Electric trailers: Help me decide with side by side comparison

[4x4LDY]

I started looking at more trailers besides the eggcamper. I see the little snoozy is also electric and so can the parkliner. I wish I could find a side by side comparison like cars.com has. I think so far the thing I don't like in the park liner is the portopotty, but I love the cabinet space. I would love to hear opionions. I am only looking at other options due to price of the egg. Let me know your thoughts.

[charlsara]

The Parkliner appears to no longer be in production. I have a LIL Snoozy which I highly recommend but it is not an inexpensive trailer.

[Jon Vermilye]

All electric means you are either going to travel with a generator & deal with generator hours, fuel, noise, etc or stay in campgrounds with power pedestals. An advantage of gas is the ability to dry camp for long periods & still have the use of a refrigerator, heat, etc. Add solar & your dry camping is only limited by your liquid tank capacities...

[4x4LDY]

Originally Posted by Jon Vermilye

All electric means you are either going to travel with a generator & deal with generator hours, fuel, noise, etc or stay in campgrounds with power pedestals. An advantage of gas is the ability to dry camp for long periods & still have the use of a refrigerator, heat, etc. Add solar & your dry camping is only limited by tour liquid tank capacities...

I have an other trailer with gas, I'll always be at a campground, not so adventurous here

[charlsara]

Has anyone here had an accident with propane? I just saw on the local TV news in Asheville, NC that a family was injured trying to light a heater in a camper. Two were seriously burned. I don't have any other details.

My trailer is electric but I do use a portable propane camp stove and I have a Lil Buddy heater for those times when electricity is not available. It seems to me that gas is safe if one learns and uses safety procedures.


Sent from my iPad using Fiberglass RV

[Harvey]

'Bottled' propane has been used by the RV industry, & by campers since at least the 1930s. I can count on one hand the number of accidents/incidents I've heard/read about that involved propane fire/explosion & didn't also have another contributing factor, i.e. carelessness, collisions, mis-handling, faulty equipment, etc. Propane like any other source of energy requires knowledge, familiarity, & careful handling. If you become familiar with safety precautions, follow them without fail, maintain your equipment in safe condition, & ALWAYS think safety first, your chances of having any negative problem with propane is practically zero.

Oh yeah, I'm 75 years of age, been camping (with propane) for more'n 50yrs & have never had even a close call (that I know of).

[Joe Romas]

Charlie
I wonder how many people are electrocuted a year compared to those burned or killed from propane.

You could fall getting out of bed and break your neck.


Joe

[4x4LDY]

It's not that horrible with gas but again I just prefer to not deal with exchanging tanks refills etc. I'd rather pull up plug in and go ride bikes with the kids. I grill outside on my Coleman to go propane stove. I'd rather have more counter space and if needed plug in a hot plate. My hubby doesn't camp so if it's anything further than an hour or somewhere he wants to go we'll be in cabins or hotels. It's about simple fun not electric vs propane. I just want comparison of electric units +\- of each. If you have one tell me your thoughts and what would you change if anything. Thanks everyone

[charlsara]

As I said our LiL Snoozy is all electric. Most of the time we camp at campgrounds with electric so it is not an issue. We do have the ability to dry camp. We would have to run the generator if we used hot water or the AC. Our 12 volt Truckfridge refrigerator does really well for overnight. If we dry camped a lot I would look into adding solar. Of course trailers with propane can't run the AC on it. I use a LiL Buddy heater with the small disposable propane bottles and the same for the camp stove. I use the camp stove outside only and only run the heater when we are awake. we cook inside with an electric induction hotplate when hooked up. That's works for us. If we dry camped for weeks at a time it would be a different issue.

[Jon in AZ]

The OP sounds a little like my mother. She does have LP in her camper but never uses it. She cooks in the microwave, runs the HW and fridge on electric, and uses the heat strip in the AC and/or a small ceramic heater when it's cold. It costs her more to always pay for electric hookups, but she can afford it, and that's her choice. At 89, she's been camping longer than I've been alive and has experience with white gas, propane, and electric. Electric is what works for her in this season of life.

The OP's question was about how EggCamper and Lil Snoozy compare. And the difficulty is that most of us have never owned either one, let alone both, to make a side-by-side comparison.

On paper, size and weight are fairly close. Prices used to be comparable until EggCamper announced a hefty $5000 increase earlier this year. But there the similarities end; they are very different in almost every other way: rear entry vs side entry, wood cabinetry vs molded fiberglass, porta-potty vs black tank, permanent bed vs convertible dinette, sofa vs small dinette for eating, cored fiberglass vs double hull construction, galvanized vs painted steel frame, surge brakes vs electric, outboard vs inboard wheel wells, rolling space ship vs classic egg shape...

If it were me, I'd be exploring possible ways to get a first-hand look at both. Connecting with nearby owners through the forum, attending a rally, and contacting the manufacturers are all ways to do that.

[Roger C H]

One thing many of the answerers missed was the OP's aversion to Porta Pottis.

I vote for a Porta Potti or equivalent. We bought one when tent camping to avoid those late night trips to the campground facilities.
Now that we are in an egg, we still use one. We empty it every morning and so far have been able to limit use to liquid waste. I left it sit for an extra day one time because of little usage and was surprised at how the odor built up, even with holding tank treatment.
RVs are not like houses. In a house, you flush and don't have to think about it again. But in RVs, one must handle black tanks, stinky slinky, etc. I find it simplest to just do what I mentioned above.

As to electric, we usually camp where we have electricity. We have an electric oil-filled radiator heater and really like the silence of not having a fan cycle on and off during the night.

[Jon in AZ]

I hesitate to tell anyone whether a porta-potty or an RV toilet with a black tank is better. Like electric vs propane, it's a preference, and a strong one for most people, based on the many long, heated arguments I've read. This probably isn't the place to start yet another.

I believe Lil Snoozy uses a porta-potty (or optional cassette toilet) and EggCamper has a toilet/black tank.

[Bob Miller]

I suggest looking for the FGRV that best fits your needs and budget without concern about it being LP or Electric. Then, after making that selection, if getting a trailer that is currently lp, converted to all electric, would not be all that expensive. A new counter top, a bit of wiring, a few appliances, and you are ready to go.


And just to mention, requiring a hook-up every night, rules out about 90% of the available camping sites in the west, especially those in National Parks, where what few hook-up sites are available, are hogged months in advance by the behemoth RV's. But it sounds like you are already accustomed to using known local sites with hook-ups.

[Carol H]

Originally Posted by 4x4LDY

I just want comparison of electric units +\- of each. If you have one tell me your thoughts and what would you change if anything. Thanks everyone

Here are my thoughts on all electric trailers.

1) Would not wish to own an all electric trailer as they greatly restricts where you can camp. Some of the nicest spots I have ever camped have no power and no water.

2) You have a pretty limited audience in regards to who you might sell your trailer to. Which will impact its resale value. The reason for this is there are many National, state/provincial, local regional parks that have no power - some of us live in areas that the only place your going to find power is in a more expensive commercial campground parked amongst much larger RV's.

3) Over my time here we have had more than a few folks buy all electric trailers only to change their minds about its practicallity after a year or two of travel outside their own hometown area.

4) Just because you have propane appliances in a trailer does not mean you have to use them. Put a cover over the stove if more counter space is the reason for not wanting propane appliances.

5) I camp frequently and use my propane appliances a lot and honestly I don't need to get my tank refilled all that often. Once - maybe twice a summer. If you do not like having to take the tanks off to have them refilled, Why not put your princes crown on and ask your husband to take the tank off of the trailer while its at home before you go camping and have him take it to have it refilled and put it back on? Admit that tactic wouldn't work at my house though :-)

[Rich and Rei]

We had been looking for a used Lil Snoozy for a couple years-hoping it would be close to home.
The close to home didnt happen but did find one in W. Virginia-so off we go on a whirlwind trip.
Yes-it followed us home!
We like the cassette toilet-we just pull out the container from the outside and take it to the restroom to dump and then just slide it back into the toilet. Very easy.

We also like the look of the real wood cabinets.
Plenty of storage throughout.
The bed area is real nice with the curtains and queen bed.
We have 3 big windows and 2 small bedroom windows .
Rich will have to get used to the wider trailer but it seems to tow much better than our other trailers-now sway.
No propane is no problem for us. We usually stay where we have electric or we stay where we have no services-we adapt either way.
We looked at many trailers and the Snoozy fit our needs best.

[Byron Kinnaman]

I can understand the fear of propane, however it's unfounded and based on myth and a very few incidents. From my experience supplying parts to the trucking industry and I believe that most RV fires are electrical. Even then there's probably mitigating circumstances such as a shade tree mechanic rewiring or adding wiring to an RV.

Next time you're driving down the freeway look at how many RVs you see, look at storage lots and see how many RVs are stored. You can bet the vast majority, if not all, have propane.

As for me it really troubles me to pay $10.00+ per night just for the electricity. That above the normal camping fee. But, I'm a cheapskate. My average camping fees for 120+ nights per is close $6.00 per night. With an all electric trailer it would be much higher.

If you're only camping a couple night a year it probably doesn't make a lot of difference in fees.

[Rich and Rei]

I'm not saying anything against propane.
We just prefer electric and we stay where we have hookups.
We have stayed in cooler weather where we had no hookups.
We have a battery for our lights and we just dress warm and have blankets-we enjoy this kind of camping from time to time.
We used to stay in tents when the kids were young and we were younger.
Being not so young anymore-trailers are the way to go-propane or electric.

[David B.]

Originally Posted by rich and rei

we had been looking for a used lil snoozy for a couple years-hoping it would be close to home.
The close to home didnt happen but did find one in w. Virginia-so off we go on a whirlwind trip.
Yes-it followed us home!
We like the cassette toilet-we just pull out the container from the outside and take it to the restroom to dump and then just slide it back into the toilet. Very easy.

We also like the look of the real wood cabinets.
Plenty of storage throughout.
The bed area is real nice with the curtains and queen bed.
We have 3 big windows and 2 small bedroom windows .
Rich will have to get used to the wider trailer but it seems to tow much better than our other trailers-now sway.
No propane is no problem for us. We usually stay where we have electric or we stay where we have no services-we adapt either way.
We looked at many trailers and the snoozy fit our needs best.

looks like it's time to up-date your trailer brand/brands in your personal info.

[Rich and Rei]

Yep-will do that.
Just got home Saturday with the Snoozy so still a little tired after the long trip.

[Mikmay]

Returned last week from a 11 day cross country trip in the HC1 , with 100 watt solar and the sun following us all the way home we never had to plug in once even though all campsites we stayed at offered electricity we never had to pay for it. If I need propane I'll bring it when I need it not lug it everywhere and not use it.