A New Propane Strategy

RV furnaces, water heaters, stoves, and even refrigerators run on propane. My ’98 Winnebago Brave has a built-in tank that fills to about 15 gallons, which is enough to meet my needs from the 1^st of May until the 1^st of November. That’s fantastic, but needs in the winter months change dramatically. At my last more permanent location, I had a 120 gallon tank delivered, which served my needs for the better part of the winter. Since I am so transient with work and location right now, I want to be anchored, but not –too- anchored. Being anchored, but not too anchored requires a different strategy for propane.

At my last location, I had a 120 gallon tank delivered, which was great for long periods. However, it cost $100 for delivery and $100 for removal. That’s $200 every time I move, which isn’t sustainable. In my new location, I got numerous quotes and all came in around $240 for the same service. Some places even charge a yearly tank rent of around $70, so the cost of having a tank present is costly. Making things worse, every propane delivery to a rented tank comes with a $18 haz-mat fee.

To solve some of these problems, I decided to create all new ones this year. Since the cost of moving is so high, the price of propane delivery adds up, and the price of propane is ridiculous this year, I am changing my energy strategy. First, instead of heating the house primarily with propane, I will be using electric heaters. Electricity is $0.15/kilowatt-hour at my park, whereas propane is currently around $3/gallon. Second, I will be using the install/removal fees as my budget to buy my own tanks.

The $0.15/kWh vs. $3/gallon figure above is almost useless. Except that on the coldest days, I will use approximately 20 kWh for the 24 hour period, which is $3/day for all electricity needs. On that same day, I would use about 1.5 gallons of propane, which is $4.50. Though these figures are preposterous since I’m heating a breadbox, they’re accurate.

My new strategy comes with some pitfalls. I now have to get my personal propane tanks filled on my own, which means transporting them in my car. I had to buy a bunch of brass knickknacks and hoses to connect the tanks to my RV. Yeah, they don’t just screw on and poof, done. Nothing with RV’s is. So, I had to choose tanks that I could lift, but that wouldn’t run out too quickly. The biggest tank I am comfortable transporting and moving on my own is a 40# tank. The “#” there is “pound,” but is not a direct indicator of weight. For instance, the 40# tank holds 9.4 gallons and weighs 70 pounds (Lbs) when full.

So, propane and gas lines are ridiculously convoluted. It isn’t possible to just go to the hardware store and buy a connection kit. Nope. The first step is figuring out where you want to hook the tank into the RV; before or after the vehicle’s regulator. Well, let me tell you; this isn’t an easy choice to make.

To make a long story short, I chose to connect the new tank directly to the RV’s main propane inlet and to regulate pressure at the new tank. What this required was figuring out what kind and size of fitting the RV inlet was. It ended up being a ½” flare fitting. Easy, right? Nope.

With propane fittings, you have to know thread direction (some are reversed), type of connection (flare or pipe) and you have to know these details about every single junction and what types of fittings are possible to obtain for fitting to the next piece. Since I knew what the inlet was, I built from there. Here’s the list of parts I ended up with to attach the new tank to the ‘bago:

RV Inlet: ½” normal-thread male flare

NEW PARTS

Swivel Union (1/2” flare nut to 3/8” flare nut)

Flare to Pipe-Thread Adapter (3/8” normal-thread male flare to 3/8” normal-thread male pipe-thread)

5’ Hose Assembly (3/8” normal-thread female pipe-thread to 3/8” normal-thread male pipe-thread)

Pressure Regulator with ACME Nut (3/8” normal-thread female pipe-thread)

40#, 9.4 gallon propane tank with ACME male connector/valve

Doesn’t sound that bad. It’s not. But I found the simplest solution possible for connecting my own propane tank to the ‘bago. Regrettably, it has taken me too much time and too many trips to the hardware store to finally figure it all out. Many hardware stores don’t have all the connections needed to make this possible.

Many hardware store trips, questions, and frustrations later, I’m up and running. I’m now more mobile than ever before. What’s the value of that? Well, I’m not sure. But since I don’t have a permanent job, it seems that minimizing these $240 propane tank moves might be worth it. In the end, I’ll have a couple nifty 40# propane tanks that will act as year-long barbeque tanks at my future permanent home. The $240 I would have spent to have a tank delivered and removed just turned into a one-time cost of about $100, $170 if I want a second big tank, and I never have to pay that again if I don’t want to. In the last two years, I have lost $480 to propane tank delivery and removal and in total, $600 to propane tank machinations. I’ve learned my lesson. I just wish I learned it sooner.