Dos it make any difference what any make of gas you can us in your caravan seen some that. Are not calor gas so are they safe to use thank you
gas bottles
- Thread starter Rob1947
- Start date
Propane or Butane is good to go, the Brand name is of little consequence.
Happy heating or cooking
Happy heating or cooking
Damian
Moderator
As said, the brand name is immaterial.
Propane for all year, especially winter, van use.
Butane only for summer when temperatures are above around 10 degrees.
Propane for all year, especially winter, van use.
Butane only for summer when temperatures are above around 10 degrees.
I’ve always used propane all year round even though I’m not a winter caravanner so butane would be fine for my use, however I have wondered previously what other than winter use is the advantage of having 2 types, is butane cheaper to buy, does it burn at a better temperature or are there other benefits of using butane in the warmer months?
BP
BP
Other brands are fine, but may be harder to find if you need a replacement when touring. Calor is everywhere so easier for most of us.
The brand name is really only of importance when it comes to getting refills. Usually you pay a deposit for the first cylinder in addition to the gas, subsequently when you come to get a refill, you hand over the old, empty, cylinder and pay only for the gas in the new cylinder. You will only be able to exchange for the same brand, eg Calor, so it makes sense to choose a brand with widespread coverage. As has been said elsewhere, Calor seems to be available almost everywhere so is a good choice.
A lot of folk use refillable gas bottle, ie safefil etc, But for myself the high cost of the conversion doesn't warrant, it for my self I may use Three calor bottles a year,
How much does it cost to have the safefil bottles pressure checked after the required time. ?
How much does it cost to have the safefil bottles pressure checked after the required time. ?
Raywood said:
For convenience in the UK, Calor is good, but it is also probably the most expensive brand to use. If you always caravan in a localised area, it may pay to use a local builders merchant who stocks a local gas supplier's brand it can often save quite a lot compared to Calor.
EH52ARH said:
When I looked at them it didn’t make economic sense given like you I don’t use large amounts of gas ( these days in particular). When I enquired the Safefill bottle had to be returned to the maker so I guess that you would then effectively buy a new one. But it was quite a long period between it requiring to be checked.
EH52ARH said:
Can you not fill a SafeFill or GasLow directly from an LPG pump using an adapter?
I only have 1x 6KG Calor Propane onboard, so far that has been enough for a year of touring.
CustardAvenger said:
In theory yes you can, but its up to to the site policy/licences of each filling station.
For your information, there has been a glut of unapproved adapters for sale often from the far East, and whilst they may look similar to official adapters they are of an inferior quality and could be highly dangerous to use.
Some filling stations who have previously permitted the refilling portable gas cylinders owned by the filler, ( i.e not rented) are considering if they should continue to allow the practice becasue of the dangers of substandard adapters, and the risks of injury and damage.
Check with your filling station regards their policy.
Honestly can't remember the last time I changed my 6 kg Calor bottle ( possibly before our Holland trip ) but it will be getting done before we go to France this year !!
Hello Craig,Craigyoung said:
First of all well done for being so frugal with your gas usage. Whilst your personal experience is useful to show it can be done, in practice it doesn't follow that everyone else would be able to follow your example. Bearing in mind that this topic is likely to be of particular interest to new caravanner, I think your point needs to be put into context.
How much gas you use will obviously depends on what gas appliances you use and for how long. One of the biggest influences will be if the caravan has access to mains electrical hook up to power things like the fridge, water and space heaters, and electric kettle, jobs which without 230vac would fall on the gas supply.
Other things such as the number of people using the caravan, will affect the amount of hot food and drinks being prepared, ambient temperatures may cause you to put on more heating to counter the number of times the door needs to be opened. The water heater may need a boost if the shower is being used a lot. So there are lots of variables that can affect how much gas can be used, and that has a direct effect on how frequently a replacement/refill is needed.
Your gas will only run out when your using it, which means if you use a lot of gas, then you will need to know that you will have access to replacements. The cost of convenience is using a brand that is widely available. But even a frugal user will discover they will eventually run out at the most inconvenient moment so they too will need a replacement strategy.
God I'm sick of hearing that frugal word !! But yes prof we only use the gas when we have the oven on so maybees an hour or so for cooking once or twice when we're away so it's not much because we always use a electric on the site as in Hook Up so it can be done.
Like Craig our gas now seems to last forever. We can heat the water and the caravan on gas and the microwave does a lot of the cooking we used the cooker for and even the hob has an electric ring all reducing the amount we use. The gas now lasts for well over a year and the extra bit we pay for the convenience of Calor is not significant to us.
Regularly on sites with 16amp supplies, we rarely turn the gas on. Yes we do use an oven (halogen), electric kettle, double electric hob, watch quite a bit tv/radio. Gas bbq goes on when necessary but we also have electric bbq. We could & often do live without gas when away. Even on 10 amp pitches we use very little gas, just got to be a little more 'calculating'!
Craigyoung said:
I'm sorry to read that you are sick
!But what on earth is wrong with the "f-word" you are having apoplexy about? It accurately describes your gas usage, it certainly isn't a slur, its a positive trait, that perhaps more people should follow
.
ProfJohnL said:Craigyoung said:
I'm sorry to read that you are sick
But what on earth is wrong with the "f-word" you are having apoplexy about? It accurately describes your gas usage, it certainly isn't a slur, its a positive trait, that perhaps more people should follow
Sorry prof , I know what you mean it just came over the wrong way just we are having a massive saving few months with everything that we have in the house and saving saving saving , my wife is keep saying frugel frugel frugel and then you came along & said it this morning ,i thought I don't believe it !! But in a funny way !
We simply pop into our nearest Morrisons store and top up our Safefill cylinder and it costs less than a tenner!
No one has answered my point as to what are the benefits of using butane at all, there must be a reason why some use butane in the summer then switch to propane in the winter, why not propane all year round for everyone, I know you pay your money you take you pick but surely there’s a reason I just wonder what it is, come on prof you must have an answer.
BP
BP
Parksy
Moderator
I'm an ex-butane user who has switched to propane all year round.
I used to do winter caravanning so needed to use propane in the colder months.
The gas bottles use different tails and it became a bit of a faff to keep swapping them, plus a couple of years ago the propane bottles became a bit scarce so it's easier just to stick with propane now.
I used to do winter caravanning so needed to use propane in the colder months.
The gas bottles use different tails and it became a bit of a faff to keep swapping them, plus a couple of years ago the propane bottles became a bit scarce so it's easier just to stick with propane now.
Hi Beepee, the Calor gas 7 kg gas bottle for Butane is about £2.00 more expensive than a ^6 kg Propane a gas bottle .. the propane is usable in colder weather, they have different Threaded connectors. . Depending on how much you use caravan and the time of year makes the difference. I use most gas on the BBQ ( Cadac for flash folk ) and have the water heater on gas and electric all the time.. . Hope this helps.
I understand the price difference and different connections but I can’t get my head round why calor have 2 types of gas that both do the same job.
BP
BP
Hi Beehphee
Where I am Butane is a lower cost option, it would only be in rare times that I am in conditions so cold that I would need Propane.
Like Parksy I am reluctant to faff about with different connectors, though it would be asy to overcome the faff if I had the incination to install an easy cange over system.
My understanding is that Butane has a higher calorific value than Propane and along with the lower purchase price should prove a cost effective contender to Propane.
I don't use a lot of gas, but if I did I would certainly think about using Butane for the greater part of the year.
Where I am Butane is a lower cost option, it would only be in rare times that I am in conditions so cold that I would need Propane.
Like Parksy I am reluctant to faff about with different connectors, though it would be asy to overcome the faff if I had the incination to install an easy cange over system.
My understanding is that Butane has a higher calorific value than Propane and along with the lower purchase price should prove a cost effective contender to Propane.
I don't use a lot of gas, but if I did I would certainly think about using Butane for the greater part of the year.
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