# Propane Tanks



## stapless (Feb 20, 2005)

please forgive such a stupid question, but I gotta ask. I already used up my first 30# propane tank. only had my OB for about a month and a half. been out for 3 long weekends. did basic cooking. mostly used the electric for hot water, but some on gas. funace off at night, but usually flipped on in AM to warm up the rig once DW and kids and i got up. (now using ceramic portable heater thanks to the excellent advise on this forum) I did have a couple of nights in the driveway where Minnesota nights got well less than freezing and felt safer with the rig heated to low 60's, so did use furnace all night those couple of nights. fridge always on electric except trips to and from camp site (less than 10 hours total).

should this amount of use be enough to polish off a tank or do I need to go in search of leaks? if so, must be on outside of rig as no smell or alarm inside of unit. thanks in advance for the info!! you all continue to amaze me with your wealth of knowledge!!

scott

P.S. pelonis disc furnace works very well. got it at CW for $80 or so (link is below). the great feature is a continuously variable heat output. the thing senses ambient temperature with a sensor on the power cord, and slowly turns itself up or down depending on need for heat. no abrupt on/off noises. the slow gradual change is great, DW/kids/I all slept very soundly. Only issue was could have probably used 2 of them one night last weekend when the temp was 40 degrees outside with 90% humidity. kept warm enough, but seemed to run pretty hard all night.

http://www.campingworld.com/browse/skus/in...17&skunum=19119


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## tdvffjohn (Mar 10, 2005)

If you used the heat that much, it does not sound bad. If you think how long your 20 lb tank on your gas grill lasts and you average 20 min each time......if you had a leak, with 4 trips you would have smelled it by now. I had a extremly slight leak at my regulater by the tanks and the dealer was amazed I smelled it.

PS. there is no such thing on Outbackers (stupid questions)


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## CamperAndy (Aug 26, 2004)

Normal usage considering what you indicated you did with it.

At 21,500 BTU/Lb your furnace will use over a pound a hour.


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## Y-Guy (Jan 30, 2004)

Sounds reasonable to me too, furnace chews through a lot of LP when its cold outside as they are not very efficient.


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## Ghosty (Jan 17, 2005)

Sounds like normal usage ... furnace rated right at under a pound an hour on full blast

May I suggest that you purchase a little ceramic heater from WALMART for about 19.99 -- does a great job keeping the trailer warm in the winter without running propane ...

of course here in South Texas it got to 97 today so airconditioning is our concern year round not heat -- think i ran my furnace twice last year (a cold front moved through and it dropped to like 50 outside







)


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## kk5fe (Mar 6, 2005)

Ghosty said:


> Sounds like normal usage ... furnace rated right at under a pound an hour on full blast
> 
> May I suggest that you purchase a little ceramic heater from WALMART for about 19.99 -- does a great job keeping the trailer warm in the winter without running propane ...
> 
> ...


South Texas sounds about like here in South Louisiana.....







It took me a year to go through a 30 pound tank last year camping at least a couple of times a month. We were in a pop-up then which was like no protection in the winter.....







Of course our winters are probably still warmer then some of you guys summer!


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## Ghosty (Jan 17, 2005)

kk5fe said:


> South Texas sounds about like here in South Louisiana.....
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I spent a year stationed at Fort Polk LA -- holy cow -- between the swamps and the mosquitos I couldnt get out of there fast enough --

but I did love the Cajun food ...


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## kk5fe (Mar 6, 2005)

Ghosty said:


> kk5fe said:
> 
> 
> > South Texas sounds about like here in South Louisiana.....
> ...


The Mosquito is our State bird


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## DernMooseAK (Apr 16, 2004)

I guess I must have got the 5 Star energy efficient model.







Just used the last of 1 of my 30#tanks last trip. Went all last summer and 3 trips this year. Always run fridge on propane and heat set to 68-70 at night(almost always), little cooking, mostly on portable grill.
Have been using same tank the whole time to see how long it would last. I'm impressed.
Here in Alaska it gets chilly at night, the furnace usually only kicks on about 3-4 times a night that I hear.


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## Thor (Apr 7, 2004)

A 30 lbs tank lasts me all season and we do alot of dry camping which means the fridge is running of LP.

I know the furnance uses alot more than the fridge but we use the furnance as well.

Are you sure that your tank was full to start with?? I have no idea if Keystone ships with tanks full or the dealer fills them? Also when getting your tanks filled...remember the filling head weighs approx. 4 lbs... so when getting your tank filled it should actual weigh 34lbs or they need to zero out the scale with the fill head.

4lbs on a 30 lbs tank i9s more than 10%.

Thor


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