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Subject Topic: How long will my gas bottle last? Post Reply Post New Topic
24/2/2011 at 12:57am
 Location: newcastle upon tyne
 Outfit: Bailey Ranger 460 2
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How long would a 4.5kg butane gas bottle last? I would only be using it for cooking/ heating twice a day, the odd cuppa and running the fridge through the night when the gennie is switched off. I trade at motorcycle rallies and we would be on site for about 6 days. Also how many hours would my 85AH leisure battery last if I am only using lights at night, again when the gennie is switched off? Would the gennie be able to charge the battery if I used the mains hook up cable? This is the first year I have done the shows using a caravan I have always used a tent but after it hit -2 one night the thought "bugger this for a lark" came to mind!!

Any advise would be greatly appreciated :)

Kaz


24/2/2011 at 7:53am
 Location: Cambs
 Outfit: Tin tent diddy tent BIG tent
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Butane is not going to be a lot of use to you if the temperature is -2 as it will not vaporise sufficiently to supply you with gas. You would probably be better off using a larger bottle like Calor Lite which contains 6kg of gas but due to the design of the bottle weighs little more than the 4.5kg bottle you mention. With moderate use it will probably last you a couple of weeks at least and if you are not using the oven probably most of the season.

If your gennie has a good clean output there is no reason why it could not be used to charge the battery and many have a 12v charging circuit built in. It should have no problem in topping up the battery each day as lights use very little power but if you are worried try changing the lamps to led type as they use at least 1/10th of the power of halogen or tungsten filament.

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'A sure cure for sea-sickness is to sit under a tree'


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24/2/2011 at 9:03am
 Location: West Midlands
 Outfit: Jeep Grand Cherokee
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kazbat -

How long you use hte gas to heat hte caravan will be a major factor in gas use, so in Winter it might only last for say 2 - 3 weeks of use but in Summer it will last much longer. As birder99 says, if using all year round propane is hte best option. If weight not an option you could go for larger, 13kg, bottles.



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Tony C


24/2/2011 at 9:07am
 Location: Keswick
 Outfit: Bailey
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Bit of a health warning first on this guide but when calculating how long a battery will last you need to appreciate that a battery capacity decreases as the rate of discharge increases. So a simple formula is not a precise science.

So, generally,   to work out how long your battery will last, assuming that it is fully charged,  divide the amp hours by the actual amperage being used.  In your case the battery has an 85amphour rating so divide 85 by the amps being used. A compact fluorescent lamp will use between 0.5-1.5 amps (according to my book); wall lights 0.8. So. Let’s say you are using 2.5 amps with your lights. The battery will last 34 hours. So the lights will probably stay on all night for all of your stay. As you will be charging up each day with the generator you will have no problems. You can even put the tele on and still have plenty of power.

 

The following may be useful (I stole it so you might as well)

If you have an inverter so that you can use standard household appliances and you know the amperage rating of the appliance, then in order to convert that to its equivalent DC amperage rating multiply the amperage by 10. Say you have a TV that consumes 1.5 amps of AC current and you are running it off your batteries through an inverter. In order to power that TV, you will be using 15 Amps of DC current (1.5 Amps (AC) x 10 = 15 Amps (DC)). From here you can do the same calculation as you did above to determine total Amp Hours. Therefore, if you plan to watch TV 3 hours a day, then you will consume 45 Amp Hours total.

 

 

As for the gas...how long is a piece of string? How cold is it? What time do you change form gas to electric in the morning etc? So many variables. Having said that you may be surprised at just how long it does last. Maybe best to carry a spare cylindar. However long it will last the laws of England indicate that it always runs out in the dark when you need it most.

 

 

Phil



Post last edited on 24/02/2011 09:15:24

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If you're not on a fell your wasting your feet and for 2014 it's.......Feb Castleton Mar North Yors Moors; Apr Sutton on Sea; May Thirsk; Jun Clapham/Riverside (Lakes); July Wharfedale; August Crakehall; Sept Knaresborough; Oct Wirral Park/Clitheroe    


24/2/2011 at 9:09am
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As stated butane is ok for summer use but if you are camping in nightime temps that may drop to freezing, then you need to use propane.

Difficult to estimate time bottle would last but based on my own experience, normal cooking, fridge on for 10hrs/night & limited use of heater(uses fair bit of gas)10-14 days. So probably enough for 6 days. If you ran heater all night then probably not. Its best to have 2 bottles tho so you can swap over when 1 runs out.

Just using lights the fully charged battery should last several days. Caravan battery should charge with genny plugged into ehu.


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25/2/2011 at 5:13pm
 Location: Ayrshire Scotland
 Outfit: Santa Fe CRDi + Swift Conqueror 645
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Ehhhh................. sorry, but how long is a piece of string??

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David.


I used to be indecisive, but now I'm not so sure!


01/3/2011 at 4:39pm
 Location: newcastle upon tyne
 Outfit: Bailey Ranger 460 2
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Hey Guys

Thank you all so much, like I said I am new to tourer caravaning and the caravan came with two blue 4.5kg butane bottles so I just renewed them. If I swopped onto propane then I believe I would I have to change the regulator?. weight is also a massive issue. We have a tiny two berth and we need to carry some of the equipment in the caravan. We have read all about the maximum load weights etc and we are fairly confident that we have done our sums right but it leaves very little in the way of extra poundage. Thanks again guys you have been a big help ;)

Kaz



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If I can tow a caravan then anyone can!


01/3/2011 at 4:57pm
 Location: Wigan
 Outfit: VWSharan. Sport 442.
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Quote: Originally posted by kazbat on 01/3/2011

Hey Guys

Thank you all so much, like I said I am new to tourer caravaning and the caravan came with two blue 4.5kg butane bottles so I just renewed them. If I swopped onto propane then I believe I would I have to change the regulator?. weight is also a massive issue. We have a tiny two berth and we need to carry some of the equipment in the caravan. We have read all about the maximum load weights etc and we are fairly confident that we have done our sums right but it leaves very little in the way of extra poundage. Thanks again guys you have been a big help ;)

Kaz



Unless we get a really cold snap, the Butane should be OK, but I would exchange for a Calor Propane Lite, (they are lighter), when one is empty, and get a regulator for it at the same time. The Propane regulator is only about £6'ish. Swap to a Propane bottle when the second Butane bottle is empty, and you are sorted for all year round vanning. We can't be bothered faffing with having blue for Summer, and red for Winter, so use Propane, (red), all year round.

As an aside, I'm ususally asked how long my diving bottles last, and I get some confused looks when I reply that it depends how long I stay down, and how deep I go,

Regards,
Jim.



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