Use of Gas in a van

[Dave46049]

I was actually thinking of the width of the locker so that you could get two of the shorter Safefill bottles in.

From what I can see the smallest safefill is 8.5l and that cylinder is 396mm high - exactly the same size as the height of the locker - I presume the dimentions autotrail give are external so that one won't fit - although width wise it would have been fine - shame they couldn't have squeezed an extra 1cm height to have the option...

 

[Dave46049]

I can get 2 x Gaslow LPG bottles in ( 2.7kg ) - but is that the same as a gas from Calor which is butane?

 

[Emmit]

I can get 2 x Gaslow LPG bottles in ( 2.7kg ) - but is that the same as a gas from Calor which is butane?

2 x 2.7kgs bottles are not, (and I can't stress this enough) of sufficient volume to allow you to get the kind of use you would wish for in your van.
Auto trails 'solution' is a fudge of huge proportions.
Put it to them that, when underslung tanks become available once more, and I'm sure they will, then they supply and fit one aftermarket at THEIR COST.

 

[Lenny HB]

I can get 2 x Gaslow LPG bottles in ( 2.7kg ) - but is that the same as a gas from Calor which is butane?

I thought Gaslow only did 6kg & 11kg bottles.

 

[jezport]

In hot weather the fridges can go through a lot of gas so I would want either 2 x 13 kg bottles or a gas tank

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[Dave46049]

I thought Gaslow only did 6kg & 11kg bottles.

 

[Dave46049]

In hot weather the fridges can go through a lot of gas so I would want either 2 x 13 kg bottles or a gas tank

How can I find out how much gas a fridge uses?

 

[Lenny HB]

How can I find out how much gas a fridge uses?

look at the spec it will give an average for 24 hours. If you fit cooling fans it will use a bit more I fitted an internal fan as well and reckon the consumption went up by 10% worth it for cold beer.

 

[Lenny HB]

View attachment 506715

I wouldn't have thought that was worth the effort, that would last me 2 days providing it wasn't cold.

 

[Dave46049]

So is the gas required primarily for Fridge / Oven / Hob etc? Or does the fridge run off the leisure battery?

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[Dave46049]

look at the spec it will give an average for 24 hours. If you fit cooling fans it will use a bit more I fitted an internal fan as well and reckon the consumption went up by 10% worth it for cold beer.

In the spec I can see for one like it ( same manufacturer , same size etc ) it's quoting 250g for 24 hours - so for the fridge 2.7kg that gets me about 10 days worth if I don't use the gas for anything else....

 

[Lenny HB]

In the spec I can see for one like it ( same manufacturer , same size etc ) it's quoting 250g for 24 hours - so for the fridge 2.7kg that gets me about 10 days worth if I don't use the gas for anything else....

I think the spec is quoted at 20 deg so it will use quite a bit more if it's hot.
In our van normally I use about 14kg in 15 days providing it's not too cold, a couple of weeks ago I used 22 Lt (approx 11kg) in 8 days.
I really don't think a Motorhome would be fit for purpose with 2 x 2.7kg bottles.

 

[fat haggis]

I would cancel the deal. As the gas supply offered now is unusable and useless. They changed the order. Walk away mate get one that’s suited to your liking. Don’t take the excuse they offers as you wanted external tank. Not tiny bottles offered

 

[Off da Grid]

I get better gas consumption with the fan I fitted to the top vent the fridge works better.
The best setting seems to be when the fridge thermostat dial is at the 5 o’clock position.
Enough to keep the beer and pork pies cold and the lollies frozen.

 

[Raul]

I think the spec is quoted at 20 deg so it will use quite a bit more if it's hot.
In our van normally I use about 14kg in 15 days providing it's not too cold, a couple of weeks ago I used 22 Lt (approx 11kg) in 8 days.
I really don't think a Motorhome would be fit for purpose with 2 x 2.7kg bottles.

Wow, that’s allot of mighty gas, for cooling a fridge. This confirms my suspicion on absorption vs compressor efficiency. A litre of lpg holds about 7kwh of energy. At 22l x7 = 154kwh / 8 days = 19,25kwh of energy daily. Now a compressor will eat 400wh or lets say you run a inverter and add losses with a household appliance, still 6-700wh daily. We use that much gas for the hole summer.

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[busbuddy]

Personally I would walk away.....
If they are not fitting a tank then they could at least factory fit refillable bottles in the new locker if they fitted you refillables in the locker with all the fittings and then offered 200 quid compensation I could see their logic but to offer no bottles at all is just arrogant
If I really really wanted the van then I would need thousands off, because of the loss of tank and loss of space taken by new locker, or I would have all money back

 

[Lenny HB]

Wow, that’s allot of mighty gas, for cooling a fridge. This confirms my suspicion on absorption vs compressor efficiency. A litre of lpg holds about 7kwh of energy. At 22l x7 = 154kwh / 8 days = 19,25kwh of energy daily. Now a compressor will eat 400wh or lets say you run a inverter and add losses with a household appliance, still 6-700wh daily. We use that much gas for the hole summer.

Not just the fridge, hot water & heating on every morning for the morning shower, heating in the evening one day turned the heating on at 4pm, crap week.

 

[Pausim]

I just used 16 litres/8 kg in 10 days off grid. Good weather with some water heating for showers and a bit of cooking but no heating. I suspect most of it went on keeping the fridge cool. I estimate the fridge uses 1 litre/0.5 kg per day. I have recently added a second 14 kg cylinder because I didn’t want to spend all my days away worrying about the next gas stop. I am glad I did because many of the LPG forecourts have run out.

25 litres as originally listed might be manageable but sadly I think 2 x 5.4 litres will confine you to sites with electric hookups.

 

[The Wino]

I just used 16 litres/8 kg in 10 days off grid. Good weather with some water heating for showers and a bit of cooking but no heating. I suspect most of it went on keeping the fridge cool. I estimate the fridge uses 1 litre/0.5 kg per day. I have recently added a second 14 kg cylinder because I didn’t want to spend all my days away worrying about the next gas stop. I am glad I did because many of the LPG forecourts have run out.

25 litres as originally listed might be manageable but sadly I think 2 x 5.4 litres will confine you to sites with electric hookups.

We recon to use more or less that much gas in total off grid but our heating is diesel so the gas is just fridge and water heating. We do both shower every day so have always thought the water heater and fridge would be roughly 50/50.
I don't think the suggestion of cold showers just to see how much gas the water heater uses would go down too well!

 

[Off da Grid]

Before we started camping off grid a 6Kg bottle of propane lasted us about a year.

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