No idea what the temp was the first time we tried it. When you refer to temperature do you mean the temperature as in weather? If so, it was definately a warmer day yesterday when we tried it for the second time and got better results.
For those who are interested, the following was gleaned from the internet:
Propane, chem. formula C3H8, 13.94 kWh/kg, Butane, chem. formula C4H10, 13.71 kWh/kg, measured at 15 deg C. The main difference in the 2 gasses seems therefore to be that Propane boils at –42 deg C whilst Butane boils at -2 deg C. In freezing weather Butane will not evaporate and so cannot be extracted from the bottle. Butane will also ignite at a slightly lower temperature and burns with a slightly higher temperature than Propane, otherwise they are interchangeable. It seems therefore that the choice of gas must depend on ambient temperature where/when you want to use it, but probably more on availability in the area one finds oneself with an empty bottle.
> When you refer to temperature do you mean the temperature as in weather? <
Yes. The ambient temperature at startup is totally caused by the weather. So the gasbottle these days must have been some 4 degrees Centigrade. Just one degree less and butane totally stops. An extra effect is that the evaporation itself absorbs energy, thus even more lowering the temperature of the gass.
Butane just does not work properly anymore in this type of weather. Only if the bottle is situated in a warmer atmosphere (warm/heated closet, maybe warmed by a fanheater beforehand) butane will work. This probably is also the reason that your heating started to improve after some time: you were warming up the caravan, including the frontlocker.
So again: for out of season camping propane is to be preferred to butane. As soon as spring is really there you can safely use butane.
In Holland a propane refill costs the same as butane, for my type of gasbottles (lightweight). They last me for a long time, so even if there would be a difference in price, i would not mind. What's a few euros over a few weeks.
Mind you: some manufacturers of butane deliver in fact a mix of butane and propane, to improve performance during so-so weather. In fact the propane of that mixture is used while the butane remains and after some time one still can get stuck without usable gas.
I didn't realise there was so much involved in selecting what gas to use.
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Topic: WHICH COLOUR GAS!
