Does anyone not use any of their propane stuff in their pop-up?

[Beerlifter]

As was mentioned earlier........my house is on propane...of course we live out by Lake Thunderbird....I myself don't have a problem with it except for the price to fill my home tank (250 gallons). We generally don't use the one in the camper just for the fact that we are camping. The DW loves to cook over an open fire, and she is mighty good at it too! If the weather ever forced us to cook inside the camper I wouldn't hesitate to fire up the old 2 burner for some sloppy joes or something of that sort.

[MelWood23]

Heather...I am also a 'freak' then cause I also have this propane phobia. Well anything to do with fire, though I have no problem with campfires   . I rather cook on a campfire/grill or eat out then use propane. I think my paranoia is due to the fact that I am afraid I will make a mistake or forget some key info when using propane.

[jpreiser]

We use it sometimes, we have used the furnace once, and the stove top but we use it out side, I never cook in the pop up.. this past trip I kept smelling propane by my bunk ( front ) turns out when my husband changed tank line ( something chewed thru it)  he did not make the connection tight  enough and there was a leak. he retightened it and everything was fine. I use more electric when I can I figure I am paying for the Electric site... might as well use it:)  Electric skillet and fry pan work great...

[danjo67]

Time and Time again, We read about and hear about structure fires caused by electricity.  When was the last time any propane or natural gas explosions made the news.  The truth is that if you do a little research you'll find out that propane and natural gas are two of the safest utilities there are.  They just need to be respected and understood.  If we are camping where electricity is supplied, we also use as many electric appliances that we can.  But that's because of the cost factor- not for safety, that's for sure.

[Gone-Camping]

To asnwer you in another way.... if Propane were really dangerous, the Do-Gooders of this country would have had it out-lawed years ago! Being that propane is LP gas (Low Pressure) it is relatively safe.
 
The biggest danger from propane may be carbon monoxide, and about the only way that would become dangerous is if you had a FAULTY furnace or use the cooking appliance for heating purposes. This stuff burns so clean that using it for cooking will not present any kind of problem, just vent a window open, or roof vent...

[tlhdoc]

Being that propane is LP gas (Low Pressure) it is relatively safe.

Gee I thought that LP stood for Liquid Petroleum, not low pressure. :confused: I have high and low pressure LP regulators on my camper. I wonder what the high pressure regulator is for?

[campinwi]

I have a propane fridge, stove and furnace in my camper. I do not use any of them. I find that the exhaust smell from the propane when the fridge is on really bothers me. I have a very keen sense of smell as noone else can smell it. I do all my cooking outside as I like a lot of space and hate the idea of all the grease inside the camper. I do use the propane camp stove outside, and have never had any trouble with it.

[rb_beachcpl]

We are going to inspect the hoses, fittings and propane hookups to the stove this weekend before our first trip. This worries us as well. We will also bring our external coleman stove and smaller propane tanks with us as a back up.

[lwbfl]

We don't have any LP appliances.  I am thinking of getting a small stove with the 1lb bottles soon though.

[Ted]

I have a small Yuma and want to try "primitive" camping.  How do you know how many 20 lb LP tanks to take if you think it will get below or close to the freezing mark?

[flyfisherman]

I have a small Yuma and want to try "primitive" camping.  How do you know how many 20 lb LP tanks to take if you think it will get below or close to the freezing mark?

Depends, Ted, on just what your going to run off that L/P ... a furnace, the cook stove, 3-way frig ... and for how long?

I've gotten by with a tank for just about a week, cook stove and sparingly using the furnace (setting thermostat at 55 for night time) with night temps dropping down into the 30's and low 40's.


Fly

[wavery]

I have a small Yuma and want to try "primitive" camping.  How do you know how many 20 lb LP tanks to take if you think it will get below or close to the freezing mark?

Our experience has been a little different but we set our thermo at 65 at night. We get about 3 days on a 20# tank running the fridge, stove and furnace. The furnace is the killer. We recently switched to a Mr Buddy portable heater. I hope that will last us longer.

A lot depends on the size of the PU (area that you are heating) and the # of people. There is just 2 of us and we have a large PU. More body heat will add BTUs to the camper.

[johno97007]

A little something to think about:  When using the shore power wherever you are, run a separate extension cord (the heavier the better) to run your electric appliances.  Doing this bypasses the electrical system in the PUP.

The first trip out, we were running a ceramic heater to keep things warm and we had the coffee pot set on the timer to start brewing in the morning so we'd have fresh hot coffee and a warm PUP (life just don't get any better!!!).  So we were just laying there enjoying the moment, the coffee pot kicked on and the heater kicked off.  We were running off of the trailer circuit.  Lesson learned.

[flyfisherman]

A little something to think about:  When using the shore power wherever you are, run a separate extension cord (the heavier the better) to run your electric appliances.  Doing this bypasses the electrical system in the PUP.

The first trip out, we were running a ceramic heater to keep things warm and we had the coffee pot set on the timer to start brewing in the morning so we'd have fresh hot coffee and a warm PUP (life just don't get any better!!!).  So we were just laying there enjoying the moment, the coffee pot kicked on and the heater kicked off.  We were running off of the trailer circuit.  Lesson learned.

Hey, John ... looks like your first post here! Always good to hear from new & different sources!

I have a little Starcraft that's wired for A/C - however, don't have A/C. But there's a 120 outlet inside the cabin, in the vicinity of where the A/C would be if there were to be one, and that outlet is labeled for the A/C to be plugged into it. This is where I plug in the Pelonis ceramic heater and so far, to date, no tripped or blown fuses.  Maybe that's just luck ...?


Fly

[wavery]

A little something to think about:  When using the shore power wherever you are, run a separate extension cord (the heavier the better) to run your electric appliances.  Doing this bypasses the electrical system in the PUP.

The first trip out, we were running a ceramic heater to keep things warm and we had the coffee pot set on the timer to start brewing in the morning so we'd have fresh hot coffee and a warm PUP (life just don't get any better!!!).  So we were just laying there enjoying the moment, the coffee pot kicked on and the heater kicked off.  We were running off of the trailer circuit.  Lesson learned.

WELCOME TO PUT

johno97007

When you say "(the heavier the better)", you are very right.

If you are going to use an extension cord to run anything with a heating element, it's a good idea to use a 10 gage extension cord for a 25'-50' run. It's also not a good idea to plug anything else in the same line as a 1500w heater (or other device).

Be very careful about those orange "HD" extension cords, sold at most hardware stores. They can be as light as 16 gage and are typically 14 gage. 12 gage can be found in most hardware stores and may be adequate. 10 gage cords are a little harder to find but give you a margin of safety.

If you use a 50' 16 gage "HD" extension cord to run your ceramic heater, you can be assured that it will over-heat and will most likely melt if left running for hours. Worst case scenario is that it could cause a fire.

Those "HD" cords are designed for using small, low wattage electric tools or a small lamp (100w or less) for short periods of time.