Gas Usage in Ski Resorts

[Jon and Shell]

Some of you may know we are already experienced at motorhoming in the Alps during Winter.

However, that was with diesel heating!

Our new van now has a Truma Combi 6 setup with two refillable 11 Kg bottles and we are due to hit the slopes late this month.

What sort of gas consumption are you guys experiencing at altitude at around -5 during the day to -15 at night?

Estimates and guesswork are coming out at about three days from two 11 Kg bottles.

We've not had gas anxiety before.

 

[polyglot]

Me too, my problem is that the bottles aren’t even “officially” refillable. In Italy, Greece, Albania, Montenegro I refilled at the petrol station, but I know that’s not going to work in Switzerland. Im considering getting a proper setup installed in Italy

 

[Garry…Laika ecovip]

I know it’s not on the same level, but we’ve just spent six days in York at minus degrees, with the heating on gas most days and evenings set @ 22° and night at 16°. We refilled our safe gas bottles on the way home and put 33Ltrs in them. Hope this helps.

 

[Buddy1012]

Some of you may know we are already experienced at motorhoming in the Alps during Winter.

However, that was with diesel heating!

Our new van now has a Truma Combi 6 setup with two refillable 11 Kg bottles and we are due to hit the slopes late this month.

What sort of gas consumption are you guys experiencing at altitude at around -5 during the day to -15 at night?

Estimates and guesswork are coming out at about three days from two 11 Kg bottles.

We've not had gas anxiety before.

We usually do an annual trip to the Alps (Bavaria & Austria) late Jan through February and generally plan for around 5 days between refills of 2 x 11 kg cylinders, so up to 8 litres a day assuming not using EHU. We like to keep it warm and comfortable using the Alde system. Never found refilling to be a problem. We have just taken delivery of a new MH which has a 50 litre fixed tank plus the normal space for 2 x 11kg so around 90 litres in total which should see us through at least 11 days.

 

[Jon and Shell]

We usually do an annual trip to the Alps (Bavaria & Austria) late Jan through February and generally plan for around 5 days between refills of 2 x 11 kg cylinders, so up to 8 litres a day assuming not using EHU. We like to keep it warm and comfortable using the Alde system. Never found refilling to be a problem. We have just taken delivery of a new MH which has a 50 litre fixed tank plus the normal space for 2 x 11kg so around 90 litres in total which should see us through at least 11 days.

Thank you.

That's some good advice. We were planning a midweek shopping trip, so topping up at Bourg St Maurice or Albertville will be all that is needed.

 

[DBK]

We usually do an annual trip to the Alps (Bavaria & Austria) late Jan through February and generally plan for around 5 days between refills of 2 x 11 kg cylinders, so up to 8 litres a day assuming not using EHU. We like to keep it warm and comfortable using the Alde system. Never found refilling to be a problem. We have just taken delivery of a new MH which has a 50 litre fixed tank plus the normal space for 2 x 11kg so around 90 litres in total which should see us through at least 11 days.

That's an interesting setup. I hadn't thought of fitting a tank but keeping the bottles. A bit of plumbing needed but I can see how it would work.

 

[Buddy1012]

That's an interesting setup. I hadn't thought of fitting a tank but keeping the bottles. A bit of plumbing needed but I can see how it would work.

Yes, it was a dealer spec and not something I would have considered & originally thought that I would find an alternative use for the gas locker. However now I’ve got my head round it I like it, particularly as I can fill up before the return ferry on our 2 annual trips across the channel meaning that I can stop worrying about the diminishing number of refill locations over here.

 

[Homer-Adria]

Ummm.. Gas Anxiety :-(
thats why we swapped out Gas/Elecy Truma 6 for the diesel version... whilst in Finland a few years ago we soon found that there's only a couple of LPG stations above the arctic circle. Since changing to diesel we simply dont worry about it any more. We go MoHo Skiing every year and gas anxiety or heater failure is always a worry unless you are on EHU... so always bring a back-up leccy heater. A small oil-filled radiator is great for maintaining base temperature but for instant heat youll need a blow-heater.

 

[Jenben]

A few years ago some friends stayed at Valloire in their van (they used to let you stay up at the top car park for free ). We were there in an apartment, they generally lasted about a week with 2 refillable bottles and used to go down to refill in the valley.

 

[Jon and Shell]

Well, the first full 11kg cylinder ran out last night

7m van, four bodies on board, -10 average at night, -2 average during the day.

Running fridge and and a 6kW heater, one cylinder lasted 80 hours.

We are looking good to finish our stay with the gas we arrived with.

 

[alunfon]

Some of you may know we are already experienced at motorhoming in the Alps during Winter.

However, that was with diesel heating!

Our new van now has a Truma Combi 6 setup with two refillable 11 Kg bottles and we are due to hit the slopes late this month.

What sort of gas consumption are you guys experiencing at altitude at around -5 during the day to -15 at night?

Estimates and guesswork are coming out at about three days from two 11 Kg bottles.

We've not had gas anxiety before.

We have taken our motorhome skiing for several years with the last four years in Montgenevre. The answer is probably different for all of us. It depends on how ‘winterised’ the van is, the type of heating and your personal comfort level. We have a fully winterised mh, originally just with truma gas heating, and 2 x11kg bottles. With temps down to -18 the bottles lasted about 10 days. On all day but low at night and while we are out and about and 20 when we return. To improve things I looked in to upgrading the truma to diesel fuel but it could not be fitted and was very expensive. Instead I had a second heater, a diesel heater fitted and hopefully this will extend the time between refills.

 

[EuroTrotters]

Over 4 motorhomes, never had an issue with gas usuage.

Out Frankia, I fitted 2 x 14kg as that had ALDE

.
We tend to use campsites and have a small electric heater to keep the van topped up during the day.

I only fitted one auto changeover and that was the Frankia/ALDE.

Best use one bottle, when it’s empty, you know roughly how long until the next fill is needed.

We also use a lot of gas for cooking too .

 

[Donnieliz]

Some of you may know we are already experienced at motorhoming in the Alps during Winter.

However, that was with diesel heating!

Our new van now has a Truma Combi 6 setup with two refillable 11 Kg bottles and we are due to hit the slopes late this month.

What sort of gas consumption are you guys experiencing at altitude at around -5 during the day to -15 at night?

Estimates and guesswork are coming out at about three days from two 11 Kg bottles.

We've not had gas anxiety before.

Plenty of places to ski with EHU we ski mostly in the Pyrenees have been away since 15th Dec only just changed to the other bottle, I carry 2 x 13 kg. Not skiing all that time of course.

 

[Minnie]

We found in Norway we could go about 5 days on 2 11kg refillable bottles
However got caught out in the Spanish Pyrenees as no gas in that part of Spain so had to drive back to France to refill then return to ski resort
Very annoying but necessary!
No refills in north Finland as mentioned,
In Tromso Norway only one place and it was broken down again had to drive a few hours to refill
Couldn’t have survived without the heating (Alde)
Now have diesel in new van so feeling smug.

 

[EuroTrotters]

We found in Norway we could go about 5 days on 2 11kg refillable bottles
However got caught out in the Spanish Pyrenees as no gas in that part of Spain so had to drive back to France to refill then return to ski resort
Very annoying but necessary!
No refills in north Finland as mentioned,
In Tromso Norway only one place and it was broken down again had to drive a few hours to refill
Couldn’t have survived without the heating (Alde)
Now have diesel in new van so feeling smug.

Oh I forgot to add.

I programmed the diesel factory boost heater on our Mercedes to work whilst stationary.

Then Added a heat exchanger from the engine.

That way, I could use the waste engine heat to heat the habitation area. That and, if we run out of gas, I could use the diesel heater to heat the ALDE when stationary

 

[Apacheman]

Well, the first full 11kg cylinder ran out last night

7m van, four bodies on board, -10 average at night, -2 average during the day.

Running fridge and and a 6kW heater, one cylinder lasted 80 hours.

We are looking good to finish our stay with the gas we arrived with.



View attachment 1163883

Useful info thank you. We are heading to Les Saisies in a couple of weeks. Have an 11kg Gaslow, and 6kg Calor in the locker and will take another 6kg Calor with us for if needed. Will be parked up for 5 nights Sun to Fri and fill at Annecy on the way in. Using the CCP site so will have some electric but only 6amp and can be unreliable according to reviews. Based on what you’ve said we should have enough gas. The conundrum was running through my mind.

 

[Jon and Shell]

We have developed a noisy circulation fan.

After all that, we might well be ordering a Combi D6E in any case.

 

[Apacheman]

Think in addition I might take a small fan heater. Has 1&2 kw settings. Might put that on at night on 1kw when nothing else other than fridge running. See if that 6amp supply delivers . No point doing it during the day as if it trips we’ll be coming back to a very cold van.

 

[Sharkfighter]

I went skiing in Austria and stayed at a campsite in the town. I was hooked up to gas, just bypassed the gas bottles and fitted a regulator and it worked fine. It was the normal thing to do as virtually every van was connected to the gas system as well as electric. The gas was cheaper than electric.

 

[Silew]

We’re currently in French Pyrenees, week 5 now and living mostly off grid. Truma 4 heater. Using gas for heating and cooking. We have 2 x 7kg ‘le cube’ French bottles which are lasting anywhere between 4 to 7 days usage per cylinder. So when one empties we just swap at a local supermarket. We also carry 1 x 7kg calor just in case which we’ve not used yet.
We’re pretty careful with usage and tend not to leave heating on overnight unless it’s very cold. We’re currently plugged in for first time so using small electric heater to supplement heating. We find having the French bottles takes away any anxiety as they’re easy to exchange in most villages/towns.

 

[gvj]

Hi - I see from the above that a couple of you are in the Pyrenees at present. We are currently touring near the Pamplona end. Haven’t found the areas we’ve visited so far as user friendly for campervans as the French Alps (LGB etc) - any resorts/sites you would particularly recommend?

 

[Jon and Shell]

That second bottle is still going after continuing to heat the van for a couple of days after returning.
We have also removed the 22 years-worth of dog hair from the circulation fan.
Nice and quiet, we are sticking with gas for now.
Anxiety over.

 

[BriannYe]

Useful info thank you. We are heading to Les Saisies in a couple of weeks. Have an 11kg Gaslow, and 6kg Calor in the locker and will take another 6kg Calor with us for if needed. Will be parked up for 5 nights Sun to Fri and fill at Annecy on the way in. Using the CCP site so will have some electric but only 6amp and can be unreliable according to reviews. Based on what you’ve said we should have enough gas. The conundrum was running through my mind.

From 7th February you have to book the CCP at either of the Les Saisies sites.

 

[Apacheman]

From 7th February you have to book the CCP at either of the Les Saisies sites.

Thanks. Got it booked. Bit annoying you have to pay for CCP privileges to do it though. If you’re there or have been what’s the snow like?

 

[BriannYe]

Thanks. Got it booked. Bit annoying you have to pay for CCP privileges to do it though. If you’re there or have been what’s the snow like?

Didn't go there, it was my backup place. Ended up in the Ecrins park which has seen plenty of snow.

 

[polyglot]

I had a refillable LPG system fitted after many problems with bottles and refills. I used about 4l a day on average, keeping my mlt at 10c day and night and 19 when up and about. Some very cold nights at altitude -12c
The two bottles have a total capacity of 48l , what I appreciated is being able to refil at any stage of emptiness. In Switzerland lpg refills so so common as France and Italy so a little advanced planning needed.