We are going away at weekend for a 9 days in our seasonal touring caravan We usually heat by electric, fan heater for instant then oil filled radiator to maintain, but not sure whether gas or electric would be more economical. We pay for our electric by meter, same price as site pays but not sure exactly the rate or use can calor lite gas.
Its about two point three times as expensive to use Calor-lite as it is to use electricity.
Based on a reselling price of 14 p per kilowatt hour [Unit] for electricity and £25 for Calor-lite exchange.
Energy in propane is 46.44 megajoules per kg.
One kilowatt hour is 3.6 megajoules.
Calor-lite is 6 kgs of propane.
so: 6 x 46.44 / 3.6 = 77.4 kilowatt hours in Calor-lite bottle
Gas cost £25 / 77.4 = 0.323 £/ kilowatt hour, that is 32.3 pence per kilowatt/hour for Calor-lite gas.
Ratio Calor-lite energy cost over electricity cost =
32.3 / 14 = 2.3
Very easy decision there for you then.
Edit: that's assuming your heater can burn the propane at 100% efficiency and of course it cant as some heat and steam is going out of the flue. Thus making the electricity even a better buy as it will be used almost at 100% efficiency.
Wow, thnxs JTQU. So much info lol. Thats great, i thought electric would be cheaper but static caravan owners seem to say different. Maybe they are different with the bigger gas bottles woeking out cheaper and the fact that not all are charged electric at standard rate.
You also tell me what it costs so dont feel as guilty keeping warm now lol.
Yes buying propane as Calor-lite is a very very expensive way of buying it compared to the larger cylinders, like the 19kgs.
The pricing of Calor is a complete free for all with no control over the reselling price, so it pays to shop around. Using Calor-lites leaves you open to exploitation as these are specific to the "Leisure industry", whereas the conventional steel cylinders are used in various trades including builders who would not stand for being ripped off at the prices we are asked to shell out.
Quote: Originally posted by JTQU on 11/10/2012Its about two point three times as expensive to use Calor-lite as it is to use electricity.
Based on a reselling price of 14 p per kilowatt hour [Unit] for electricity and £25 for Calor-lite exchange.
Energy in propane is 46.44 megajoules per kg.
One kilowatt hour is 3.6 megajoules.
Calor-lite is 6 kgs of propane.
so: 6 x 46.44 / 3.6 = 77.4 kilowatt hours in Calor-lite bottle
Gas cost £25 / 77.4 = 0.323 £/ kilowatt hour, that is 32.3 pence per kilowatt/hour for Calor-lite gas.
Ratio Calor-lite energy cost over electricity cost =
32.3 / 14 = 2.3
Very easy decision there for you then.
Edit: that's assuming your heater can burn the propane at 100% efficiency and of course it cant as some heat and steam is going out of the flue. Thus making the electricity even a better buy as it will be used almost at 100% efficiency.
Post last edited on 11/10/2012 07:39:35
thanks for that,i always did wonder which was the cheapest.odd times we are away for a month so the savings are there to had.
------------- the only silly question is the one you do not ask.
I had the same thing when replacing a calor bottle in the summer, the small 6kg was going to be 19.99 but the 11kg was only 24.99
I'm sure it doesn't cost much more to refil the smaller ones, I know it's a very manual process, I have watched it happen at the BP Perth site which is now MacGas/FloGas.
Know what you mean about the calor lite being more expensive but get 12-18 months out of it and love the fact you know how much gas you have along with the lighter weight. Also do not want to give up as they are quite difficult to get hold of these days.
I've just 'worked' out the heating usage for when we go to Spain in the winter (Yes it does get cold there!)
Using the figures so kindly provided by JTQU, it would appear that the reverse is true, ie Gas is cheaper.
That's because on meter we pay 35c a kilowatt. That's 29p in £'s but Gas is much cheaper.
------------- How come when some people visit the fountain of knowledge, they only gargle!!!
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Topic: gas or electric for heating
