Propane usage on Rockwood 2901SS furnace

[hoffkm]

I am hoping someone with a comparable size Rockwood can help me out. We have a 2011 Rockwood 2901SS that over the most recent two camping weekends has consumed an entire 20 lb bottle of propane each weekend. It has been cold (mid 40's) in the evenings on both weekend long trips. We have been running the furnace in the evenings and turning it off during the day. Our Trailmanor would only use 1 20 lb bottle of propane in an entire season of camping, even running the furnace very often. My questions are:

1) Is the furnace used in the Rockwoods that in-efficient (a lot of very hot air comes out the exhaust, same as all our previous trailers though)
2) Am I just heating that much more space that it would take an entire bottle for heating over two nights? (this is my biggest question, trailer seems to be insulated very well, furnace does not run excessively)
3) I checked everywhere (sniff test only so far) for a leak and have not found one. Propane detector does not sense one in the trailer either. May have to go over the entire system with soapy water but if I had a leak I would think it would have shown up sooner this past summer.

Any thoughts??

[SaskCampers]

It sounds like alot, how high do you have your temp set at?

[yvesm]

We have a 2902SS and we went thru a lot of propane. A gallon of propane is about 92,000 btu's. So if you have a 30,000 btu furnace you would go thru a gallon of propane in about 3 hours. Dont forget that you are also running the water heater. When we camp in cold weather and we have a full hookup we use an electric heater to save gas.

[lbtex]

We stayed in our 2607 last winter while our house was being remodeled. Often had lows in the 20's. A 20lb bottle usually lasted 2 or 3 days but we were also using two electric space heaters a good bit of the time. We also only used the electric after going to bed. Just piled on covers and warmed it up with the gas the next morning. We also came from a Trailmanor. Matter of fact, made the change to the Rockwood while we were remodeling and it used about the same amount.

[Wisconsin Camper]

Ours is the same way too.
Electric space heaters are really nice, we use two to keep ours warm at night!!

[tomjsas]

I have the 2501ss and over the 30 some days of camping have gone through about 4 bottles of propane and most of that usage was at the beginning and end of the season when running the furnace quite a bit. It does seem to take quite a bit to heat that much area. I don't like it very warm either...mid 60's is what i usually set it for. I have also used the oven for breakfast casseroles for about an hour at a time as well. It goes fast. I always use the electric part of the HW heater to at least save a little propane.

[08flagvlite]

The heaters in these campers are big gas hogs. And, if you cook on the stove or in the oven, you're using propane, as well as the water heater, IF it's set on gas. This is why a lot of new campers have dual 30 gallon bottles. If you are camping at a non-electric site, the heater also drains the battery power very quickly. Get a couple of space heaters, and camp on electric sites, or be ready to buy a lot of propane! Randy

[hoffkm]

Thank you everyone for the input. Looks like my usage is about normal and I probably do not have a leak (that was my largest concern, if I get the time I may test all the connections anyway). Guess I will be looking for a good electric heater over this winter/spring to be ready for next camping season (this past weekend was our last weekend for this year, already cannot wait till spring).

[The_Stuff]

ya mine goes through 2 30's in about 2 weeks. getting it changed to natural gas since its docked.

[MtnGuy]

Hmmm, I have only filled our tanks 4 times in the last 2 years with about 50 nights of camping. And I run the furnace on low during the coldest nites in winter while sitting in the driveway.

[jimh]

my first trailer, i only used gas to cook with and heat water (no elec option). i would use 1 bottle/yr. when i bought the new one, the first outing it was in the 40's and down to freezing at night. i used the gas furnace and went thru one 7.5 gal bottle and most of the second. the furnace really eats it.

i have sense installed a heat pump in the fdw hole w/elec 5KBTU heat strip backup. i use the gas heat if that doesn't keep up (which it won't in really cold weather). it made a substancial difference in the propane usage.