Gas vs electric cost calculation?

[RVcrazy]

If you are paying for your own electric, when does it pay to use gas instead? Is there a formula? Thanks!

[CavemanCharlie]

I don't know about RV's. But, in my area you just can't afford to heat your home with electric. Propane is much cheaper.

[SDcampowneroper]

pulsar wrote:

SDcampowneroperator wrote:

pulsar wrote:
A gallon of propane contains approximately 91,500 BTUs, which is equivalent to 26.8 kWh. To compare the costs, efficiencies would have to be considered. A typical propane furnace is probably about 85% efficient. At that rate, a gallon of propane provides about the same heat as 22.8 kWh of electricity.

The rest of the calculation depends on the prices of propane and electricity.

Since in our travels, we don't pay for electricity above the cost of the camp site, we use electricity for everything, when we have a 50-amp connection.

Tom

And us camp owners expect that and set our unmetered site fee schedules accordingly. You are welcome to use the power as available on unmetered sites. In our experience here on long term sites, with metered electric it is about 20% cheaper to use propane over our passed forward cost ( state regulated) elec. rate of $.14/KwH
Your state elec. rates and propane costs may be much different.

We have never stayed in a campground in which we were offered a metered site. Do you offer them to overnighters and two or three day campers? Do you offer metered sites only to long-stay campers?

We assume that we are being charged for the electricity we use, that is one of the reasons we us our electricity - usually for air conditioning, but sometimes for heat Occasionally, we are asked if we plan to use electric heat and are told there is an additional charge. In those instances, we use propane heat. We've not been asked if we were going to use A/C?

Tom

No camp I know of offers a lower daily or weekly site fee with metered electric on less than a month stay. The time of reading the meter on arrival, then on departure then calculating the charge and adjusting rental fees amounts to little change for guests or us.
If yours is a special condition, it would not hurt to ask about fee adjustment. I welcome PMs to explore the issue.
Max

[Clay_L]

If you go HERE you can download a small program that will make the simple calculation for you.
It allows you to enter the appliance efficiency.

According to an email to me from engineering at Suburban Manufacturing, the efficiency of RV furnaces ranges from 70 to 80 percent. Water heaters are 70 percent on gas.

Note: Because Microsoft in their infinite wisdom didn't include the software to support the older help file formats, for Windows Vista and higher you will need to download and install a Microsoft program that allows you to use help files with the "hlp" extension for whatever operating system you are using - if you want to use the help file (not really necessary to use the program)..
You can download it here Microsoft Knowledge Base. Scroll down to select your operating system.

[pulsar]

SDcampowneroperator wrote:

pulsar wrote:
A gallon of propane contains approximately 91,500 BTUs, which is equivalent to 26.8 kWh. To compare the costs, efficiencies would have to be considered. A typical propane furnace is probably about 85% efficient. At that rate, a gallon of propane provides about the same heat as 22.8 kWh of electricity.

The rest of the calculation depends on the prices of propane and electricity.

Since in our travels, we don't pay for electricity above the cost of the camp site, we use electricity for everything, when we have a 50-amp connection.

Tom

And us camp owners expect that and set our unmetered site fee schedules accordingly. You are welcome to use the power as available on unmetered sites. In our experience here on long term sites, with metered electric it is about 20% cheaper to use propane over our passed forward cost ( state regulated) elec. rate of $.14/KwH
Your state elec. rates and propane costs may be much different.

We have never stayed in a campground in which we were offered a metered site. Do you offer them to overnighters and two or three day campers? Do you offer metered sites only to long-stay campers?

We assume that we are being charged for the electricity we use, that is one of the reasons we us our electricity - usually for air conditioning, but sometimes for heat Occasionally, we are asked if we plan to use electric heat and are told there is an additional charge. In those instances, we use propane heat. We've not been asked if we were going to use A/C?

Tom

[SDcampowneroper]

pulsar wrote:
A gallon of propane contains approximately 91,500 BTUs, which is equivalent to 26.8 kWh. To compare the costs, efficiencies would have to be considered. A typical propane furnace is probably about 85% efficient. At that rate, a gallon of propane provides about the same heat as 22.8 kWh of electricity.

The rest of the calculation depends on the prices of propane and electricity.

Since in our travels, we don't pay for electricity above the cost of the camp site, we use electricity for everything, when we have a 50-amp connection.

Tom

And us camp owners expect that and set our unmetered site fee schedules accordingly. You are welcome to use the power as available on unmetered sites. In our experience here on long term sites, with metered electric it is about 20% cheaper to use propane over our passed forward cost ( state regulated) elec. rate of $.14/KwH
Your state elec. rates and propane costs may be much different.

[scrubjaysnest]

For us it is a little different. at ACOE CG's electric is fine. At NF and SP CG's where an electric site is $5 to $8 per night more then a non electric; we will go without as a 20# bottle of propane runs a little over $8 to as much as $20 to fill but lasts 2 and 1/2 weeks.

[tatest]

To do what?

If you are running some sort of resistance heater, as in the 120V option on a RV fridge, a water heater element, heat strips in your A/C, the conversion is 1 KWH = 3412 BTUs. LPG is 21,500 BTU's per pound, so a pound is equivalent to a little more than 6 KWH, but low efficiency in your appliance might make that 4 or 5 KWH. To convert that to cost, you need to know the cost of LPG per pound, the cost of electricity per KWH. The latter varies considerably with location.

Most places in the country, the cost of electric power is high enough that residential customers will opt for fossil fuels (natural gas, LPG, fuel oil) for heat, if locally available. For heating a residential space, a heat pump changes that. Heat pumps in the right operating conditions can provide five to nine times the BTU per KWH, compared to resistance heating. So if you have a heat pump, use it.

RVer's choice of energy source, particularly for space heating, is usually based on something other than cost.

First, the electricity may be "free" meaning you've paid for it with your site rental, whether you use it or not. That's when we start dragging in 1500 watt space heaters (A/C heat strip is usually the same size). Two of them represent 1/3 to 1/5 the useful output of a typical RV furnace, and if you leave them on 24/7 it might be about the same heat as you get from the furnace in a moderately cold conditions duty cycle. But if it is cold enough for the furnace to be running 100%, then space heaters might not be enough.

Second, a lot of RVers find dealing with LPG to be a hassle. Moving the RV to fill a permanently mounted 9 to 30 gallon tank, or wrestling with 20 to 40 pound portable bottles. I know one who went 15 years without filling his LPG tank, rigged the motorhome to use a 20 pound bottle of LPG and used it for cooking only. If it got cold enough to need the furnace, he didn't go.

Third, when it gets cold enough, only the furnace will do the whole job, which often includes heating utility spaces. It might be a LPG system, it might be oil fired, in which case the costs include paying road taxes on fuel oil bought as diesel fuel.

Fourth, using electricity for these heating tasks means hooking up to the power grid. Off the grid, you heat with fossil fuel, or you use a generator to get power, and that is a less efficient use of the fossil fuel, unless you are using the generated power to run a heat pump.

[samsontdog]

I just collected rent from my renters and the highest elect bill was $63.42 and the lowest was $41.69. This is in Yuma Foothills and from more than the two listed

[Old-Biscuit]

Homer wrote:
I think the cost is about the same. The difference as far as I am concerned is safety. An open flame invites problems from a safety standpoint. I use the gas when necessary, but other wise opt for electric.

Have you rewired your rv electrical.

From a safety stand point I am more comfortable with LP vs the idiots that wire rvs.
Yesterday they were delivering newspapers...today they are 'rv electricians' (course tomorrow they will be hooking up the LP Systems) :S

[Homer1]

I think the cost is about the same. The difference as far as I am concerned is safety. An open flame invites problems from a safety standpoint. I use the gas when necessary, but other wise opt for electric.

[mlts22]

There is cost, and there is frustration as well. Having to go find propane when it is cold out sucks, so even though electric may be less efficient, it is far less of a hassle to use than propane, especially if one has a propane tank and has to get that filled. With FHU, I prefer electric whenever possible.

[pulsar]

A gallon of propane contains approximately 91,500 BTUs, which is equivalent to 26.8 kWh. To compare the costs, efficiencies would have to be considered. A typical propane furnace is probably about 85% efficient. At that rate, a gallon of propane provides about the same heat as 22.8 kWh of electricity.

The rest of the calculation depends on the prices of propane and electricity.

Since in our travels, we don't pay for electricity above the cost of the camp site, we use electricity for everything, when we have a 50-amp connection.

Tom

[gbopp]

I like to use electricity as much as possible, even if it costs a little more.
I use the propane for traveling or emergencies. And, with the weather we've been having lately the next emergency may be just around the corner. 😞

[Old-Biscuit]

RVcrazy wrote:
Ok, thanks. Didn't know if it would be much difference, other than not needing to juggle the propane tanks.

This topic has been discussed in depth and I'm sure there is a breakdown on cost of each. BTU/cost----usage etc.

Sure someone has that info and will post it.

ME....I just try and keep it simple.

I'm the guy that leaves water heater ON from time we get to camping site until we leave and run Fridge ALL the time. :B

[RVcrazy]

Ok, thanks. Didn't know if it would be much difference, other than not needing to juggle the propane tanks.