Its official,now fulltiming in the bus

[Dallas]

Bigtim: In cold weather, with three electric heaters, you will be using over 100 kwh per day of electricity. I don't know the local electric rate or how much the camp ground charges you for parking but most places don't allow electric heat even in the more moderate climates. One chart I looked at shows average rate in Colorado of .098/kwh which is almost $10.00 per day for heat alone lus all your other electric use.

Stan,

We've stayed at a lot of campgrounds while full timing and have never had a problem with the amount of electric we use, except at a KOA in Florence, SC where we were charged for 750KWh while we weren't using A/C, heat or much more than the refrigerator, computers and TV.
Even then the rate was 10¢/KWh.
Most of the campgrounds we've stayed at have either the electric covered in the monthly rent or charge a flat fee per day if you use A/C or electric heat. Usually the fee is $2-$3 per day.
I know a lot of seasonal campgrounds have metered sites such as the above mentioned KOA and also the Campground NCbob and his lovely bride are at in Franklin, NC.

In cold weather, (30° or less), our 2 electric heaters will periodically cycle down to about 20° when they stay on full time. I'm sure that if we did some more work insulating, we could cut the use down even more.

All that being said, I'm still a great believer in multiple heating systems. right now, preferably propane and electric, but as one comes available, I would like a Webasto along with the other methods.

what a wonderful hobby! We can all go and do it our way!

Dallas

[Stan]

Basalt, Co. has winter average daily temperatures below 20 and lows below 10 with humidity above 70%. I don't think you can heat a bus with two 120 volt electric heaters in those conditions.

At ten cents a kwh, electric may be the cheapest form of heat. A Webasto uses a lot of diesel fuel at those temps especially at 6600' where there is likely to be a lot of wind.

We stayed in campgrounds all over the US and Canada and seasonal sites usually had meters and they put a surcharge on the rate they paid. Campgrounds that allowed electric heat had high daily or monthly rates to cover the added expense. Since we used a Webasto I didn't stay where the rate included free electric regardless of how much you used. Two, three or five dollars extra on the daily rate used to be common for using AC or electric heat but most areas have seen electric rates double in the last ten years. At my home, my rate has more than doubled in one year to over sixteen cents.

My personal opinion is that you don't live in a RV at 0*F (you just survive). If your job requires you to move around frequently and stay for short periods, they may be the only alternative for housing in boom town areas. Certainly, the best alternative is to go South in the winter, and North in the summer (the best of both worlds). I did it for more than twenty years.

[bigtim44]

The electric usage is covered in the monthly fee which is $675 per month,that includes the internet also.my bus has a large suburban furnace which I can supplement with electric heaters.
  Thanks again for the input,we can't 'drive south' as our business is based in Aspen 20 miles away.once we've pulled a permit to build our house we can live in the bus on our property while we're building.

[bigtim44]

Well we've now been fulltiming now for about 7 months.so far everything has been fine for the most part.Heating the bus with two electric heaters has worked great,even when the temps got down to -10 F.We had to move the bus to another spot in the campsite at the beginning of Feb as the camper next door to us had numerous extension cables plugged into the same electric pedestal as us and was tripping the breakers all the time,this caused the water hose from the spigot to the bus to freeze and the block heater on my diesel truck to go off which was annoying.
  When the sun is out the heaters can be turned off.Condensation is not a problem with the dry air up here in the mountains.
For the water supply I taped heat tape onto the hose then covered it with foam pipe insulation ,then a 40 watt light bulb in the spigot enclosure.The bay with the tanks has a small electric heater in there with a thermostat.
  Here's a pic of the bus in the campsite

[Len Silva]

Using this calculator
http://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/articles/fuel_cost_comparison_calculator/
1 million btu's delivered would cost:

Off Road @$3.25              $29.76
Diesel @ $4.00/gal            $36.63
Electric @ 0.16 /kwh         $46.88
Propane @ $4.25/gal         $60.48


Propane is just getting prohibitive at these prices.

Len

[TomCat]

Using this calculator
http://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/articles/fuel_cost_comparison_calculator/
1 million btu's delivered would cost:

Off Road @$3.25              $29.76
Diesel @ $4.00/gal            $36.63
Electric @ 0.16 /kwh         $46.88
Propane @ $4.25/gal         $60.48


Propane is just getting prohibitive at these prices.

Len

WOW Len, where you getting your LP? I was just raising hell last week when my LP price jumped to $2.40 a gallon...delivered.

That would have me making the choice between Off Road, and LP when looking for a deal, because diesel doesn't appear to be dropping too quickly.

Jay
87 SaftLiner

[Len Silva]

All around Gainesville, FL it's four bucks plus
Len

[Kwajdiver]

Guys,

Remember last winter I was in Little Rock, AR.  We had a thread going about camp grounds and the cost of power.  Running two overheads and a space heater, my electric bill was almost $300.00 a month.  That was at a KOA and it was only down to 17degs.

Bill
In FLORIDA, and stilling put.

[oldmansax]

LP delivered to me in Maryland $2.39 .... up from $1.79

TOM

[edroelle]

DrivingMissLazy,


I remember when you lost your bus because of fire, but until I read your recent post, I did not know it was from a heater.

I was investigating the problem with mine, and found out that Cadet heaters (toe kick and others) were recalled because of the problem with dust and fires.   I think they blamed their problem on thin heating wires.  Why that would be more likely to cause a problem, I don't know.

Do you know the brand of yours?

Ed Roelle
Flint, MI

[DrivingMissLazy]

DrivingMissLazy,


I remember when you lost your bus because of fire, but until I read your recent post, I did not know it was from a heater.

I was investigating the problem with mine, and found out that Cadet heaters (toe kick and others) were recalled because of the problem with dust and fires.   I think they blamed their problem on thin heating wires.  Why that would be more likely to cause a problem, I don't know.

Do you know the brand of yours?

Ed Roelle
Flint, MI

I really do not know the brand of heater. Since they were mounted in the toe kick area of the bed and fairly close to the head of the bed, I never ever looked at them. My suspicion has always been that due to lack of inspection it loaded up with dust and lint over the years and the proximity of this dust/lint to the heating element, as well as possible blocking of cooling air, caused the fire.



Regards, Richard

[TomCat]

Richard and Ed,

I recently replaced my original 800/1600w electric toekick heaters with the Cadet Perfectoe 1000w version.

There are several points made in the owners paperwork that can stand repeating. The owners papers spell out in no uncertain terms, that the heaters are to be removed, disassembled, and thoroughly cleaned every 6 months.
Also, the Cadet heater is not for extended use above 7000' msl. (Glad I live at 6800'  )

When installing the heaters, I noticed that Cadet no longer uses small wires for it's heat source. Now it's a tube about 5/8" diameter, with little bumps all around it to wick off the heat. I suppose this tube never glows, and therefore reduces the chance of combustion.

After 5 months, I opened my kitchen toekick, and it was greatly in need of cleaning already.

Jay
87 SaftLiner

[Stan]

Anything that is a potential fire hazard that requires dis-assembly and cleaning every six months is a disaster waiting to happen. It may be OK for the original buyer who reads the instructions, but what about the next owner.

[TomCat]

Anything that is a potential fire hazard that requires dis-assembly and cleaning every six months is a disaster waiting to happen. It may be OK for the original buyer who reads the instructions, but what about the next owner.

The smell will tell you something is up, and needs your attention.

I'm glad to be doing business with a company that knows their products well enough to make periodic cleaning a must do.

Jay
87 SaftLiner

[DrivingMissLazy]

Anything that is a potential fire hazard that requires dis-assembly and cleaning every six months is a disaster waiting to happen. It may be OK for the original buyer who reads the instructions, but what about the next owner.

The smell will tell you something is up, and needs your attention.

I'm glad to be doing business with a company that knows their products well enough to make periodic cleaning a must do.

Jay
87 SaftLiner

Not necessarily so. I was using the heaters in my coach to maintain a minimum temperature during cold weather. The thermostats were set at the minimum temperature.

The coach was parked beside my house and the fire was detected about 6 AM. Fortunately a motorist passing by on the way to work noticed the smoke coming out a vent and woke up me and my family in the house and then called the fire department. It would have been very easy for the fire to have gone unnoticed for a few more hours and it could have easily spread to the house.

Do not take a chance on this type heater. You could wake up dead.

Richard