Remove LP Appliances

[Randy J.]

Ah these old trailers! Has anyone considered getting rid of LP gas entirely? We had to scrap our old furnace as well as the fridge - BER but never miss them. We use a small electric heater in the spring and fall and have made a parking garage for our 45 watt electric cooler where the fridge was. It holds way more! Off-grid we can still use ice and sleep a little closer!

We don't like to cook inside, so I'm wondering now about getting rid of the propane stove-top as well. Anyone seen a good, low wattage electric/induction one? I may need to upgrade the wiring to 35 amp. I'm not so worried about resale as we didn't pay a lot for the trailer and in any case I doubt that having only the propane stove would make that much difference. Advantages? Well, for one thing, I've still to install a gas detector and in this case I wouldn't need to (don't worry, I did install CO and smoke detectors of course!) - so less drain on our solar battery!

Randy

[mary and bob]

We removed all propane from our Uhaul, stove & furnace. We use an electric heater and replaced ice box with a dorm fridge. Cook outside on various propane stoves or grill or electric hotplate. When camping without power hookups we use coolers. Kept stove and furnace for later resale with trailer

[Timber Wolf]

I have removed the non-functioning 3-way fridge along with the furnace and 3 burner stove top from my Scamp. The water heater's day is coming as well. The only cooking we do in the trailer is the microwave and toaster when connected to shore power. We live in the deep South and a small heater or two serves us well, again on shore power. Someday I do intend to reinstall a new, smaller 2 burner cooktop, new water heater, and new propane heater. For now I am working on the electric side and have installed a 12V compressor Truckfridge and dual 6V golf cart batteries to run it. I really, really like this new setup. Anyway, you will get some argument around here but none from me about taking out appliances you don't use.

[Bob Miller]

I'd be the first one to toss appliances I didn't need. First to go was the microwave, we had one in an FGRV for 3 months and used it twice, both times to make popcorn. However I kept the ones we use on every outing, the cooktop, water heater, furnace and the 3 way refrigerator. Pretty bare bones I guess. Almost none of the campgrounds we use have hook ups, don't need em'.

[Timber Wolf]

Originally Posted by Bob Miller

I kept the ones we use on every outing, the cooktop, water heater, furnace and the 3 way refrigerator.

You only camp in the winter or is it just cold all the time where you camp?

[Byron Kinnaman]

Originally Posted by Timber Wolf

You only camp in the winter or is it just cold all the time where you camp?

I totally agree with Bob on this one.

If you camp in the mountain instead of swamps you'll figure out that can get pretty cool at night. The furnace helps warm the trailer when you first crawl out of the sleeping bag. There's often a 50° to 60° difference between morning and late afternoon. The higher you go the greater difference is possible. Remember that you can camp at close to 10,000' in the Rockies. The Sierra Nevadas it's not uncommon to be above 6,000 ft. All well within reach of Southern CA.

I'm with Bob on the appliances. Because of the cold mornings the furnace and cook top are almost used daily in the morning. Later in the day the propane fridge keeps things cool. It's really nice to have a cold beverage when sitting in the 80° to 90° afternoons.

Camping in the winter. That's when we do most of our camping. Usually in AZ, NM, TX, LA and Death Valley CA.

We camp year around and in the past 10 years have spent about 10 nights with electric hookups. Looks like I'll increase that by 50% around Christmas, Christmas near New Orleans this year.

[redbarron55]

To each his own I say. Personally I have removed almost all of the LP appliances. Well not really since most of them were already missing when we bought the much abused 1986 Scamp.
I installed a Dometic 12/120 volt refrigerator (about 3.5 Amp load.) we have a convection microwave we may or may not use. That and an electric skillet or hotplate.
The hot water is from a 2 gpm LP gas tankless heater mounted on the tongue.
For heat and cooling we have a 9000 BUT mini-split heat pump.
I guess we are almost all electric. We just bought a Harbor freight 2500 watt inverter generator for emergency use (hurricanes down here in South Alabama). At 60 lbs I don't know if we will be taking it with us or not.
The lights are all LED
ans I am investigating installing solar panels, but not quite yet. A/C is too important here in the muggy South. The A/C means we will be camping mostly at sites with hookups or plugged in at the kid's place on the beach.
I guess it's your choice to go electric or LP and it would depend on if A/C is in the picture to me and how you intend to use your camper.
These older eggs offer a lot of choices and the cost is not prohibitive to modify one the way you want it. I surely have done so.
You have my permission to do what you want with your camper!

[Byron Kinnaman]

Originally Posted by redbarron55

To each his own I say. Personally I have removed almost all of the LP appliances. Well not really since most of them were already missing when we bought the much abused 1986 Scamp.
I installed a Dometic 12/120 volt refrigerator (about 3.5 Amp load.) we have a convection microwave we may or may not use. That and an electric skillet or hotplate.
The hot water is from a 2 gpm LP gas tankless heater mounted on the tongue.
For heat and cooling we have a 9000 BUT mini-split heat pump.
I guess we are almost all electric. We just bought a Harbor freight 2500 watt inverter generator for emergency use (hurricanes down here in South Alabama). At 60 lbs I don't know if we will be taking it with us or not.
The lights are all LED
ans I am investigating installing solar panels, but not quite yet. A/C is too important here in the muggy South. The A/C means we will be camping mostly at sites with hookups or plugged in at the kid's place on the beach.
I guess it's your choice to go electric or LP and it would depend on if A/C is in the picture to me and how you intend to use your camper.
These older eggs offer a lot of choices and the cost is not prohibitive to modify one the way you want it. I surely have done so.
You have my permission to do what you want with your camper!

Of course you can have it your way. That is until the infra structure fails, which it will. It's already failed many times in different parts of the country. The great NY blackout, Katrina, wild fires, etc. all provide for disruption in the infrastructure. A backhoe cuts a fiber optic cable, cuts off communication in and around several small towns. I know it will never happen to me...

[stevebaz]

We use the cook top pretty much only to boil water. When we have 120 volt AC we use an electric new Wave oven inside the trailer. We can cook almost anything on it and all mess grease and smell stays inside the plastic dome. We line the bottom with aluminium foil so most of the mess gets wadded up and tossed in the trash. It doesn't heat up the small confines of the trailer to any noticeable level.

Now for Propane we wouldn't be without our heater and fridge. The cook top could be easily replaced with our portable stove or even our portable propane BBQ which we use all the time outside. We don't do coffee so instant access to a burner isn't very important to us. We have a cutting board cover over the cook top. I wouldn't go out of my way to remove the cook top. A recessed mounted Coleman stove would be a better choice for a cook top. One of the recessed modern cook tops with sink unit built in would also be a nice replacement making for a much flatter work space.

[Bob Miller]

Originally Posted by Timber Wolf

You only camp in the winter or is it just cold all the time where you camp?

I don't understand the question.... Huh?

In Golden State winters I can be camping in snow @ 8000 feet and be at the ocean in about 2-3 hours. Same day surfing and snow skiing is a popular activity

Or, in Summer, it can be 65 at the beach and 110 in Palm Springs 3 hours away. We just pick the weather/temps we want.

[Byron Kinnaman]

To the people that like to use electric appliances and do away with propane. THANK YOU. The more of you there are the less crowded the non-electric areas are.

[redbarron55]

Originally Posted by Byron Kinnaman

Of course you can have it your way. That is until the infra structure fails, which it will. It's already failed many times in different parts of the country. The great NY blackout, Katrina, wild fires, etc. all provide for disruption in the infrastructure. A backhoe cuts a fiber optic cable, cuts off communication in and around several small towns. I know it will never happen to me...

Like I said the generator for Hurricanes etc. We have these occasionally.
I like the idea of solar and a couple of golf cart batteries. I think that this is a technology I have an interest in for the future.
We plan to keep the Scamp ready for this type of thing with fuel etc.
Perhaps we will add some LP appliances, but no plans as yet.
It's that A/C thing that drives the electrical bias.
If you have not experienced the heat and humidity down here you wouldn't understand. While I am building the trailer out I have the A/C on and plugged into the house power. The condensate drip has a gallon bucket under it to keep the driveway dry. This bucket fills up twice a day!

[Randy J.]

Boy, didn't think my question would spark so much discussion! I should have said that we don't intend to camp in winter and probably not in the mountains either. All the same, think I'll hang onto the gas cooktop and install a gas detector. The most frugal gas detector I've seen still draws 75 milliamps. Anyone found one in Canada that draws less?

[Evergreengirl]

I think the decision to go all electric depends a lot on where, when and how you camp. You also have to have faith that the electric grid will always be available and that you'll always be able to find sites with hook-ups. Or you need to take a generator with you wherever you go to power your all electric rig.

Our experience on a recent camping trip on the Olympic Peninsula in WA state may give those who are thinking of going all electric some pause.

We had been staying in primitive sites, using our propane cook top and fridge. An unexpected big storm blew in (50-80 mph winds) We decided to move from the campground we were in (where our campsite was under big trees and seemed precarious and dangerous) to another campground where we knew we could be out in an open area away from any falling trees. And there would be hook-ups too. Yay!

We pulled in and plugged in. No power! It was out all over the entire peninsula. No problem for us - we still had a way to cook and heat up dinner. And if it had been colder we could even have lit our furnace and had heat (we have a solar panel to keep our battery charged up).

So while it's possible to get by with an all electric trailer, just do your planning and think about what you'll do if power isn't available. Will you always have some ice in an ice chest to keep perishable food cold? Will you have one of those new combination AC/DC fridges and keep it charged with a solar panel? Will you take a generator with you? Will you cook outside on a portable grill? It sounds like the OP has a plan thought our. Personally we would never have a trailer without propane.

[cmartin748]

I do a lot of dry camping so it would not be practical for me. I have learned to cook some real good meals on the inside stove and make a mean pot of perk coffee. I couldn't live without my propane.