Gas in France (1 Viewer)

[John Kennedy]

I am off to France for a month in the middle of June in my 2011 Bessacar 425......I have read all the threads on French gas options and I am 'none the wiser'....I have 2 x 6kg propane in my gas locker and I am sure they will last me for a month but I want to be prepared if they run out.....my 6 kg bottles are 256 diameter and 495 height and they sit in a plastic retaining ring in the base of the locker...they have about 30mm clearance from the locker walls and about 150mmm from the locker top...I have a bulkhead mounted regulator and no auto changeover valve...I don't want to shell out £350 for a refillable container system....

I want to ask

• what cylinder connection/adapter and hoses do I need for the French (Butane) bottles
• what is the best brand 6kg (or closest) French option bottle that will fit in my locker

 

[Just smiffy]

You don’t say what van you have or what is powered by the gas, if it is just going to be cooking and hot water as the weather will be too warm for heating, not much cooking being done as salad will be the order of the day or bbq and if your staying on sites and use their showers then one 6k bottle is more than enough for a month..... your two full 6k bottle will be more than enough.....

Enjoy

Opps just seen your van... above still applies...

 

[2657]

Intermarché sell a 9kg propane for about €20 inc deposit that measures 510mm high x 310mm dia, the fitting for standard French bottles is the same as a Calor 4.5 kg Butane screw thread fitting.

Le Cube bottles are smaller and would probably be more suitable and are available at lots of supermarkets etc with minimal deposit, not sure about the exact size or the fitting but I think they are clip on and should be available either in the supermarket or Bricolage.

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[Lofty1]

We got a bottle from carrfores a few years ago when they were on offer at 1 euro charge on the bottle filled it up again last year 19 euro for a 14kg bottle they use an external thred like you have on a normal butane adaptor on an internal thred on propane, Would let you have mine but a 14kg will not fit van gas lockers.

 

[IandJ]

We have been in France for nearly 2 months now & not used a 13kg bottle yet, but as others have said it all depends on your useage. Bottles are a lot easier to get here than in the U.K. with no expensive rental charges. I would advise buying the 4.5kg hose before you travel though, as they seem to charge a lot more for them here. If you use your first bottle you should have a good idea then how long the second will last & can then get one at your leisure.

 

[Lenny HB]

As you have a bulkhead regulator you should be able to get an adaptor or a new pigtail to suit any French bottle from any Motorhome dealer.
As for the amount of gas you use is like how long is a piece of string everone's use is different. We use a 14kg bottle in 15-20 days.

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[FIDGET]

2weeks , 2x 6kg should be more than enough . I take a 907 camping gas touse onmy bbq saves usage on the the other bottles & lasts me 3 weeks plus on my 2 x6kg.

 

[busby]

We have been away 6 weeks now and have not used 3 kg yet..Probably used fringe on gas for 10 nights,,BUSBY.

 

[rosalan]

We have two 11kg (refillable) bottles and without stinting ourselves one bottle lasts over 7 weeks. Cooking, fridge and occasional hot water.

Dear busby, can I try my fringe on gas? Does it hurt?

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[Lenny HB]

We have been away 6 weeks now and have not used 3 kg yet..Probably used fringe on gas for 10 nights,,BUSBY.

We have two 11kg (refillable) bottles and without stinting ourselves one bottle lasts over 7 weeks. Cooking, fridge and occasional hot water.

Dear busby, can I try my fringe on gas? Does it hurt?

You two just are not drinking enough of it.
I know everyone use is different but those are very low useage. We have 2x 14 kg refillables and one 14kg bottle lasts us 15- 20 days providing we hardly use any heating, hot water is on every day for morning showers & we do a fair bit of our cooking on a single burner stove outside.

 

[OwnedbyCollies]

I still have 2 Le Cube propane bottles for sale - one full and sealed and the other has been part used. (I could probably find the regulator too). We used to just swap the french bottles and the Calor bottles depending on destination. We now have Gaslow so superfluous to requirements.

Obviously need to be close enough to collect!

 

[suavecarve]

The thing with gaslow or gasit is you can take them with you when you sell your van. Their second hand value is only just below that of new. No depreciation on them.

But now that i have said that we have the fridge on all the time and generally 20 quids worth of lpg lasts a month in the summer

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[Just smiffy]

You two just are not drinking enough of it.
I know everyone use is different but those are very low useage. We have 2x 14 kg refillables and one 14kg bottle lasts us 15- 20 days providing we hardly use any heating, hot water is on every day for morning showers & we do a fair bit of our cooking on a single burner stove outside.

When I read your previous post similar to this one, I thought “that’s a lot Lenny” and thought that’s probably winter....

We’ve been away 5 weeks now and the first gaslow bottle is not showing empty yet.....
Had heating on a couple of times getting over to Croatia, hot water for daily showers/washing up as van doesn’t have electric hot water and have sometimes run fridge on gas whilst on leccy because it works better...

Hope you haven’t got a small leak... or is the outside small burner from gaslow tanks..?

 

[Basildog]

When I read your previous post similar to this one, I thought “that’s a lot Lenny” and thought that’s probably winter....

We’ve been away 5 weeks now and the first gaslow bottle is not showing empty yet.....
Had heating on a couple of times getting over to Croatia, hot water for daily showers/washing up as van doesn’t have electric hot water and have sometimes run fridge on gas whilst on leccy because it works better...

Hope you haven’t got a small leak... or is the outside small burner from gaslow tanks..?

Winter use for us is approximately 2 days for an 11 kg cylinder.

 

[glenn2926]

Bye this all sounds very complicated. I would recommend you have a refillable system fitted. There are different ways to do this. I have an under slung tank. To fill up I just go to the garage and fill up from the lpg pump.

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[Lenny HB]

When I read your previous post similar to this one, I thought “that’s a lot Lenny” and thought that’s probably winter....

We’ve been away 5 weeks now and the first gaslow bottle is not showing empty yet.....
Had heating on a couple of times getting over to Croatia, hot water for daily showers/washing up as van doesn’t have electric hot water and have sometimes run fridge on gas whilst on leccy because it works better...

Hope you haven’t got a small leak... or is the outside small burner from gaslow tanks..?

Late spring or late summer use recent hot few weeks in May about 18 days heating only on about 3 evenings and a few mornings. No cooking only kettle for tea and coffee pot in the morning as we were staying on relitives land and they were feeding us. Water on every day's for showers, when we do cook outside it's one of the single burners that uses the small canisters.
Used to get 2O -22 days but since fitting an internal fan in the fridge the fridge uses about 10% more gas, a small price for cold beer.
90p a day for my energy costs not too bad ½ that if I fill up in Belgium, compared to people who use sites an pay up €3.50 to €5 for a hook up and still use some gas.

 

[rosalan]

It was only the other day that I saw somebody lifting out, by hand, their empty gas bottles and later struggling to fit two new full replacement bottles inside the gas locker, laugh! I nearly dropped my Gaslow adaptors.

 

[Lenny HB]

It was only the other day that I saw somebody lifting out, by hand, their empty gas bottles and later struggling to fit two new full replacement bottles inside the gas locker, laugh! I nearly dropped my Gaslow adaptors.

Careful you could have bruised your toe, now if it had been a bottle you could have broken it proper.

I don't understand the pleasure some people get from lugging heavy gas cylinders about.

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[Just smiffy]

Late spring or late summer use recent hot few weeks in May about 18 days heating only on about 3 evenings and a few mornings. No cooking only kettle for tea and coffee pot in the morning as we were staying on relitives land and they were feeding us. Water on every day's for showers, when we do cook outside it's one of the single burners that uses the small canisters.
Used to get 2O -22 days but since fitting an internal fan in the fridge the fridge uses about 10% more gas, a small price for cold beer.
90p a day for my energy costs not too bad ½ that if I fill up in Belgium, compared to people who use sites an pay up €3.50 to €5 for a hook up and still use some gas.

Ahh, the gas kettle, that’ll be it... we use a leccy one on the inverter if not on mains..
I’ve got to do the fan mod, fridge is not good with 30c+ outside...

 

[Lenny HB]

Ahh, the gas kettle, that’ll be it... we use a leccy one on the inverter if not on mains..
I’ve got to do the fan mod, fridge is not good with 30c+ outside...

One way of killing your batteries, I wouldn't want to do that I've only got 3 leisure batteries.

The internal fridge fan although makes the fridge work harder and use more gas it's surprising the difference it makes to the temp at the bottom of the fridge. I assume you already have external fans.

 

[Just smiffy]

One way of killing your batteries, I wouldn't want to do that I've only got 3 leisure batteries.

The internal fridge fan although makes the fridge work harder and use more gas it's surprising the difference it makes to the temp at the bottom of the fridge. I assume you already have external fans.

Inverter,..... the things I do for my little snowflake.....

I’m on about external fans, haven’t thought about internal.... I doubt there’ll be room.... it’s full of yogurt and salad, I only have a small fridge quota for beer...

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[Lenny HB]

Inverter,..... the things I do for my little snowflake.....

I’m on about external fans, haven’t thought about internal.... I doubt there’ll be room.... it’s full of yogurt and salad, I only have a small fridge quota for beer...

Tell her warm salad & yogurt are the latest trend.
Can't even use Dometic crap in the UK without external fans.
2 weeks ago as it wasn't that warm so had not turned on my fans, fridge temp was 12° turned fans on it dropped to 8°.

 

[Just smiffy]

I’m going to look into it when I get back ....

 

[rosalan]

The fridge?

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[John Kennedy]

thanks for all the replies.....I am sorted now....I bought two full Calor 6 kg and a 907 Camping gaz cylinder plus all the pigtails and fittings to allow me to keep all options open for replacement cyclinders in France if I need them....I also drew up a small table of all the different French cylinders (attached) which others may find helpful

 

[John Kennedy]

Just returned from the trip ..... as everyone advised I only used 1/2 bottle of gas in 3 weeks