How much gas will we use and which to go for??

[MandyAndy]

We sat up last night till the early hours trying to plan this, so decided to come to the experts . Question 1 is : We have room for 2 containers, we want to do Europe mainly France, Germany, Italy but Im sure this will grow as we both fancy going North too. Which types would you go for, 2 the same or 2 different. We will be taking a small UK one for the Cadac anyway. Question 2 : How long will gas bottles last say if we where away for 3 weeks in the summer. Not using many hook ups , just want to use them really for for topping up 1 leisure battery. There will be 2adults 2 children. We see that there are fittings where you can use 2 different types of gas and the regulator can sort this for you. We dont really fancy the refillable ones, having read that you can get quite a bit of hassle over here and abroad about filling them in certain places. But I'm sure you will put us right on that. Oh! yes one other thing, does the MH come with a bottle when you pick them up, Geoff Cox puts you up in the site next to them for the night so you can get the hang of everything before you drive off, we are presuming they will supply gas of some sort. We wondered if it came with it or this would be just on loan for the night. Well thats it on the gas front I think so will leave it with you

[w1ntersun]

Question 1 , How long is a peice of string?. If you are not using the heating 2 bottles will last a long time Question 2 How do you top up a leisure battery with gas bottles? Are you using a gas power generator, if so your bottles won't last long.

[MandyAndy]

He he!!! I had a feeling that didn't read properly when I wrote it, what I meant was that we would be using mainly gas rather than being on hook ups for things like the Fridge to run off.

[Mel B]

Mandy - yup, I had to read the paragraph about hook up twice but got the gist eventually!! If you only use it for the fridge and a bit of cooking, making the odd cuppa etc you should last quite well - we use the large 13 kg propane and have a spare 6kg smaller one. Which does your van take - propane or butane? If butane the equivalent sized bottles hold 15kg and 7kg respectively. Using a separate bottle for the Cadac will obviously cut down on the use of your other bottles though but make sure you store it safely in transit. When we went to Germany for 2 weeks we didn't even get down the big one more than half way and we only had hook up for 1 night. If, however, you will be having showers and therefore heating water you'll use quite a bit of gas for the 4 of you, and water which is the other thing you need to keep topped up when abroad. There are lots of aires where you can obtain water but on occasion we found them not working so you have to ensure that you don't leave it until the last drop has nearly gone before getting more. As for whether you get a bottle, you'd best ask the dealership, some do and some don't. If it doesn't see if you can source one or two locally from the tip, second hand shops, in the newspaper, at car boot sales etc, they are a lot cheaper than 'buying' the new ones, especially when it will then need to be exchanged for a full one and you loose your nice new shiney bottle!!! Mel B Another one who was up 'early' today! *-)

[Clive]

Firstly PROPANE still works in the winter, Butane doesn,t as it does not evaportate in very cold conditions. All refillable cylinders use either pure Propane in the UK or a blend (variable on season and country) in continental Europe. When in use a gas cylinder will lower its own temperature as evaporation of the liquid into vapour does itself cause cooling. So, after suffering from Frozen Butane bottles in the South of France we now only use Propane or in recent years with a bulk refillable tank LPG. During 3 weeks touring in the South of France during summer with half of it without hookups we used about 9 Kg of gas. This includes a gas outside griddle which plugs into a gas outlet on the van. We also have a gas / electric Fridge. Hope that helps Clive P.S. Our new van came without bottles, but I already had some! Morning Mel.

[Terrytraveller]

Hi Mandy & Andy, Wev'e just come back after a two month trip visiting the countries you intend to visit, and had a smashing time, I know you will enjoy it too. I have found that during the summer, heating is not used so much, just the fridge, oven, hobs and water heater, boiler for an hour each morning. Using the oven for around 1 to 2 hours, first on gas mark 5 for 30 mins and then gas mark 3 for an hour (slow pot type cooking), fridge on between high during the day and meduim flame at night, we used around 500 grams of gas per day. A 6Kg propane cylinder would last between 8 to 12 days. For the last 6 years and up to last year we used the Calor 6kg gas cylinder and French Le Cube 5 Kg cylinder (available from almost all French Supermarkets, if you are interested I have a new full one with regulator available). This year I installed two Gaslow 6Kg Cylinders and found them superb, no need to worry about gas wherever you went. Have you considered installing one Gaslow cylinder and using one Calor gas cylinder? Generally all different types of gas cylinders require their own regulators, the best way around that is to use a manual change over valve around £20, you then have complete control over which cylinder you are using, and will know when one has run out of gas. Regards Terry

[Basil]

Hi Mandy and Andy, Firstly what ever option you take I would only use Propane, found out to our cost that even in quite mild during the day months, if the temperature drops out overnight you may not have any gas evaporating if you need it. Thats a real pain if you fancy a cuppa in the night or early morning as it starts off ok but then takes for ever to boil if at all! We usually use around 0.6 kg per day which means an old Calor 6kg lasts us about a week to ten days, though normally only a week (we do shower and cook at the van all the time and avoid electric hook ups if we can though use them if they are inclusive). If you intend travelling abroad I would only consider refillables now, after years of fiddling about and not using gas unless you have to and having to take an overpriced Camping Gaz 907 bottle plus regulator with us tied down inside the motorhome as we have no external place for it, it is like a weight off your mind having unlimited supplies of gas. We have NEVER anywhere had a problem filling them up, think this is whats known as an 'Urban Myth' but we do have Gaslows with external filling point so it looks no different to a car running on LPG. I would reccomend the same as Terry, that you install one Gaslow and filling point first ( if you can change your empty cylinder for a full one you can install a Gaslow system) and use an exchangeable for the second with a twin connection regulator/ manual changeover valve, that is a good and cheaper option to start with, can be bought for about £130. Also if you have the room I would use the 11kg Gaslow if you can as the installation cost is the same but with only an extra £10 for the cylinder but you get nearly twice the amount of gas at only around £9.40 a fill in the UK, obviously there is extra empty weight but it is less than two 6kg bottles. Just my opinion. Bas

[MandyAndy]

Thanks for all the help and advice, we actually like the idea of the refilable but think we will go with the tanks to begin with as more and more things come to light that we are going to need, and the purse is only so big. In the leaflet it says the space holds one 15kg and one 7kg, so looking at what you are all say this should last us no problem , unless the 14 year old son decides showering is the way to go, but I hardly think so. Sorry for delay in thanks and reply, spent the day in bed yesterday with the bug, feel like I've been in a crusher today.