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How much propane do you use for heat
#1
Like someone said in another thread ‘who would have thought its so hard to heat a small space’. Well I finally got my DIY floor heat heater operational and I’m wanting some idea if it’s comparable in fuel use to other heat sources. I’ve only tried it on low so far. After four days of use I filled back 3.5 gallons in my 20 lb bottle . It’s been off a few hours a few times so it’s closer to 3.5 days which would be one gallon per day or about $2.50 per day. But this is on low. It’s only about 55 degrees inside, 25 degrees outside. I’ll get more numbers on high soon. 
 Exhaust gas flue reading is about 100 degrees. The floor is reading 75 degrees. I wish I had a temperature inside the flue and may add that feature. I wanted vented heat because of the moisture and air quality. 
 So to compare fuel consumption to a forced air furnace or a catalytic space heater may not mean much without a lot more numbers but it will give me some idea. 
 I’m pretty happy with it and my warm feet are loving it. If I continue to like it I will collect data on high and share how it works. Right now I’m seeing how little fuel it can use on low. And to try and get through this cold snap on my 20 lb bottles
 Oh, this is a 32 foot Motorhome with 2” of foam insulation in the walls and ceiling. 
 Wow, last Winter was mild compared to this one. So I’m glad I went to the effort to assemble this Rube Goldberg like heater.  
 Thanks and stay warm.
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#2
I will add that the floor heat system does use a little electricity for a pump. It’s a 50 watt AC circulating pump currently. I’m going to try Dc pumps to try and halve the power sumptuous.
My bedroom is about 60 degrees because I cobbled together a 230 watt electric heater to help keep down the moisture.
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#3
I don’t know how many gallons, but I go through 4 lbs in 28 hours on my Dickenson 12000 btu vented heater, on a fairly low setting. How do you convert lbs to gallons?
[-] The following 1 user says Thank You to Flying kurbmaster for this post:
  • Roadtripp (02-12-2019)
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#4
We use about 1 1/2 gallons a week between cooking, heating, hot water and fridge.  Without heating about 1/2 gallon a week.  This is on a normal basis. In real cold lots more.
Compared to parenting, Cat herding is less complicated
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#5
So many variables.......every rig/location/weather/hours of operation/at ? setting/etc,etc ... changes the result.

Right now , here in East Coast Alaska or the Northeast Corner as the hamsters call it.
A 4.5 gallon tank (#20) lasts from 2-8 days , usually on the 9000btu setting keeping it about ~80 in the 16' I have blocked off in a 23' class C  and 1" insulation , temps vary from -10 to 50* and heating from 5 to 16 hrs a day. Cool
stay tuned 
popeye


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[-] The following 1 user says Thank You to rvpopeye for this post:
  • Roadtripp (02-12-2019)
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#6
5lb/20 gal. on the big buddy heater lasts me 5 weeks using it daily about 2 to 3 hours every morning. $2.03 a gal here in Yuma. So about $2.00 a week. Of course it is only in the mid 40s at nite and gets into the high 60s low 70s during the day. We really suffer here in the winter.
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#7
(02-10-2019, 02:49 PM)Flying kurbmaster Wrote: I don’t know how many gallons, but I go through 4 lbs in 28 hours on my Dickenson 12000 btu vented heater, on a fairly low setting. How do you convert lbs to gallons?

I think that’s just under a gallon if it’s a 20 lb tank. Those look like nice heaters. So similar consumption. I’m certain there’s significant losses from our vented heaters but I wanted to try it. I sometimes turn on my Little Buddy catalytic for a blast of heat as it takes sometime for the floor heat to get up to temperature. 
 Thanks.
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#8
(02-10-2019, 04:28 PM)GotSmart Wrote: We use about 1 1/2 gallons a week between cooking, heating, hot water and fridge.  Without heating about 1/2 gallon a week.  This is on a normal basis. In real cold lots more.

Ok, thanks. Sounds like you are using one tank of propane for everything maybe?  My cooker stove, heater, and water are all on separate 20 lb tanks currently. I wish I was using much less for heating yet. Half a gallon a day would be great. I’m hoping more insulation will enable this.
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#9
“rvpopeyeSo many variables.......every rig/location/weather/hours of operation/at ? setting/etc,etc ... changes the result.”

“Right now , here in East Coast Alaska or the Northeast Corner as the hamsters call it.
A 4.5 gallon tank (#20) lasts from 2-8 days , usually on the 9000btu setting keeping it about ~80 in the 16' I have blocked off in a 23' class C  and 1" insulation , temps vary from -10 to 50* and heating from 5 to 16 hrs a day. Cool
 
  Thanks,  I agree it’s a vague question but gives me some idea. Wow, I wonder if by going to ~80 it’s forcing some moisture out? I’ll look up your posts to see a description of ventilation, etc. 2-8 days?  That’s a big gap. One of the reasons I built this system is I wanted to see if a radiant system left on low would work in a steady fashion through changing weather conditions. It seems to work fairly well that way. I can set it and forget it for hours or all day but I like to check things. Even with the inside air only ~55 it still seems fairly comfortable. But I’m on the Puget Sound and don’t see huge temperature changes like you do. 
 East Coast Alaska, I’ve not heard it called that. I think I remember you are using a Big Buddy catalytic.  That is very economical. I’m impressed by those numbers.
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#10
Photo 
(02-10-2019, 05:29 PM)smrtrvlr Wrote: 5lb/20 gal. on the big buddy heater lasts me 5 weeks using it daily about 2 to 3 hours every morning. $2.03 a gal here in Yuma. So about $2.00 a week. Of course it is only in the mid 40s at nite and gets into the high 60s low 70s during the day. We really suffer here in the winter.

Great, not bad, enjoy that. Catch some rays. Been to El Godones?
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