more eficient cab heat or generator heat?

[Flame]

Probably a silly question and hope I never need this but here goes. We will be travelling up into some icy frozen areas for a week. If we were to break down or get stranded on the side of the road which method of heat would save on fuel the most? I do not use propane so that is out. Better to crank the triton V-10 motor and let idle with the heater on or...crank the generator and use heat strip and rooftop heat to stay warm? I live in warm east Texas so no experience in this.

[ASaucyBurrito]

Looking at some Ford Truck forums, the V10 consumes around 0.8-1.2 GPH at idle. Perhaps others on here can comment, but that sounds like a reasonable number.

The Onan 4000 should be consuming 0.5 GPH at half load, which is probably correct assuming your heat strip is around 1500W.

If the heat strip is sufficient to keep the rig warm for you, then it is probably the more economical choice. Propane would be the most efficient of the three.

[BobW9]

Hi, Flame,

You should keep in mind that heat pumps are limited, and the standard Penguin A/C + Heat Pump most of us have only operates down to 24 f (and from what I understand not all that well once you get below 35-40 f). After that it shuts down and will not operate until the temp is above 34 f again. That is why the Chinooks came with propane furnaces, to pick up the heating after the temps drop below what the heat pump can handle.

So if you're concerned about staying warm with the generator as backup, I suggest you buy a small ceramic AC heater that you can plug in. From my experience I'd say you can definitely run the generator longer than the engine, though remember the generator stops around 1/4 tank (could stop sooner if you're not parked fairly flat).

From living in Canada years back, I'd say the best things you can do are the usual:
1) Always fill your gas tank when it gets to 1/2 full. For really cold weather, if you're driving in sparsely populated areas, I'd fill it every 100-120 miles just to be certain.
2) Have blankets and warm jackets, hat, socks. Being in an RV, that should be easy
3) Have roadside flares and/or flashing lights handy (should really always have those).

Safe travelling,
Bob

[Flame]

Thank you everyone. Now I guess I need to rethink using propane.

[chin_k]

If you are moving, then the engine is "free" since it needs to get rid of the heat anyway. I think most car pass the air over the coolant to heat the cabin, and this is why you are not getting any cabin heat until the engine is warm. But in your question, you want to know when the rig is stranded. In that case, as Bob said, it is the generator that is more fuel efficient. I don't know if it is possible to add heating coil to the Penguin, but some window heat pump for household use have that option when heat pump not going to heat when the temperature is too low. Heat pump is more efficient than heating coil when the temperature is not too cold, but nothing beats burning fossil fuel when it come to economy.

When idling, my experience is that the V10 uses 1 gal per hour. Did that for four hours in traffic and moved less than 4 miles the whole time, and used a little more than 4 gal, so the MPG was 1 mpg, while was surprising good.

[caconcourse]

Thank you everyone. Now I guess I need to rethink using propane.

I think it is funny that a user with the name "Flame" is reluctant to use propane. We all want to be safe however. Love your Land Shark.

[Flame]

Thanks, everyone. Clay, I see the humor!! I got my nickname James the flame when I raced stock cars. One of the other drivers gave it to me and one of my fans actually airbrushed me a cap with "The Flame" on it. It has stuck for many years.After winning their rookie of the year and their track championship the first year they started saying here comes James the Flame. Didn' hurt that I had painted flames all down both sides of my racecar!! But I have experience being too close to fire and just don't like things that can blow up. Hah!! Thanks for the compliment on my "Land Shark".

[Blue~Go]

I was going to say, how about the furnace. Although eventually the house battery would give up (and/or the start battery if you were able to connect that), you'd get some big heat and could run it sparingly to save on the battery (or run the generator to charge the battery).

I'll just say that while, sure, propane can explode and kill you..... so can gasoline. And you've got 35 gallons of that riding along beneath your rig. You likely fill up where people may light up a cig , and heck, you are even causing it to spark and fire on purpose in your engine and generator.

The key to propane is to make sure the system is set up safely, is in good working order, and includes detector(s). Also, I prefer marine stoves that won't let gas keep flowing if the flame is out (friend with poor sense of smell, leaned against the kitchen stove in his RV, accidentally rotated the gas knob, and when I came over later whoa, it reeked of propane!). Marine stoves will only flow gas if there is heat (i.e. flame). No flame, gas shuts off. Of course you could just not lean against the stove.

OTOH, it's no fun to be scared. That's why I do anything in my power not to fly commercially, statistics be darned. So you may feel the same way about propane.

[Dano]

Hear a lot of good things about the Buddy Heaters being very efficient off the propane and keeping things pretty warm. I just got a DeWalt version with a 20V lithium battery powered fan and will test it shortly in out 20 below Celsius current temps and will report back on it's performance....