what size gas

[bigdave]

Hi All, I have just bought a used caravan. It came without gas bottles and i'm wondering which size to get. I want to use the new BP gaslight. The caravan has fridge,hotwater, blown air heating. Will 2 5kg be enough, or should i go for 2 10kg bottles?

[Derek Uzzell]

Will BP Gas Light (BPGL) containers actually fit in your caravan's gas locker? BPGL 5kg and 10kg bottles are respectively 393mm or 587mm in height, but both have the same diameter of 305mm. A lot of caravan (and motorhome) gas lockers are 'tailored' to accept 6kg/7kg Calor canisters having a height of 494mm and (more importantly) a diameter of 256mm. I understand that many UK caravan manufacturers will be modifying the design of the gas lockers on their 2007 models specifically to accept the wider BPGL bottles. The implication therefore is that older caravans may not be able accommodate 305mm-diameter BPGL containers. Assuming BPGL bottles will fit in your caravan, then 5kg or 10kg? I believe that the initial deposit is the same for both bottle sizes and it's the fill-price that varies. As the cost per litre of gas will unquestionably be lower for the 10kg bottle, if you can get 2 x 10kg BPGLs into your caravan's locker it's clearly the logical thing to do financially. Conversely, 2 x 10kg BPGLs will weigh 33.4kg full, so, if you are concerned about nose-weight or overall caravan weight, then 2 x 5kg bottles (19kg full) might be a better choice. How you propose to use your caravan also needs factoring into the equation. If you are planning extended stays off-campsite in cold weather then you'll need plenty of gas: if you will be Summer-weekending with the caravan on 230V hook-up then you'll need hardly any. I wonder what attracts you to BPGL bottles? If weight-saving is not an overriding consideration there seems little reason to choose these containers over traditional steel canisters. There will be a hefty initial outlay for the deposits on the BPGL bottles, while redundant Calor bottles are often freely/cheaply available from recycling centres and non-Calor gas-bottle suppliers seldom charge a deposit. Your caravan's gas system may well need a replacement regulator to handle the propane used in BPGL bottles and you'll definitely need a different connector. Availability of BPGL bottles for exchange is very limited - minimal when you look at Calor's UK-wide network. (I was going to suggest a mix of 1 x 10kg BPGL container + 1 x 3.9kg Calor bottle as a back-up, but there are connection implications with that arrangement.) There's a possibility that BPGL bottles obtained in the UK will be exchangeable abroad, but that's for the future (and I'm not holding my breath!) Perhaps you like the sound of the 'visible content level' that's advertised as a selling point for BPGL? Well, if a translucent fibreglass container is filled with a transparent liquefied gas and you expect that it will be easy to detect the gas level "at a glance" when the container is stored in a caravan's gas locker, you are going to be disappointed. I use a refillable LPG bottle (with a very similar composite construction) in my motorhome and the only sure way of spotting the gas level when the bottle's in the locker is to wait until dusk then shine a powerful torch through the bottle's side. It would be interesting to learn what you decide about using BPGL bottles and how you get on.