Travel trailer life

[Tdog]

Well, today is day 7 in a Wilderness travel trailer that is parked in my front yard while my house is being repaired. The contractor says it could take up to 3 months. Oh boy.

It is just my wife & me plus her two 70 lb. dogs - - yeah, she's the alpha b!tch & is proud of it. I've surrendered the queen size bed to them & sleep in a bunk bed at the other end of the trailer. I've been in worse beds, but not for an extened period of time.

This is my 1st exposure to using propane for heat & hot water. It sure would be easier if the system had some sort of gauge so I could tell when we are running low. Luckily, the weather has been pretty mild, with only a couple of mornings with temps in the 30's.

If anyone has any tips on living in a travel trailer for long periods of time, I'm sure open for suggestions.

 

[chucko]

If it has two tank it "should" change to the full one when the first one is empty and the little "pointer" for lack of a beeter term should show what tank it is on. When my points to "the other tank" I fill the empty one

 

[NewToy]

Like Chuck said you should have two bottles. I always filled up as soon as I emptied one insuring a full one on hand at all times. When we go to Lakeland,FL for a few months we would go approx 2 weeks on a 30# tank.That is not using the heat like we would here in Ohio but it still got chilly down there in the winter. I always set my water heater in the middle of the heat range, that saved alot on gas.
John

 

[Tdog]

Thanks chucko,

Like I said, I'm new to this - - but this trailer does not have a pointer/lever to allow you to switch from one tank to the other. If fact, if you disconnect one tank while the other is on, you can hear gas escaping through the disconnected tube. Seems lame to me, but what do I know?

As it is, I'm just picking up the tank in use every day or so to see how light it is, & I keep a spare handy to slap on as soon as I take off an empty.

I've got a feeling we have a heapy cheapy?

 

[chucko]

"""" if you disconnect one tank while the other is on, you can hear gas escaping through the disconnected tube"""


This should not happen. Seems like something is wrong there /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif. What ever tank mine is not pointed at I can unhook and mine is a older traver trailer (1991)

 

[Highbeam]

No, that's the way it was back in the day. My last trailer was a wilderness from 1978 and the two tanks were basicly connected by a tee. I switched to a fancier updated "tee" for just this reason and also to get a new regulator.

In this case, I would buy a backup tank or two to swap in when you run out or suspect you are about to. Large tanks can be bought and connected to your system for semi-permanent use. I had no idea it got that cold down in LA.

There are people that have made it a year with a family of four in a 20 footer so you'll be fine. I would kick the dogs out unless you intend to smell like a dog for the next 3 months.

My biggest tip would be to run electric via an extension cord or whatever to your trailer and use a space heater for heat. They have thermostatic 1500 watt ones for like 10$ at walmart. I assume you have electricity. Newer RVs will allow the electric to power the fridge, water heater, and the heat will be handled by one or more of those space heaters. Your propane will last much longer.

How are your sewer and water hookups?

 

[chucko]

"No, that's the way it was back in the day. "
I was thinking he was in a newer one. you can get the setup that will allow you to unhook the empty without turning off the full one for something like $40. Might be woth it it he bought the camper or is going to be in it for a long time

 

[Michael_E_Tx]

Hi Tdog.

I know some folks who have lived in a 5th wheel RV for several years. Whenever they put down in on spot for awhile, they hook up to a 100 lb. propane tank instead of the two 30's in the RV. It allows them to go quite a bit longer between fills. Assuming you're hooked up to electric, you might consider supplementing or replacing your propane with electric heaters.

Our son, who also lives in an RV fulltime, stayed with us on our property for about seven months last year (we've got a couple of RV sites set up for visiting kids and friends). He figured up that with our cheap electric rates (.05-.06/Kilowatt hr), it was much cheaper for him to heat with electric heaters than propane. Our rates would have to double before it would be cheaper to use propane at current prices.

 

[Holzster]

TDog -

One thing you could do until youget your 2 tank system down is a trick i learned somewhere to check the level of the propain in a tank.

get a large glass of HOT water - pour it on top of the tank slowly so it rolls over the side of the tank to the bottom of it (slowly here in one spot - do not move the glass) after the glass is empty take you hand and start at the top of the tank where you poured it down and move your hand down slowly. When the tank gets cold that is the level of the Propane. Because the water heats the metal up but can not heat the metal up if there is propan next to it.

Hope this make sense.

 

[Egon]

There are also little tape on strips that should show the tank level.

Best bet is to get a big tank and just use the small ones while the larger tank is being filled.

Egon /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif