Furnace Gas Usage

[UGL]

I have been living in my RV for a couple of months now and seems that I have spent more than I should have on propane. I typically fill my two 30lbs tanks and two 17lbs BBQ tanks. I know that with a bit of conservation one 30lbs can last about 7-8 days. That is with me turning it to 65 when Im away in the day and 70 when I am in and through the night. A BBQ tank only lasts about 3-4 days. I do not use gas for heating water, or do much cooking at all. I typically gets about 50° on average, but routinely dips into the mid to lower 40's and sometimes mid 30's. Mid winter days here are in the 60's but when we have routine fronts and rain roll though, like this winter, it stays in the mid to high 50's.

I've read and been told these furnaces are gas hogs.
But this seems a bit on the excessive side of usage.
Can anyone advise here?

I am soon about to hook up to a 200 gallon tank, it holds 160 gallons and costs hundreds to fill, I can't remember what it cost to fill it. Just don't want to pay a fortune for heating. I also will soon be using gas for a tankless water heater.

[BFL13]

I was thinking more of having the batteries brought around to outside the trailer on a dolly where the furnace exhaust is and rigging some sort of big duct. Too complicated now we have plenty of battery capacity even in the cold.

[pianotuna]

Hi BFL,

A stainless steel heat exchanger in the battery compartment with zero back pressure design would be needed. Anything else may be an invitation to a CO poisoning party. (not my idea of a good time)

The OEM bank is open to the road on my RV. Pretty hard to heat with hot air.

BFL13 wrote:
My beef with the furnace is all the hot air being exhausted. I would like that to heat the batteries that are out there with reduced capacity from being cold, but haven't done anything about it.

[BFL13]

myredracer wrote:
If you happen to have a heated and enclosed underbelly, one or more ducts go from the furnace into the enclosed space and the heated air ends up going straight outdoors through cracks and openings. It's terribly inefficient. If the temps. don't go low enough to worry about the tanks or lines freezing, you could try installing a blanking plate on each duct run into the underbelly space. That's what I'm planning to do shortly. The ducts are easy to reconnect if needed.

I forget the details but ISTR it is important not to block a duct or the return air doesn't balance out or whatever the issue is. Be worth checking out in case there is something to that.

My beef with the furnace is all the hot air being exhausted. I would like that to heat the batteries that are out there with reduced capacity from being cold, but haven't done anything about it.

[myredracer]

If you happen to have a heated and enclosed underbelly, one or more ducts go from the furnace into the enclosed space and the heated air ends up going straight outdoors through cracks and openings. It's terribly inefficient. If the temps. don't go low enough to worry about the tanks or lines freezing, you could try installing a blanking plate on each duct run into the underbelly space. That's what I'm planning to do shortly. The ducts are easy to reconnect if needed.

[mgirardo]

We went camping last weekend. Day time temps were 48 degrees the first day and 58 degrees the second day. Night time temps were 30 degrees the first night and 36 degrees the second night. I filled the propane tank before the trip and used 1/8 tank (56 pounds/13 gallons) of propane running the heater the 2 days.

We were in the camper most of the day the first day and the heat was set to about 70 degrees. The second day we were out for about 8 hours of the day and the furnace was off. My wife is cold in GA in the summer, so the thermostat is usually set to 68 at night. She still uses an electric blanket.

Like a few others have said, it sounds like your propane use is normal. I agree with the others that getting electric heaters and keeping the thermostat down lower would help conserve heat. However, the furnace still consumes about 1/2 pound/hour no matter what temp it is set at. Keeping lower just keeps it from running as often.

-Michael

[UGL]

I may have forgot to mention I know have a 200 gallon propane tank on site and love it.

[UGL]

I totally forgot about this article, I picked up a 1200 watt electric radiator, works ok, but need another 800 watt model for bedroom/bath end of trailer. I really don't run the furnace at all unless I wake up and its below 60, then I turn on the heater to 70, then turn it off after the cycle. I have come to like the cooler temps.

[pianotuna]

Hi CT,

Where I live cracking the window would wipe out most of the gains. That is another reason to go with the vented Platinum cat.

They are not really big enough to handle the entire heating load in my location.

[CT_WANDERER]

Do you really save on propane with a cat heater compared to running a furnace, if you have to crack the windows? I was just wondering. I know, last year I ran our Mr Buddy heater. I did not crack the windows, but ended up with a lot of condensation on the walls. This year I am trying it with just running the furnace. Guess I will see how that works out in the amount of propane I use this winter.

[time2roll]

+1 for using some electric for heat. I use a 1200 watt radiator style when the furnace is needed daily.

[NinerBikes]

Olympic catalytic Wave 6 or Wave 8 heater. Have to crack a window and a vent, though to let fresh air in. Much more efficient.

Do a Google search on them, or look for them new on Ebay.

[tboss]

I run a small elect.heated and it very efficent,,if it gets too cold I will supplement the heat with the furnace works grt for me

[riven1950]

If I used mine much I would get a digital thermostat if possible, OEM thermostats are very inaccurate / hard to read . I use a wall thermometer and adjust heat by its reading.

[mena661]

X2 MrWiz, your usage is normal. Like was mentioned, turn down the furnace at night and use an electric blanket. Also, turn it down during the day when you're not at home. If the insulation in your rig is really good, turn it on in the morning, let it cycle once or twice then turn it off. Yeah, the temps will drop in the rig but you'll use less propane. Maintaining the temperature does NOT save propane. Not running the furnace saves propane.