Electric or Propane When Paying for Electric?

[buylow12]

We just arrived in Tucson where my wife will be starting her next assignment. We'll be staying here at the Far Horizon RV Resort for the next three months. It's a great park but this will be the first time I've stayed somewhere that the electric is not included. So I was wondering what will be more cost effective, electric or propane? There are basically three items I'm considering.

The two way fridge
My propane catalytic heater vs my electric ceramic space heater
The hot water heater

I assume that in all three cases that the propane would be better but I have nothing to base that on. What do ya'll think?

As always, thanks for the help,

Tim Czarkowski
TotalTravelers.com

[MEXICOWANDERER]

I'll tighten this up a tad...

Without knowing HIS cost for either electricity or gas...

Who The Hell Knows?

[doughere]

TomG2 wrote:
Why not start a new thread asking, "Which is more convenient?" I bet electric wins that one. I vote for electric being easier and more convenient. But that is not what the OP asked.

You could also ask which is more reliable?

Propane and a small amount of power will keep you warm when the power "dies" (ask a number of people in SC right now about that).

I keep the RV full of water and propane year round. With solar and propane, we can do just fine even when Duke Power lets us down.

As you said, the OP asked about cost; I tried to answer that correctly.

Doug

[TomG2]

Why not start a new thread asking, "Which is more convenient?" I bet electric wins that one. I vote for electric being easier and more convenient. But that is not what the OP asked.

[doughere]

Electric is 3412 BTU per KWH. Electric is essentially 100% efficient.
Propane is 91500 BTU per gallon. Propane is anywhere from 60% to 70% efficient.

For Electric: divide 341200 by cost per KWH (in cents) to arrive at BTU per dollar.

For Propane: divide 59475 (91500 BTU per gal. at 65% efficient) by cost per gallon (in dollars) to arrive at BTU per dollar.

Depending on where you are, they may be close or significantly different. Depending on the difference is one more convenient than another; you'd need to decide that.

Doug

[noplace2]

Lantley wrote:
For those with the knowledge how much are you actually saving by using LP vs.electric? Is there a real number or is it just a matter of principle?

I posted a formula earlier, but perhaps an example would be better understood.

By necessity, averages are required. Your numbers will most certainly vary.

Let's assume that you are paying the current national averages of $0.12/KWH and $2.10/gal.

The standard accepted industry multiplier for the electric, which factors in the relative energy content of both sources and comparing usage for home heating, is 27.

Thus, 0.12 X 27 = $3.24 for the equivalent ability to heat a given space compared to one gallon of propane @ $2.10.

Let's also assume that a household uses 500KWH/month, possibly a low figure. That equates to $60. The equivalent amount of propane would cost $40.

Whether that difference is significant to you and what you choose to do with the information is entirely subjective and is not germane to this discussion.

[TomG2]

There are those that like to learn and there are those that know it all. The OP asked a question and mostly he got "Here's the way I do it" advice instead of facts and figures. I like facts and figures, but that is just me.

[Lantley]

TomG2 wrote:
It's not about worry. It's about knowledge. Don't you want to know where your money goes? Then you take your choice.

On some level I don't really care where every dime I spend goes.
If I'm out I may stop at a restaurant to eat. I am fully aware that it would be more economical to eat at home. LP could be slightly cheaper than electric but the difference will be negligible to the point I'm not concerned about it.
I see people going out of their way or waiting in line 30-60 minutes to buy gas that maybe 5 cents a gallon cheaper. With a 35 gallon tank the difference is $1.75. Most cars do not have 35 gallon tanks. These people have more free time and knowledge than me. Maybe both!;)
Because I have not figured out how saving the $1.75 is worthwhile.
Maybe the LP vs. gas scenario is the same. I can't figure out how using LP can be more beneficial than just using electric. LP is not more efficient and the cost difference is negligible. Throw in the convenience factor and I see no reason to use LP vs. electric.
But maybe I just lack the knowledge to figure it all out.
For those with the knowledge how much are you actually saving by using LP vs.electric? Is there a real number or is it just a matter of principle?

[MEXICOWANDERER]

WORRY !!!!!!!

Alfred E. Neuman said it all

[toedtoes]

Lantley wrote:
I'm glad you guys like the use of the word worry maybe I should have said be concerned about it. Maybe I should have said monitor usage?
How do you know when to call the LP guy? Do you monitor your usage? Do you just call every other Friday or at some other regular interval?
Maybe you're just looking for something to do?
With electric there is absolutely nothing else to do which is how I prefer it.
No phone calls,no monitoring,no credit cards on file. No additional task required.
Now of course if your just looking for something to do. Call the LP guy he'll be out on Friday.

I haven't found it difficult to maintain my propane levels. I know I have 30 days on my tank, so i'd simply refill every 25 days. Not really a big deal.

But, I do understand that for some they don't want to deal with it at all. And that's fine too.

Do what makes you comfortable, don't condemn others for doing what makes them comfortable, and be happy.

[TomG2]

It's not about worry. It's about knowledge. Don't you want to know where your money goes? Then you take your choice.

[Lantley]

I'm glad you guys like the use of the word worry maybe I should have said be concerned about it. Maybe I should have said monitor usage?
How do you know when to call the LP guy? Do you monitor your usage? Do you just call every other Friday or at some other regular interval?
Maybe you're just looking for something to do?
With electric there is absolutely nothing else to do which is how I prefer it.
No phone calls,no monitoring,no credit cards on file. No additional task required.
Now of course if your just looking for something to do. Call the LP guy he'll be out on Friday.

[MEXICOWANDERER]

Use more than 500 kWh every two months here, and suddenly you is paying .52 american $ eqvt for every kilowatt hour starting with "1". Being propane/butane is $2.52 a gallon with inventive pricing this gets a little rough around the edges.

Pots and cylinders have size ratings, like a 20 pound pot or a 100 pound cylinder.

When they are refilled ya pay through the snotbox for the whole load. A hundred pounds, twenty pounds. Ooooooooo how about the 15% safety? The tank is not stuffed. Oooooooooo too bad, that doesn't count.

Now go run and check your 1,000 kWh bill. How would you like to have to pay five hundred dollars for the privilege? But that can't happen of course. There are too many outages for the bill to run -too- high.

[buylow12]

Wow, that almost twice what they're charging here. Apparently it is more expensive in the summer here though. All those AC's taxing the energy grid and all that.

Lol, it's good to see I'm not the only one out there who's not worried 😉

Tim Czarkowski
TotalTravelers.com

-Still Not Worried

[Old-Biscuit]

buylow12 wrote:
I'm not worried about it. It's more that I'm just interested to know. If I wanted to I could run both my AC's and then crank up all three heater because it's too **** cold. However I'd prefer to do whatever is most efficient. Don't you worry about me, I'm as worry free as can be. I am living a dream after all 😉

The electric here you get 150 kwh free and then it's 0.086376/kwh. I also found out they have a propane delivery guy that comes by every Friday and charges 3.15/gal. My credit card is on file now and all I have to is call sometime before Friday and they'll fill it up whether I'm here or not. So they seem equally convenient. Even if I had to drive to fill it up there is a place not a mile up the road, it's not exactly slave labor were talking about here.

Anyways from what I know about fridges I don't see how running it on propane couldn't be more efficient. From what I've heard a two way fridge on electric takes 5x or 10x the amount of electricity vs a traditional home unit. On top of that, at least when it's hot out, it seems to do a rather poor job of keeping the freezer as cold as possible. I've noticed when it's hot out and I'm running it on electric that my ice cream tends to get soft. I don't have that problem on propane and that's enough reason alone to run it on propane.

As far as the heater I have both the built in furnace and a ventless catalytic heater. I basically never use the furnace because as said earlier it's not particularly efficient. However the catalytic heater is supposedly 99% efficient or some such. I know using them in Rv's horrifies so people but I have to say I'm not concerned in the least. However I'm thinking I'll use the electric space heater just for convenience. Plus I can place it in the bedroom and only heat that area rather than the whole place. However I'm definitely going to check out that calculator, because I'm INTERESTED not WORRIED, lol.

Lastly as far as the water heater I'll probably run that on propane too because it heats the water up both warmer and quicker than the electric. In addition I'm pretty sure it'll be more efficient. I would think I could use that calculator to find out either way for that also. I know back at my home in Jacksonville gas was always more efficient.

Both electric and gas are about the same hassle, which is to say none at all, so why not use whatever is the most efficient?

Tim Czarkowski
TotalTravelers.com

Water heater.....
Propane does heat quicker BUT whether heated by electric or propane water temp should be SAME.
Electric/Propane use same pre-set temperature t-stats. Suburban uses separate t-stats but same temp (130*F) and since 2004 Atwood uses the same t-stats for both electric/propane (140*F)