Electricity or Gas–Whatcha Gonna Heat Your RV With?
If you’re sitting in an RV park or other place where you pay for your electricity, you may wonder if it’s cheaper to heat with propane or with electricity. This is far from an academic question, since the price of propane is shooting up–probably trying to keep pace with gasoline and diesel for some perverse reason.
A sharp RVer did some calculations to help you “do the math” easily. He observes that electricity produces 3,800 btus per kilowatt, and that LP produces 92,000 btus per gallon. How do you compare these energy apples and oranges? It’s a ratio of 24:1. Soooo, as long as a gallon of propane costs you less than 24 times the cost of a kilowatt of electricity, all things being equal, the gas is cheaper.
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In our part of the country (southern Arizona) RVers report paying about 17 cents per kilowatt of power in the typical RV park. Our favorite LP supplier is charging $2.29 per gallon of the precious fuel. 17 cents times 24 equals $4.08–LP is still the fuel of choice. Provided everything else is equal. But is it?
First, if you’re heating with your factory equipped LP furnace, a great deal of heat is “going up the chimney” or rather, out the vent on the side of your rig. Let’s say it was 40% of the burned energy. By my calculations, once LP reaches $2.45 it might be time to think about running an electric space heater. But for those who use a non-vented heater efficiencies are MUCH higher–see our story on these hunky-dory heaters here, you’ll still find LP a great saver.
Of course, other factors come into play: If you buy your LP ‘in the park’ or delivered, you’ll probably pay a lot more money. But if your back disagrees with the idea of lifting and tossing a big, heavy LP container, electricity may be better for heating–and less needed for the heating pad.
Photo: hokkey on flickr.com
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December 13th, 2007 at 8:21 am
This article was so timely!! That’s why I love this newsletter. We were just asking that question yesterday, but weren’t smart enough to figure it out! Thanks for the help. I know in a stick house, natural gas is cheaper than electricity, but didn’t know it could also be cheaper in an RV.
December 13th, 2007 at 8:39 pm
Great post, but if you have a heat pump, it changes the economics in favor of using the heat pump over propane for almost any reasonable conditions except for temperatures in the 30s or below. I discuss it in my blog at http://www.ahrensadventures.com/blog/?p=18
December 13th, 2007 at 9:13 pm
I use two electric space heaters to heat my 37 foot Jayco TT. So far, it keeps the trailer comfy for me. And I don’t pay for the electric, yet. I am just curious though, on how they can charge for electricity use, cause I see alot of “come and go” type campers. Late arrivals/early departures.
September 20th, 2008 at 8:04 pm
I wish RVs used better building materials with higher insulation values than typical construction. Today, they “insulate” but not well. The sales literature says “better than ever” but that’s like going from a D student to being a C student. We need A students.
Super insulated and super sealed homes, with windows facing the sun have proven you need only minimal heating from a furnace - the sun goes through the windows, gets soaked up in dark, dense (but heavy) materials like concrete, stone or water during the day and then releases the heat slowly at night - when you need it most.
But those materials are heavy and that’s bad for gas mileage. But let’s focus on the other half - the insulation. Super insulation and air sealing weighs very little is like a big fluffy coat with the zipper up. If the teeny holes that you can’t see aren’t sealed up, it’s like a fluffy coat with the zipper down - you got to have both. But most RVs have neither. They just have skimpy spring jackets on with buttons that the air can get through, not zippers. The other benefit of super insulation is hot summer A/C bill reduction.
We hear about codes - “our products are built to code”. Well, “code” doesn’t mean the most energy efficient home or RV you can build, it means the LEAST efficient home or RV you can build.
We’ve got to do better so future generations can enjoy year round, comfortable, energy efficient, financially efficient RVing.
October 18th, 2008 at 11:16 am
propane heaters…
Well spoken. I have to research more on this as it is really vital info….
November 13th, 2008 at 7:48 pm
I’m looking for a new motorhome and on the subject of heating and cooling the only manufacturer that I can find that lists R values for their insulation is Newmar. Do any others show this anywhere in the manuals or literature??