Gas Advice

[Basil]

Brian Kirby - 2008-01-21 5:58 PMBasil

I'm not trying to be clever in asking this, but are you sure there is no leakage on your system? 

We do not set out to be particularly frugal with the gas. 

We cook with it all the time, but we do use campsites and their facilities plus hook-up most of the time.  We use the Truma blown air heating if it is chilly, and occasionally for water heating.  We do not use the van in winter, but generally between early April and late October.  We tend to travel for 8-12 weeks at a time, favouring southern Europe so far.  I reckon, on the above basis, that one 13Kg cylinder of gas will last us one and a half trips, say 14-16 weeks, depending a bit on weather.

However, getting through 11Kg in 10 days seems a huge amount of gas to me, unless you are quoting winter use.  Even if using gas for water heating, I can't quite see how one would get through that much.

Hi Brian,Certainly not thinking you are being 'clever' thats fine and a reasonable question.Definately no gas leaks, that is the one and only benefit of the Gaslow gas capacity guage, when you turn off and leave it if the guage does not drop then you have no leaks, besides which it is tested annually (at least) during the habitation service.I think that this just goes to show the difference in how people use their vans. Even on site we rarely use the facilities, though we use the hook up if we are forced to, i.e. Caravan Club sites do not give you the option to not pay for it, but then we rarely use CC sites usually CL's, we would normally avoid. My wife and daughter both feel the cold and so the heating is constantly on, even in the summer evenings and night in the UK (I normally am outside reading or whatever). Three showers in the morning and two at night every day with the necessary long hair washing of at least two females (wife and daughter I must add :-D). All cooking and washing up done at the van, except for occasional meal out. The fridge is also run on gas but that is fairly negligable compared to the heating and water. We use the van all year when we can and we tend not to be away in the UK during the school holidays and Bank Holidays so mostly cooler weather.I would'nt mind betting that we use a lot more water (at the van) than you as well, normally at least one complete fill plus a top up from a five gallon jerrycan a day.The usage I quoted is average for us, we use more in the winter than the summer, and is similar usage that some others have quoted in the past so I have had no reason to question our use but just assume we are all different, and besides it is still less than we would be spending at home!Bas

[Brian Kirby]

OK Basil.  Correct, we last around 5 days on our 100 litres of fresh water.

Just didn't want you suddenly going "poufff" in the middle of the night, that's all!