Another newbie here! I haven't been camping since iwas in scouts and we are about to give it a go again. we being myself, the wife and 16 month old baby!
I noticed at weekend that go outdoors had an offer on the CampingGaz chef stove, regulator and 907 2.75kg butane bottle all in for £60.
Just wondering if using this system is recommended?
the 907's will workout dearer in the long run than calor gas,but to be honest that sounds a good price for the setup so it will depend on how often you go.
It may also depend on where you plan to go ..... with CampinGaz being available across Europe but Calor only in the UK.
I think that does sound a good deal - with gas and bottle usually costing £50ish (I think).
A Campingaz 907 refill will normally cost more than refilling a 4.5kg Calor butane cylinder (blue bottle, exactly the same gas, but needing a different fitting regulator), making the Campingaz option more expensive, as wongers says, in the long run.
If you do go for the Go Outdoors offer you mention, you could, for the cost of an empty Calor bottle, refill and regulator, run the stove from either Calor Butane or Propane.
It's a very good price for cooker, bottle and regulator tbh. The cooker alone normally costs about £40, a little more for the bottle and a regulator is about £6. You'll need a length of hose too of course. If you plan going abroad then Calor isn't an option unless you can carry a big enough bottle to last you the whole holiday...usually only an option for caravanners.
I use a 2-burner stove + 907 bottle setup myself btw. Have done for years and I'm very happy with it.
Sounds like a good deal. Campingaz is slightly more expensive in use than Calor, but by changing the regulator you should be able to swap if you wanted to. Campingaz is available all over Europe, where Calor is only in the UK.
I've only just seen your (1 month old) question. I assume you have already bought it but if not:
I am in the same position. We decided against the 907 because refills are so expensive. The 907 (2.75kg of butane) is £20 for a refill; a Calor 4.5 kg butane bottle costs £14.39 - less for more. That's £7.27 and £3.20 per kg respectively.
You can get the Calor stove via Amazon for £30.
You can get empty Calor bottles on eBay for far less than shops will charge you. A company in the Midlands is selling a new full 4.5 kg bottle for £20 (far less than the normal price - you'd have to pay for a new bottle plus a refill) - but it is 'pickup only' so you need to be near to make it worthwhile. It's also selling the 7kg butane bottle for £25 if you don't mind lugging that size bottle around, and have enough room in your boot to travel with it upright (which is important).
Re your question about propane or butane, you can use either. They are sold in the same size bottles but butane is a heavier gas so the same size bottle weighs a different amount. You will see that, for example, the 3.9 kg propane bottle is the same size as the 4.5 kg butane bottle.
As someone else said, propane & butane require different regulators. Be aware that the butane regulator for the 4.5 kg bottle is different from all the other propane bottle sizes.
The general rule is use butane unless you camp in the winter, where the temperature may fall beneath 5-10 degrees C (some even say 13 degrees C). So patio heaters run on propane as they are used in cold temperatures. Campers tend to use butane unless they are real 'ard & camp in the winter.
For butane or propane, see:
http://www.caravanningnow.co.uk/caravanning/faqgas.htm