We are about to head off for our first trip in our caravan to France (first time we have ever caravanned) and I just want to pick your brains about gas bottles. We have a 7kg calor gas bottle that we will use mainly for cooking but I have read that if we run out we cannot exchange it for a like for like bottle as France does not use Calor gas but camping gaz; is this the case?
Also, and I know that it is a 'how long is a price of string question', how long would a 7kg bottle generally last with average usage? We are away for 3 weeks and it would save us a fair amount of cash if we didn't have to buy a second bottle.
We take 2 full Calor Lites withus on our 6 week trips to France and we only use it for cooking and there is usually quite a bit of gas left in the first cylinder at the end of the holiday. You are right that Calor is not available in France. Camping Gaz is widely available in supermarkets and some of the bigger campsites. The other day I saw a 907 refill which cost around €20.
That's great thanks. Of course, not having a Camping Gaz bottle, I would assume that if we ran out of Calor Gas we would have to buy a Camping Gaz bottle. Any idea how much the bottle itself would cost?
Quote: Originally posted by daveweim on 08/9/2010
That's great thanks. Of course, not having a Camping Gaz bottle, I would assume that if we ran out of Calor Gas we would have to buy a Camping Gaz bottle. Any idea how much the bottle itself would cost?
Remember you will need the necessary adapter to connect a Campin Gaz bottle to your van if you intend using one
Quote: Originally posted by daveweim on 08/9/2010That's great thanks. Of course, not having a Camping Gaz bottle, I would assume that if we ran out of Calor Gas we would have to buy a Camping Gaz bottle. Any idea how much the bottle itself would cost?
Unfortunately Camping Gaz bottles are very expensive, £40 plus over here. Borrow one if at all possible even if its half empty as exchanges over there are easy enough. I say "borrow" as it so expensive a way of buying gas that it only suits light weight camping and this foreign trip role. So most of us with them leave it parked in the shed for most the of the year. You will need to sort out an adaptor or regulator.
If your going to a warm bit of France so not requiring space heating, and you have electricity for the fridge plus water heating you ought have no problem doing 3 weeks on you 7 kg Butane. If you need heating then you will not have enough but also Butane particularly in the small Gaz bottle will "freeze up" trying to gas off.
[ps before being corrected I know it does not "freeze" but its the colloquial use terminology]
If going where heating is needed think Propane now.
We are off to the South of France for three weeks so we don't anticipate having to use the heating so, hopefully, one bottle will be enough. I will try and borrow one to use as a 'spare'.
One 7kg bottle should last you easily if you are using electric hook up as well. Between us and my parents the caravan is used for about 6-7 weeks a year and a bottle lasts us about 3 years.
If you want a spare bottle you can often pick them up on ebay as people need to get rid of the canister and Calor don't refund the deposit.
If your full 7kg bottle is just used for cooking, it will be more than enough. It would actually be much cheaper to buy a 6kg French bottle that a Campingaz bottle in France, either bottle would require different regulator or pigtail depending on your setup.
Sounds like I should be ok with just the 7kg one then as the plan is to use a hook up whilst we are on the campsites. I am definitively looking forward to using the van for the first time but sometimes I do feel like I'm stumbling around in the dark when trying to organize things!
Our intention is to use sites with electrical hook-up so all the gas will be used for is cooking. I tapped up our local garage and when I have mine refilled he will lend us another one out of the goodness of his heart!
We took a full 5Kg BP gas lite and a small camping gaz (for the bbq). 3 weeks with lots of cooking and we returned with over half the camping gaz and two thirds of the BP bottle.We also ran the fridge on gas for the night we stayed over at the port,
Buy a little electric hob and use that for cooking on - that way you use the electric that you are paying for with the EHU and only use the gas for oven cooking. One bottle should be ample.
When we were away in the summer we cooked with the gas and made toast by the mountain. One gas bottle lasted us 2 weeks. Solution? Buy an electric toaster!
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Topic: Gas Bottle Question
