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Gaslow v Calor Gas!

7K views 29 replies 14 participants last post by  jo662 
#1 ·
We had Gaslow fitted last week,and have used it to heat and cook breakfast
for the first time today.Does Lpg burn hotter than Calor,as its seemed to heat the Motorhome alot quicker,and I cooked breakfast way quicker than normal!:grin2:
Or is it just me imagining it?:surprise:
 
#2 · (Edited)
Your imagination Jo!!

Calor is LPG. They are both propane - unless you were using the blue butane Calor cylinders. Makes no difference anyway since the calorific value of both are similar enough that you would notice no difference, unless . . . . .

If you were previously using butane in the cold weather it would not vapourise anything like as quickly as propane (if at all), resulting in considerably slower cooking. That's why propane is always recommended for winter use. Butane is not much use below about 8 degrees Celsius. Propane will vapourise right down to around minus 40 degrees Celsius.

When you fill your Gaslow bottle it will be propane in the UK. There may be a small proportion of butane mixed with it on the Continent, but not enough to make the slightest difference under almost any circumstance.

Keep taking the tablets!! :wink2::grin2:

Dave

P.S. LPG means Liquified Petroleum Gas. It doesn't specify which one!! Both butane and propane (plus others not used by motorhomers) can be liquefied.
 
#6 ·
Jan

If you have two cylinders DONT use an automatic change over valve, if you do you run the risk of using both without realising it and running out at the most awkward time. Use a manual switch over, you will then know when one cylinder has run out and have plenty of time to fill it before the second runs dry.

Andy
 
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#12 ·
Hi, I am considering a Gaslow for our new MH at the moment, wondering whether to go for two Gaslow cylinders or one with a Calor backup as it will only be used when Gaslow runs out, but hopefully this shouldn't be often as it's easy to top up when filling with diesel? any preferences or advice guys?
thanks
curlyboy
 
#14 ·
I decided on one Gaslow 11kg and retaining the Calor as back-up.[ It would be an easy change-over as we still have the old 37Mb regulator which screws directly into either bottle]

However in 5 years we have never had to resort to the Calor, although in the Pyrenees last Summer we did make a 25km detour to fill rather than use the Calor.

It really depends on where you are touring and for how long. When I decided on the one Gaslow there were few LPG stations in Spain for example(more now) and my thinking was that if we used all the Gaslow and the Calor we could still replace the Calor with a local supermarket cylinder, but with two empty Gaslows there would have been more of a problem, if a long way from LPG.

Geoff
 
#15 ·
We've used an 11kg Gaslow cylinder and a back-up 6kg Calor bottle for a few years but after a seven week holiday in France last summer we decided to get a second 11kg Gaslow.

We emptied the Gaslow a couple of times during the holiday and finding a GPL supplier wasn't as easy as we'd hoped.

After faffing about with narrow access lanes, the filler on the 'wrong' side and having to turn the MH round and then turn back again to go and pay and general messing about we invested in the second cylinder.

If you're a bit strapped for cash or weight issues then the smaller 6kg bottle is okay but as I get older I want as much as possible to be easy and uncomplicated so we bought the new Gaslow.

If push comes to shove you can always sell the cylinder/s and more or less get your money back and they will of course be easily moved to a newer MH should you sell the present one.
 

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#16 ·
We have a 28 litre (net) tank in the trailer, and based on our consumption when away with that, we have bought an 80 litre (net) tank for the Mercedes.

If you are happy with a smaller reserve, then the Gaslow bottles are fine, but I prefer to know that I have plenty of gas in reserve should I decide to stay in one spot away from service stations.

62p a litre at BP on the A14 at Kettering this morning.

Keith: Easy to fit a second filler point, we have three on the trailer :) :)

Peter
 
#22 ·
#18 ·
We have the alugas set up purely as they were more convenient for us and better looking (Yellow ugh) and the auto change over, however all I do is turn the one bottle on then when we move use the other on just remembering to keep an eye on levels when I am abroad especially Spain as per the lack of lpg stations .
 
#21 ·
Single 11KG Gaslow works for me (99% of the time). I carried a 6KG Calor around for 2 years as well. Never needed it so its sat in the garage at home for the last two years. If I am away in summer one bottle can last 5-6 weeks so even if I was somewhere for a while we should be ok. In the winter I would generally be on hookup with the odd night wilding or off EHU so its not that important then either. I remember those two really bad winters about 5 years ago though we were in the Lakes and did a fair bit of wilding when it was down to -17. We had to fill it up twice in just over a week but that was unusual.
 
#23 ·
From my research on gas etc. I reckon you may not be imagining it.... Especially if running heater and cooker at same time....

My understanding is....

If you have increased the size of your bottles.. say from two 6kg to two 11kg bottles... The maximum "take-off" will have increased...

An example here for calor...

6kg REC. OFFTAKE (APPROX.) 11Kw

13kg REC. OFFTAKE (APPROX.) 15Kw

Which basically means (As far as I understand) you will have a greater capacity of LPG available to be delivered and burned at the appliance end - being more apparent when all appliances are running full-on!...
 
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#24 ·
The take-off is limited by the evaporation rate of the liquified gas, which in turn is limited by the surface area of the liquid and the temperature.

Bigger tank means more surface area for the gas to evaporate from.

Peter
 
#25 ·
Yeah but........

If the supply is via a regulator then the gas can only be supplied at the regulators output pressure, that is then delivered down a pipe of a set internal diameter, so only a certain amount of gas can "get through" at any one time, PLUS the cooker burners act as a restriction so surely at a regulated pressure there is a only maximum amount of Gas that can be delivered at any point????

Of have I got it totally wrong in my befuddled bonce???

Andy
 
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#26 · (Edited)
I think you are correct Andy.

In the greater scheme of things I'm sure Fletton's theory is correct, but if a 6kg bottle could deliver 11Kw of energy (In what unit of time?? He doesn't mention that crucial data!) a kettle would boil in about three seconds!! :surprise:

It's all down to practicality as you say, and I seriously doubt if there's a noticeable difference between "before" and "after" in the case of jo662's new installation. I certainly didn't notice a difference when we had Gaslow fitted. Rose tinted specs I think. :wink2:

Without wishing to appear too rude, if Jo thought Calor and LPG were two different fuels . . . . . (Sorry Jo.:smile2:)

Dave
 
#27 ·
The discussion was 'take-off' from the bottle, I took that to mean the maximum possible. The figures quoted of 11kW and 15kW would seem to bear this out?

Peter
 
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