LP or electric on a meter

[blaczero]

Hey everyone, I have a seasonal site where I have metered electric, so for fridge, heat and hot water, is LP or electric cheaper?

[philh]

Electric is easier, end of story

[Lantley]

Old-Biscuit wrote:

Lantley wrote:

blaczero wrote:

HappyKayakers wrote:
I found this link several years ago. Can't vouch for the figures but it looked like someone did their homework. http://www.adventure.1tree.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=292&Itemid=285

Good info everyone thanks. Great link too.

I'll do some calculations and go from there.

The inconvenience doesn't factor in, since my campground has propane fill and it's $25 for a 30#'er.

I assume you have permanently mounted tanks and they come to you with a truck. Otherwise there is a convenience factor. Even then you have to arrange for LP, pay for it and meet the driver to fill tank.
With electric there is no interaction. NONE.

OP stated
The inconvenience doesn't factor in, since my campground has propane fill and it's $25 for a 30#'er.

I would assume portable propane cylinders

If the OP has portable tanks, than there is a convenience factor. Unless the CG changes the tanks for him for free, otherwise the OP has to physically put in the effort to swap the tanks.

[Old-Biscuit]

Lantley wrote:

blaczero wrote:

HappyKayakers wrote:
I found this link several years ago. Can't vouch for the figures but it looked like someone did their homework. http://www.adventure.1tree.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=292&Itemid=285

Good info everyone thanks. Great link too.

I'll do some calculations and go from there.

The inconvenience doesn't factor in, since my campground has propane fill and it's $25 for a 30#'er.

I assume you have permanently mounted tanks and they come to you with a truck. Otherwise there is a convenience factor. Even then you have to arrange for LP, pay for it and meet the driver to fill tank.
With electric there is no interaction. NONE.

OP stated
The inconvenience doesn't factor in, since my campground has propane fill and it's $25 for a 30#'er.

I would assume portable propane cylinders

[Lantley]

blaczero wrote:

HappyKayakers wrote:
I found this link several years ago. Can't vouch for the figures but it looked like someone did their homework. http://www.adventure.1tree.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=292&Itemid=285

Good info everyone thanks. Great link too.

I'll do some calculations and go from there.

The inconvenience doesn't factor in, since my campground has propane fill and it's $25 for a 30#'er.

I assume you have permanently mounted tanks and they come to you with a truck. Otherwise there is a convenience factor. Even then you have to arrange for LP, pay for it and meet the driver to fill tank.
With electric there is no interaction. NONE.

[blaczero]

HappyKayakers wrote:
I found this link several years ago. Can't vouch for the figures but it looked like someone did their homework. http://www.adventure.1tree.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=292&Itemid=285

Good info everyone thanks. Great link too.

I'll do some calculations and go from there.

The inconvenience doesn't factor in, since my campground has propane fill and it's $25 for a 30#'er.

[Michelle_S]

I have twin 40 Lb Tanks and those things are heavy when filled. I'll use electric every chance I get to avoid having to refill those beasts.

[theoldwizard1]

Someday, we will be able to purchase GOOD RV heat pumps, ones that will produce heat down to zero F (like mini-split heat pumps that have been around for decades).

One more nail in the coffin for LP in an RV !

[Super_Dave]

I don't know about your campground but we are also at a seasonal site and we don't pay for metered electrical use unless we go over our base allowance per month. Over the past few summers, frig and daily air conditioning didn't put us over our allowance.

[Old-Biscuit]

Lantley wrote:

valhalla360 wrote:
Cost really is a non-issue in the choice.

Unless you use a ton of propane, the convenience of electric makes it worth paying an extra $5-10 per year with electricity.

If you use that much on a seasonal site, see about getting a propane company to bring out a big 100gal tank but unless you do a lot of winter camping, it's unlikely to be worth it.

This^^^^. Why go through the effort of monitoring and changing tanks.
Electric does not require any input from the end user.
The cost difference is negligible either way.

A few bucks either way
Electric is so much easier

Fridge.... might have TWO 225W elements (large size) or ONE 375W element (medium size)
Propane ---1200btu to 2200btu depending on size of fridge

Water heater.....
Atwood 6 gal 8kbtu/hr --10kbtu/hr 10 gal ---1400W element
Suburban 6,10,12,16 gal---12Kbtu/hr run time ---1440W element

Do the math
OR
Use the electric it isn't going to be that costly

[Cummins12V98]

Think about your time and vehicle wear and tear plus fuel consumption to take the tanks to be filled. I really don't care about the cost I run electric when possible for everything.

[HappyKayakers]

I found this link several years ago. Can't vouch for the figures but it looked like someone did their homework. http://www.adventure.1tree.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=292&Itemid=285

[Lantley]

valhalla360 wrote:
Cost really is a non-issue in the choice.

Unless you use a ton of propane, the convenience of electric makes it worth paying an extra $5-10 per year with electricity.

If you use that much on a seasonal site, see about getting a propane company to bring out a big 100gal tank but unless you do a lot of winter camping, it's unlikely to be worth it.

This^^^^. Why go through the effort of monitoring and changing tanks.
Electric does not require any input from the end user.
The cost difference is negligible either way.

[DrewE]

The water heater and fridge use comparatively little energy when compared to the furnace/heaters. Absorption fridges tend to run at very roughly a pound of propane a day, or maybe 3ish kWh per day. The difference between those costs is probably on the order of a few cents. The water heater is probably similar in cost to operate.

(For the water heater especially, it's a bit more likely that electricity will be cheaper because the immersion element is considerably more efficient than the burner in terms of lost energy: virtually all of the energy it uses goes towards heating the water, while a portion of the heat from the gas burner escapes with the exhaust.)

[blaczero]

Back in April (when it was cold) I was using 1 30lb / week LP. The ppl here at the campground said it'd be cheaper than electric.

I suppose the question would be, is the fridge and hot water cheaper on LP too?

I have not received my first bill yet, so I am not sure how much they're charging / KWh