Propane & Battery usage
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Topic: Propane & Battery usage
Posted By: dababe
Subject: Propane & Battery usage
Date Posted: 05 Mar 2012 at 10:25am
|
Hi again fellow Podders, On average, how long can I expect a 20lb tank of propane to last when using
the furnace thru much of the night ?
Also, what do you prefer via experience when running the fidge....propane
or the battery?
I am just trying to figure out how much usage I can get and the most
efficient way.
I bought an extra battery and am wondering if I really need an extra
propane tank. Thanks. |
Replies:
Posted By: HuronSailor
Date Posted: 05 Mar 2012 at 10:43am
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If you don't have access to shore power, you'll definitely want to run the fridge on propane. The fridge will suck the battery dry within a day or so depending on outside temps. It's the biggest battery hog in your pod. ------------- .: Mark & Beth :: Silverado 5.3L :: 2018 rPod 180 :. |
Posted By: John & Kris
Date Posted: 05 Mar 2012 at 11:13am
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DABABE: After you have the fridge chilled down and on the road we use the battery as the TV is also charging the Pod battery. When camped and no electrical use the propane as suggested as iit will suck the battery down quickly. When pluged in we use an electric heater and it works great and saves the propane if we are ij a Walmart or Flying J. Depending on how "warm" ypou want it the propane should last a decent amount of time...you will just have to test it after running the stove and heater for a days use and see how much propane has been used ( you will have to take into consideration the outside temp and your internal setting as that will vary the amount used) Hope this helps...I am sure others have more expeience with the Pod Porpane usage as we are new to our unit. Have FUN podding   John ------------- John.Kris & "Sarah" our Golden Aiken SC "12 R.Pod 182G TV "12 Lexus GX460 |
Posted By: Keith-N-Dar
Date Posted: 05 Mar 2012 at 11:46am
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We spent a week in Estes Park late September and ran the heater nearly every night. It dipped into the twenties most nights. We still had most of the tank when we got home. Not scientific, but the gas use was quite small. For us one 20 pound tank seems to be what we need. YMMV. ------------- Keith-N-Dar Boris & Betty (Boston Terriers) 2011 R-Pod 177 2010 Ford F-150 |
Posted By: techntrek
Date Posted: 05 Mar 2012 at 12:10pm
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The fridge will kill the battery in a few hours in 12 volt mode, but will last for a month on propane (assuming you keep the battery charged periodically - it still needs some battery power even in propane mode). Depending on how cold it is outside and how warm you have it set inside, the furnace will last from several days to a week on one tank. Usually you have to worry about the battery more because the furnace fan is a hog. 2 or 3 nights tops for the battery if you keep your other useage low, like lights and water pump.
------------- Doug ~ '10 171 (2009-2015) ~ 2008 Salem ~ http://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=1723 - Pod instruction manual 
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Posted By: techntrek
Date Posted: 05 Mar 2012 at 12:14pm
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two batteries work best when charged and used together, make sure you connect them properly. After paralleling the + and -, connect the campers + to one battery and the - to the other. Connecting the campers lines to only one of them will cause them to charge and discharge unevenly killing one of them early.
------------- Doug ~ '10 171 (2009-2015) ~ 2008 Salem ~ http://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=1723 - Pod instruction manual
|
Posted By: Snowbound
Date Posted: 05 Mar 2012 at 3:23pm
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Your propane will last far longer than you think it will for refridgerator and stove ad heating. Last year we camped 70 nights. We used the stove on average once per day and had to heat the pod at night about 6 times. We ran the fridge on propane except when actually on the road when we switched over to battery. We refilled the 20 lb. propane tank once and still have some left. The first time we took it out our propane ran dry after 2 days. Our camping neighbour smelled propane and we discovered we had a leak. We used the dish soap test to track it down.( Dish soap bubbles around the leak) The RV people fixed the leak and re-filled the tank and we have had no problems since. ------------- Tom and Bette in our 177 "The Gastropod" |
Posted By: Outbound
Date Posted: 06 Mar 2012 at 9:44pm
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My experience has been: using my furnace in 0C-10C overnight temperatures, propane will last 4-6 days. Running just the fridge on propane, on the other hand will last 20-25 days. The water heater will consume a tank in around 15-20 days. Each burner on your stove, on high, uses about 1 pound of propane per hour. So, as far as propane use, I tend to use a tank about every 4-5 days in spring/autumn. In the summer, a tank tends to last about 15 days. But, as others have mentioned, your weakest link is the battery. With reasonable use of lights, powering the propane detector and water pump, plus charging my cell phone, a group 27 battery will last me 3 nights (maybe 4) during the summer. A group 24 battery (which is the standard size installed by many RV dealers) lasts me 2 nights. In the spring/autumn when the furnace runs frequently, the group 27 lasts 2 nights; a group 24 will get me through 1 night. ------------- Craig :: 2009 RP171 towed by a 2017 F150 |
Posted By: techntrek
Date Posted: 06 Mar 2012 at 9:59pm
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Good info, Outbound, thanks.
------------- Doug ~ '10 171 (2009-2015) ~ 2008 Salem ~ http://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=1723 - Pod instruction manual
|
Posted By: jato
Date Posted: 12 Mar 2012 at 6:02pm
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Outbound sums up quite well our experience with propane and battery usage. We use a lot of lights and battery usage is longer because we changed all our interior lights to L.E.D.'s which only consume about 1 watt/bulb and are brighter than the factory installed ones. At that rate we could use all our interior lights at the same time and still use about the same amount of watts as 1 factory installed bulb! We camped out at Glacier for a week last September and had mid-upper 30's each night, furnace worked quite a bit, we only used them a night as we were hiking during the day. We managed to get 12 days out of 1 tank, that included a fair amount of stove use for cooking as well. We were thankful to have 2 batteries, they would run to about 1/3 charge after 4 days, after that we switched to the other.
------------- God's pod '11 model 177 '17 Ford F-150 4WD 3.5 Ecoboost Jim and Diane by beautiful Torch Lake "...and you will know the Truth and the Truth will set you free." |
Posted By: this_is_nascar
Date Posted: 12 Mar 2012 at 7:28pm
Can you share the details of the LEDs you installed and if you have a weblink, that would be great. Thanks.
------------- "Ray & Connie" - 2017 R-Pod RP-180 - 2007 Toyota Tacoma TRD-Off Road |
Posted By: jato
Date Posted: 12 Mar 2012 at 8:50pm
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I changed out the existing 921 bulbs with ones from Putco, go to their website or you can purchase them in pairs for $ 20.00 at Amazon. I got mine from Putco last April, but friends of mine ordered theirs from Amazon (got the exact same thing) for the same price, I guess the choice is yours. Expensive up front BUT, use very little off your battery AND they will last a long time AND they don't give off any heat AND they give off more light than the factory installed 921's.
------------- God's pod '11 model 177 '17 Ford F-150 4WD 3.5 Ecoboost Jim and Diane by beautiful Torch Lake "...and you will know the Truth and the Truth will set you free." |
Posted By: this_is_nascar
Date Posted: 13 Mar 2012 at 7:36am
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OK, thanks. I'll check them out, but was also considering these. The price is right and I've read of at least one other person using them.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&vxp=mtr&item=300602400597 - http://www.ebay.com/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&vxp=mtr&item=300602400597
------------- "Ray & Connie" - 2017 R-Pod RP-180 - 2007 Toyota Tacoma TRD-Off Road |
Posted By: jato
Date Posted: 13 Mar 2012 at 4:00pm
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Ray, Those would work however the one I use is nearly identical in size to the one you have removed, so it will fit inside the lens nicely w/o having to fabricate an additional piece to hold it in place, as you would probably have to if you purchased the one you posted on your link. My 1 cents worth. Jim ------------- God's pod '11 model 177 '17 Ford F-150 4WD 3.5 Ecoboost Jim and Diane by beautiful Torch Lake "...and you will know the Truth and the Truth will set you free." |
Posted By: this_is_nascar
Date Posted: 13 Mar 2012 at 4:14pm
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Thanks Jim. I having difficulties finding the correct one from that website that you provided. Can you narrow it down for me please?
------------- "Ray & Connie" - 2017 R-Pod RP-180 - 2007 Toyota Tacoma TRD-Off Road |
Posted By: jato
Date Posted: 13 Mar 2012 at 4:30pm
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Sure, the Putco page is hard to maneuver. Do a google search. Type in " putco, led light bulbs for travel trailers." On the result page go down about 5 entries to where it reads " putco white 921 Type 360 degree Hi Intensity LED premium replacement light bulb." Click on that link and you can read all the comments on the bulb. You will read some negative comments but I am still sold on them 1 year after purchase. A few of my friends who have purchased the same also have nothing but praise for the bulb. Some replied these are dim but IMHO if they were any brighter, they would be too bright. Price is $ 20.16/pair on Amazon. You can order them - look at the upper right hand corner to order. Hope this helps. ------------- God's pod '11 model 177 '17 Ford F-150 4WD 3.5 Ecoboost Jim and Diane by beautiful Torch Lake "...and you will know the Truth and the Truth will set you free." |
Posted By: rid415
Date Posted: 13 Mar 2012 at 8:43pm
| putco charge to much go to ebay better deal |
Posted By: jato
Date Posted: 13 Mar 2012 at 10:01pm
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Couldn't find the putco bulbs on ebay, what kind of a deal can you get on a pair?
------------- God's pod '11 model 177 '17 Ford F-150 4WD 3.5 Ecoboost Jim and Diane by beautiful Torch Lake "...and you will know the Truth and the Truth will set you free." |
Posted By: Camper Bob
Date Posted: 13 Mar 2012 at 10:13pm
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I am contemplating buying a 171 and have been watching both forums for months and have gotten some terrific info. I was instructed to purchase some LED replacement bulbs on ebay. I purchased 5 on anticipation of buying a 171. They were .99 each, for a 36 leds per bulb. They are sent from China and others who had purchased them were thrilled. Great light output and certainly less than the $20/bulb from other sites of Camping World. ------------- Camper Bob and Camper Sue Gracie the Wonder Dog (12 LB. Mini Dachshund) 2013 Rpod 171HRE(ORPod) 2016 Lance 1685 2015 Nissan Pathfinder |
Posted By: Kickstart
Date Posted: 14 Mar 2012 at 12:46am
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Hey Nascar Ray, I replaced all of our Pod's 921's with the exact bulbs from E/Bay that you're considering. They don't put out quite as much light as a 921, but are perfectly adequate for reading. They install very quickly with the included adapters and tape, and don't produce the seemingly almost dangerous heat that the 921's do. Longevity? I dunno, so I made sure because of the price to buy a couple extras. |
Posted By: this_is_nascar
Date Posted: 14 Mar 2012 at 10:04am
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Thanks again everyone. Yea, I'm leaning towards those .99 ones. At that price, I can buy extras and replace them if/when one goes bad. Glad to hear they come with mounting tape. Jato has already said those Putco ones he has are bright. How about these .99 one from oversees. Are they as bright as the OEM bulbs that are already installed? Jato, I'm going to try to get to that page in a bit. Thanks.
------------- "Ray & Connie" - 2017 R-Pod RP-180 - 2007 Toyota Tacoma TRD-Off Road |
Posted By: furpod
Date Posted: 15 Mar 2012 at 1:08pm
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We put in the 24 led ones everywhere ecept over the sink, did the 36's there. At least as bright as the factory bulbs, but a "cooler" temperature of light, more white/blue.. I don't mind it a bit, some might. We replaced the porch light with the putco bulb, it is at least, if not brighter than stock bulb. We did have two of the tape mountings come undone over the winter, I opened the fixture and pushed them back up, they have stayed up for the 2 weeks since I noticed them.
------------- |
Posted By: this_is_nascar
Date Posted: 16 Mar 2012 at 7:11am
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I'm going to move forward and order the eBay ones for $,99 each. You can't beat that price and I'm really taken back by all the negative reviews of the Putco/Amazon ones. I'm glad the user here is having good luck with his, but for the price, I'm not willing to take the risk. As reported, they included the double-sided sticky mounting tape, so I can't imagine installation is all that big of a deal. For the price of one set of the Amazon ones, I can have my entire R-Pod outfitted with these.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&vxp=mtr&item=300602400597 - http://www.ebay.com/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&vxp=mtr&item=300602400597
------------- "Ray & Connie" - 2017 R-Pod RP-180 - 2007 Toyota Tacoma TRD-Off Road |
Posted By: this_is_nascar
Date Posted: 16 Mar 2012 at 7:16am
Well, now I'm back to reconsidering again. I just went to order (10) of these and they wanted to tack on $21.90 for shipping, for a total of $30.00. It's still cheaper that one set of the other ones, not counting whatever they charge for shipping. I just hate getting ripped-off on shipping charges.
------------- "Ray & Connie" - 2017 R-Pod RP-180 - 2007 Toyota Tacoma TRD-Off Road |
Posted By: tpierce220
Date Posted: 16 Mar 2012 at 10:47am
I saw that Ray as I was considering purchasing them for the trailer. I also noticed this:
------------- Adventures with ¡Podtástic!--Life in a Forest River RPod 182G with Tim and Louis and our two cats, Desi and Lucy. Check our website at http://podtastic.info for information on our journeys. |
Posted By: this_is_nascar
Date Posted: 17 Mar 2012 at 8:25am
I missed that. I guess that explains the $.99 price tag. If shipping was cheaper, I'd still take a chance on them. At that low price, even if every other one worked, I'd be ahead of the game.
------------- "Ray & Connie" - 2017 R-Pod RP-180 - 2007 Toyota Tacoma TRD-Off Road |