metered electric in cold weather

[cavie]

Originally Posted by Kimber45

I live in Michigan. I put my cousin up in my 5th wheel for two days during December for muzzle loader season and got an email from my power company that I was using more power then normal. running one electric heater to keep him from freezing. Best be prepared for some high electric bills.

Tell your cousin to use his propane!

[Cypressloser]

Originally Posted by judyoshi

Have just recently completed my first long term workamping experience and loved it, in spite of the frequent issues that arise with RV living. Worked in the Badlands and Reno. I'm Leaving for a position in Yellowstone in April and realize I will have sustained periods of very cold weather. Unfortunately that comes with metered electric which I haven't had to deal with yet.
How to keep my electric bill low? in Reno had night time temps in the teens not rising above the thirties during the day. There is black spray foam insulation under the RV. I used a heated water hose, wrapped the water pipe outside in multiple layers of insulation and kept my water heater on all the time. Never had frozen pipes.
I have an infra red heater I don't use at night, it gets too stuffy. Prefer good blankets and intermittent use of furnace at low setting. The frigid air came up from the floor in spite of a heavy rug over yoga mats. Can't seem to find a form of skirting that would be inexpensive, simple to use and lightweight.
Any ideas on how to stay warm without using lots of expensive propane and metered electric?
Also any advice on a small but effective dehumidifier?
Thanks for any and all advice,
Judy

Search EZ Snap (Google) for adhesive snaps and buy a 100' roll Reflectix for skirting and for the windows (preferably outside), affordable and portable.

Any compressor dehumidifier will do, pricier usually means quieter. I would not buy one under 50 pints capacity (we run 3, one in the kitchen/living room, one in the bathroom and one in the bedroom closet), you want to reduce the humidity asap after a shower or cooking to prevent condensation.

[cantxsailor]

Since the first of January in New Mexico at 8000ft in the mountains.
I keep the furnace on 68° and I have an oil filled space heater set on medium.
I’m going through a 20lb propane tank every 5-6 days. This little camper is pretty well insulated on the upper part but the floor is terrible. Last year I only stayed here for a few days and the dogs water dish froze solid over night.
This year I took some 2” styrofoam panels and cut them to fit all the way around the camper between the bottom edge of the camper and the dirt.
What a difference. The camper floor stays much warmer. I also blocked the a/c vent on both the outside of the camper and the vent inside the camper.

The best thing ever in the camper is the heated mattress. Even if the furnace runs out of propane unless the electricity goes out at the same time I can stay warm in bed.
Propane tanks never go empty during the day it’s ALWAYS at 3:30am.

Enjoy your winter stay it’s so beautiful and you’ll enjoy it if you make some easy preparations.

[biker1952]

I was a fulltimer for about 8 years in Western Pa. Foam insulboard around the underneath of the camper makes a world of difference. As for electric & propane, you're gonna use a lot of both. Also, even if you have dual pane windows, using plastic sheets over the makes a difference.

[Funengineer]

Originally Posted by cantxsailor

Since the first of January in New Mexico at 8000ft in the mountains.

I keep the furnace on 68° and I have an oil filled space heater set on medium.

I’m going through a 20lb propane tank every 5-6 days. This little camper is pretty well insulated on the upper part but the floor is terrible. Last year I only stayed here for a few days and the dogs water dish froze solid over night.

This year I took some 2” styrofoam panels and cut them to fit all the way around the camper between the bottom edge of the camper and the dirt.

What a difference. The camper floor stays much warmer. I also blocked the a/c vent on both the outside of the camper and the vent inside the camper.



The best thing ever in the camper is the heated mattress. Even if the furnace runs out of propane unless the electricity goes out at the same time I can stay warm in bed.

Propane tanks never go empty during the day it’s ALWAYS at 3:30am.



Enjoy your winter stay it’s so beautiful and you’ll enjoy it if you make some easy preparations.

Good idea on the AC foam covers. You may get want to consider adding 2” foam to the bottom of the floor if there is room. I did that to an enclosed cargo trailer I used to camp in and it provided good r value. It was a PITA as I had to cut it to fit between the aluminum frame and glue it to the bottom of the floor while laying on my back. I used short pieces of 1x and pieces of plywood placed against the foam with the 1x wedged between the driveway and plywood to hold the foam in place while the adhesive dried.

[KevinWilliams]

Corrugated aluminum foil rolls are available at Lowes or Home Depot which can be cut to fit each window and inserted between the window and your shades. Cuts heat loss, darkens unit for sleeping in on your day off and eliminates peeping Toms.

[KevinWilliams]

Camping World has the Camco vent insulator which is like a spongy soft styrofoam $14.89 ea
Which you put up in your ceiling vents and it is the best 2 inch of insulation money can buy.

[Reverse_snowbird]

Originally Posted by cantxsailor

The best thing ever in the camper is the heated mattress. Even if the furnace runs out of propane unless the electricity goes out at the same time I can stay warm in bed.

The foam panels sound like a fairly inexpensive way to block off the wind and keep the heat in the rig.
With a heated mattress, I'd be tempted to stay in bed all day. Great idea.

[oldxr]

I lived for 2 years in my trailer using it for out of town work and went home on weekends . Not that cold where I was but did find a couple of easy tricks . They have those foam inserts to insulate the roof vents . Those help some . Then I stuffed towels in the bathroom door to block it off . If you have a c class try blocking the cab area off.The oil filled radiator heaters don’t take as much electricity and will keep some heat going . I usually had the coach heater set to 50 degrees . Keep the shades closed at night .

[jwfrede]

RV propane heaters are not very efficient, 70% from what I have read, compared to maybe +95% for a house furnace. Burning one lb of propane will produce about 5.9 kwh of energy. So maybe 4.1 kwh goes into the camper. Check your prices and make your choice.

I insulated my tanks with layers of 1 inch foam board, maybe two inches on water and gray water and even 1 inch on the black water tank. My travel trailer is of fairly simple construction with a plywood bottom. Many areas are flat and I will look at adding the foam board to those areas this summer before next fall's trip in Colorado. I sprayed some of that rubber in a can stuff on the foam board to better handle road stones. Looks like its still holding up after 20k miles

Two inch foam board is fairly strong and probably would make a good skirt, ~$34 for 4x8 at Lowes.

The silver bubble insulation about 1/4" thick is fairly cheap, I am thinking of cutting some sections to fit my windows and using some velcro to ease reuse.

For electrical heaters I use a big 750/1500 watt unit for the main heater and use separate 250-450 little heaters off amazon for the bathroom area and bedroom area at night.

I have a regular house 50 pint dehumidifier and just dump the tank out into the campsite. In Colorado/Utah during fall visits its been quite dry and I actually don't use the dehumidifier and end up using a vaporizer to humidify when it gets below freezing. My camper is listed as a three season camper and it has a lot of air leaks and I really only use the dehumidifier in Florida.

[jeff64]

Originally Posted by judyoshi

Have just recently completed my first long term workamping experience and loved it, in spite of the frequent issues that arise with RV living. Worked in the Badlands and Reno. I'm Leaving for a position in Yellowstone in April and realize I will have sustained periods of very cold weather. Unfortunately that comes with metered electric which I haven't had to deal with yet.
How to keep my electric bill low? in Reno had night time temps in the teens not rising above the thirties during the day. There is black spray foam insulation under the RV. I used a heated water hose, wrapped the water pipe outside in multiple layers of insulation and kept my water heater on all the time. Never had frozen pipes.
I have an infra red heater I don't use at night, it gets too stuffy. Prefer good blankets and intermittent use of furnace at low setting. The frigid air came up from the floor in spite of a heavy rug over yoga mats. Can't seem to find a form of skirting that would be inexpensive, simple to use and lightweight.
Any ideas on how to stay warm without using lots of expensive propane and metered electric?
Also any advice on a small but effective dehumidifier?
Thanks for any and all advice,
Judy

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

compressor type dehumidifier Ivation 14.7 pt @amazon

[todalake]

Originally Posted by Larry0071

bulk purchasing your propane like suggested to post above is probably going to be your cheapest way to go. I think I would try to augment with two of the cheap 1500 watt electric heaters. You can run them on low which is 800 watts, and combine the electric at 800 watts and your propane system for heat. but at the end of day propane is going to be cheaper than electric under most circumstances with today's electric rates. It was around 20 degrees here two weekends ago and my wife and I spent the weekend in the camper and I went through two 20 gallon tanks of propane without using any electric heat in two nights. So that was around $25 for me to refill the two tanks at Tractor Supply to get me through less than 48 hours. but I do believe that you could get much larger tanks and buy it a much better price if you do as suggested above and have tanks dropped in for you. but no matter how you cut this it's going to hurt. The question is how much insulation can you add to prevent bleeding out too much LOL!

We have 2 100 lb tanks of propane. True, propane is cheaper but the delivery charge eats up most of the savings. Since we camp during summer and early fall and stay at one spot, we do it for the convenience(usually 1 tank/season). Delivery charge has tripled in last 10 years.

[Larry0071]

What does an empty tank weigh, is it something that once a year you can manhandle into the bed of your truck and haul it to a filling station nearby?

[jwfrede]

Originally Posted by Larry0071

What does an empty tank weigh, is it something that once a year you can manhandle into the bed of your truck and haul it to a filling station nearby?

I think an empty 100# tank weighs about 70 lbs. I've seen guys putting them in the back of their trucks. These days I think I would stick with the 30 lb tanks. I don't think they make anything between 30 and 100.

[Larry0071]

Originally Posted by jwfrede

I think an empty 100# tank weighs about 70 lbs. I've seen guys putting them in the back of their trucks. These days I think I would stick with the 30 lb tanks. I don't think they make anything between 30 and 100.

The Tractor Supply where I fill my 20lb tanks has 30 lb and 40 lb tanks on pallets beside the fill station.

[spower]

I use a Wave catalytic heater, propane tank outside, ran hose inside. this heater works great and uses very little propane!!

[srosey]

What campground are you staying in. The employee campground at I believe Lake has metered propane that you can have hooked up to your RV. If you are in one of the other employee campgrounds, one of the propane companies out of Cody comes into the park and can set you up with a large rental tank. They come by on a regular basis to top the tank off. Electricity is expensive in the park. Call your hiring manager or HR and they should be able to get you all the info you need about costs.

[PatrickY]

I admit I only skimmed through the second half of the first page of this thread, so someone else might have suggested it, but the most obvious and perhaps least expensive solution is to get yourself a couple of dogs.

If it's REALLY cold, get three and have yourself a comfortable "3 Dog Night". (that's supposedly where the band's name came from)

Or get yourself a couple of hot women - one for on each side of you. (warning: could be more expensive than dogs, but most likely a lot more fun)

Just sayin' ...