain for people with older model RV's that still use propane. Has anyone else experienced more difficulty in buying propane than they used to?

I don't know where you live, but here in Texas, propane and propane accessories (to quote Hank Hill) are alive and well. We use propane for cooking, heating hot water, and heating our house. We have the RV filled up, along with the BBQ grill when we have propane delivered. We don't boon dock much, but I think I still prefer a propane equipped RV.

On edit: I see you're in a large metropolitan area, that might explain a little of your experience. I can see why it'd be harder to maintain a bulk distributorship in a built up area. Most of the propane distributors I see are no next door to anyone.

[westernrvparkow]

liborko wrote:
In eighties conversion of vehicles to propane or dual fuel was very popular and many gas stations invested into installing propane equipment. That is pretty much dead now. With less and less vehicles requiring propane as a fuel and wide availability of barbeque tanks exchange service there is less incentive for the gas stations to dispense propane. I had a very distinct feeling when I was looking for propane that there was unwillingness to dispense it for one reason or other. Sicamous used to have a propane distributor that was closed/out of business. 100 Mile House had only one gas station where you could drive a motorhome to the pump to refill. This is on main hwy going north and to Alaska. In this area there is hundreds of rural homes and cabins that have permanently installed large propane tanks and those are serviced by propane trucks. Costco in Kamloops does not dispense propane as a motor fuel and refills barbeque bottles only. It is harder and harder to find propane in British Columbia if your tank is not removable.

RVers have to take at least some of the blame for businesses not wanting to fuel their rigs. When we sold propane, I couldn't begin to count the number of people who pulled in to "top off their tanks" to the tune of a gallon. Others seemed to wait until the worst weather possible. Still others had RVs that took a contortionist laying on their backs to reach the fill connection. No matter what we charged, we were constantly barraged by whiners complaining we were ripping off the public. We have never looked back with any regret at our decision to quit.

[liborko]

In eighties conversion of vehicles to propane or dual fuel was very popular and many gas stations invested into installing propane equipment. That is pretty much dead now. With less and less vehicles requiring propane as a fuel and wide availability of barbeque tanks exchange service there is less incentive for the gas stations to dispense propane. I had a very distinct feeling when I was looking for propane that there was unwillingness to dispense it for one reason or other. Sicamous used to have a propane distributor that was closed/out of business. 100 Mile House had only one gas station where you could drive a motorhome to the pump to refill. This is on main hwy going north and to Alaska. In this area there is hundreds of rural homes and cabins that have permanently installed large propane tanks and those are serviced by propane trucks. Costco in Kamloops does not dispense propane as a motor fuel and refills barbeque bottles only. It is harder and harder to find propane in British Columbia if your tank is not removable.