The Whole Trailer Park Has My Back, Yo!

[Lambykins]

Okay, found my new place!
I am going to be splitting bills with a new roommate. My roommate is also my supervisor at work. Melissa.
It's a large mobile home in a local trailer park. It has a large built on addition.
The trailers are nicely spaced and this particular one has a big backyard that backs up to a wooded area.
Melissa has no objection to me gardening. I just have to prep the area myself.
Melissa has 2 dogs. A mini Australian shepherd named Paisley and a chihuahua named Dexter. She is okay if I get a dog, but no cats as she is severely allergic.
The main issue is heating.
The trailer has THREE heating units.
Central heating, powered by fuel oil, a wood pellet stove and for the large addition, a propane heater.
Melissa has applied for fuel assistance for this winter. Last year she didn't and she damn near froze over the winter. She also consolidates the house in the winter, closing off unused rooms. (smart!)
I have my choice of rooms. A regular 8 x 10 bedroom OR the built on addition (almost twice the size of the regular bedroom).
If I take the addition I will have to pay for the propane to heat it myself. I am still inclined to take it, as the more room to store my preps, the better. BUT, if I take the smaller room I can store my preps in the addition.
*Melissa is not a prepper in any way, shape or form.
I move in September 1st. So I have a bit of time to figure this out.
Looking at the current prices of the three types of fuel, any way I go with this is going to be expensive. Hopefully Melissa will get her fuel assistance. That would help with the fuel oil (although it would not completely cover it.) We will still have to cover about 1/3 of this winter's fuel oil costs.(totally dependent on this winter's temperatures)
I'm looking into the price of propane. I like my environment a little cooler than most, so it's not like I'm going to keep the room that warm. I'll turn  the heat down when I leave for work or go to sleep.
The former owner of the trailer has told me that the addition is well insulated (she called it OVER insulated) and the trailer itself is well insulated. She said one tank of propane (the tall kinda skinny ones) lasted them about a month and a half for that room.

[Raptor]

Glad to hear yo found a good place to land.

Ahhh propane that purest of fuels...

Being a tropical sea level creature staying warm is not my field of expertise...

However on my farm I use propane for heating a building.
I assume you mean a 100 lb tank?
https://www.gasteconline.com/tank-chart.php


Some basic rules of thumb I use (YMMV):

• Typically (not always) propane is cheaper in August and September when demand is low.
• Propane does not go bad so if I over buy I can simply keep it until I need it again.
• Propane delivered to the home is always more expensive since they have a valid need to recover their mileage to and from your tank.
• If I buy the tank (used) it will, over the long run, generally be cheaper than renting one.
• The weight quoted is the propane, the total tank weight is lot more. I can lift the 20 & 33 lb tanks but there is no way I can move the 100lb tanks by myself when they are full. That and  I do not want it in the car with me.

A suggestion. You need to check the heater BTU needs, BUT you may be able to find some used 20 & 33 lb tanks free or cheap. Then compare the propane price at the places that refill propane tanks and compare that price to the price the delivery company will charge you. You may be able to run the heater off the smaller tanks and pay less for the propane. Obviously your gas to & from such place is a factor but if you are passing by the store anyway to/from work any extra cost is negligible.


Calculating a burner's usage of propane is easy. 
https://www.pickhvac.com/calculator/propane-btu/
A  gallon of propane = 91,452 BTUs.
One pound of propane =.236 lbs
 A 20-pound propane tank has a 430,270-Btu capacity
A 30-pound tank, 649,980 Btus.
A 40-pound tank, 860,542 Btus.
A 100-pound tank, 2.16 million Btus.

My heater is a 30,000 BTU heater and it uses ~ .328 gallons every hour that it is running. (30,000/91,452=.328) It has a thermostat so it will not run 24/7 but if it did run continuously it would burn 7.87 gallons per day. So if for instance you could get by with running that heater for at total run time of only 5 hours per day it would burn 1.64 gallons. I typically burn about a gallon per day.
Doing the math based upon your post ~ 45 days = 100 lbs of propane then 2,160,000 btus /45 days = 48,000 btus per day or .73 gallons per day.
You may want to look into keeping a full spare 20 or 33 lb tank around in case the main tank is consumed.

[Lambykins]

I talked some more with the original owner (who put the addition on). Turns out the reason the addition used so much propane was that the addition was put on as her teenage daughters room. Her daughter kept her heat at 75 to 80 
And kept it on all the time when it was cold...or even just chilly!
Considering I top my heat out at around 60 to 62 MAX and I will turn it down to 50 when not at home and maybe 55 at night, I figure I can stretch that one tank to 3 months, possibly a little more.
I think the tanks are still there, so, it'll just be a case of taking it for a refill, much cheaper than delivery and I have friends with trucks.

I want to start on my garden this fall so it'll be ready in the spring to plant.
Hopefully I can get it tilled, dump some compost and straw on it, cover with black plastic and let it set until spring. If I can get that done before the snow flies, I'll be doing good.

[Lambykins]

It's the first of my two moving in days!
No moving this morning as it was raining like crazy. We are gonna try later this afternoon.
First things to move will be my immediately needed stuff. Clothes, my bathroom box, etc.
Tomorrow the majority of my belongings.
Doing a last bit of laundry right now.
Alas, I won't be getting the large add-on room (at least not yet). I get two bedrooms that Melissa wants to make into one by taking down the dividing wall. I can help with that.
So...here I go again...although this move will only be across town, thankfully!

[Lambykins]

So, moved in and so. many. boxes.
Going through them gradually.
A couple of my co-workers live in the same trailer park, so rides to work are not a big problem.
The trailer is a single wide and an older one (late 80s model, I think).
BUT, there's a large added on room, so there's that for storage.
Huge back yard, so I can garden.
Just gotta get the area I want to garden in properly prepped.
But first, I have to down-size my stuff. I just have too much stuff. I plan to keep all my *preps*, but I got a lot of decor items that I can let go. Maybe a yard sale is in my future?