Quote:
Originally Posted by 66joej
Don't suppose there was an estimate for monthly propane use? Quantity not price.
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Here's the "math answer":
The Dometic refrigerator burner uses 1200 BTU per hour.
Propane has 91,500 BTU per gallon so a 7 gallon tank (at 80% full) has about 5.6 gallons or 512,400 BTU.
If the refrigerator burner operates 50% of the time, then it would be lit for 12 hours in a 24 hour period. That's 12x1200 or 14,400 BTU per day.
With a tank containing 512,400 BTU, using 14,400 per day, the tank would last about 35 days.
So, the previous estimate of "about a tank of propane a month" is pretty close to "calculated consumption". At $2.49 per gallon (Tractor Supply's current price in our city) 5.6 gallons costs $14+tax.
That works out to about $15 a month to operate the refrigerator on propane. I haven't worked out the cost to operate on electricity, but would make a "best guess" that it is fairly close to the price of propane operation.
Honestly, if someone has a $60K truck and a $50K trailer and they're worried about whether they can afford to leave the refrigerator operating for a week between trips ??????? I just can't wrap my head around being that "thrifty" when towing 10 tons of bulk down the highway, getting 10 MPH when diesel was $2.39/gal last year and is $3.39/gal this year.... Wouldn't the increased cost of diesel "eat up the thriftiness" of turning off the refrigerator in the first 100 miles ???? If the budget is that tight, maybe parking the rig until the economy gets better would be the way to go. But then, at $3 a bag for ice, even using coolers (or drinking frozen umbrella drinks) would cost far more than a week of refrigerator power.... YMMV
ADDED: Joe, The first part of this post is to answer your question. The second part is a "general observation" and is not specifically directed toward you or your camping style. This is just my view on some of the decisions people make to "save a buck while spending thousands" on a very expensive lifestyle......