Saving gas
Comments
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We are away about 115 days of the year about 25 in the cold months. We always use EHU, heating is alde, cooker gas (never use the single electric hot Plate) microwave used for cooking veg, electric kettle and toaster. We get through about 1.5 6kg bottles a year. I would also say we do a lot of cooking, rarely eating out, I also couple the BBQ up to the caravan supply. I would certainly say that the microwave has saved us gas. On our old van where the veg were cooked on the gas rings we got through 2 bottles a year.
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Out of the 174 nights away last year 80 were off grid. (THSs and shows). At the Lincoln show I bought a motorhome and got the dealer to install a gaslow system. In previous years, in a caravan with 13kg bottles I have probably used 3 or 4. It is not just the cost of calor that made me change but the hassle of changing bottles. As a solo lady camper lovely gents often changed the bottles for me, but then when I came to change them on my own it was a difficult job getting the spanner in to do the job. I'm not a weakling by any means but the gents always seem to tighten the bottles more than I could loosen!
When on EHU my electric hob and microwave are well used.
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Just as a fun present the kids brought me a solar kettle. Not been to use it in prolonged sunshine yet. However, even in limited sun the water reached 60 degs C in a few hours.
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We bought a cadac grillogas at the nec back in October
I later thought , if going on an away day to the beach etc.would be good to make it more portable to use an en417 tail on the cadac .they charge around £20 for a ready made kit.
But came across an en417 cartridge regulator for around a third of the price .while seaching I came across an en417 to small butane bottle (you know the ones around £4 for 4)adapter for less than £3 pounds free p&p from China .
This would be a good cheap option for my hiking stove .
When it arrived a thought came to me .
It is made of a soft alloy ,so I began to widen the aperture around the thread using a drill and bit .it took a while but now the adapter seats the regulator and makes an air tight seal .
So now the cadac can run on those cheap butane bottles or the en417 cartridges. Oh by the way my hiking stove has a pre heat pipe so can be used on the cold weather
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The experiment we did with the water bottle was a bit of fun, not to save money. We had a couple of old water bottles filled with water to help hold down the windblockers, on removing them one day I notice that the water inside was really warm, warm enough to rinse a few cups and plates. It got me thinking that if it got that hot what would it do if the bottles were black or black on the backside, so I tried it and yes it does make the water hot rather then warm I started using this water to soak clothes in (mainly small items) before taking them over to the laundry to finish off. Just an experiment not to save money
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I'm surprised at the length some members go to to save a few pennies here and there. if I couldn't afford a break or had to scrimp and save I don't think I'd bother!
I assume you are not pointing at me here. We rarely ever turn on the gas because we cook outdoors and whenever possible live outdoors on sites where we always have EHU. Minimising the use of gas and just keeping a small Camping Gaz for emergencies means
we don't lug great gas cylinders around Europe or spend time looking for refillsNot at all but I find it amazing that members spend huge amounts of hard earned cash on caravans or MH and then worry about the cost of camping down to the amount of gas they can save!
I carry two 3.9kg Calor bottles. I use one and when it is empty I swap it over to use the other and buy a refill although haven't had to buy one for over a year and during that time we had to use the fridge on gas whilst waiting for Dometic to sort out
a problem when it wasn't working on EHU.In the winter I have the Alde heating on both gas and EHU to get the van warm when we arrive on site. We cook in the van and eat out but when we do cook it's usually something that can be just put in the oven (gas) for an hour or so. We don't carry an extra
electric ring just because we're paying for electricity to save on the gas.0 -
I'm surprised at the length some members go to to save a few pennies here and there. if I couldn't afford a break or had to scrimp and save I don't think I'd bother!
I assume you are not pointing at me here. We rarely ever turn on the gas because we cook outdoors and whenever possible live outdoors on sites where we always have EHU. Minimising the use of gas and just keeping a small Camping Gaz for emergencies means
we don't lug great gas cylinders around Europe or spend time looking for refillsNot at all but I find it amazing that members spend huge amounts of hard earned cash on caravans or MH and then worry about the cost of camping down to the amount of gas they can save!
I carry two 3.9kg Calor bottles. I use one and when it is empty I swap it over to use the other and buy a refill although haven't had to buy one for over a year and during that time we had to use the fridge on gas whilst waiting for Dometic to sort out
a problem when it wasn't working on EHU.In the winter I have the Alde heating on both gas and EHU to get the van warm when we arrive on site. We cook in the van and eat out but when we do cook it's usually something that can be just put in the oven (gas) for an hour or so. We don't carry an extra
electric ring just because we're paying for electricity to save on the gas....That has been mentioned before it does make one wonder about priorities
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Can agree with you there ,spend thousands and then do everything posible to spend nothing on sites for example.
It’s part of the mindset. Save pennies to accumulate pounds. The wealthy don’t mess with camping, they hire a nice cabin on a cruise ship, get pampered and tip well.
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Can agree with you there ,spend thousands and then do everything posible to spend nothing on sites for example.
It’s part of the mindset. Save pennies to accumulate pounds. The wealthy don’t mess with camping, they hire a nice cabin on a cruise ship, get pampered and tip well.
We do that to
usually in the winter.0 -
Can agree with you there ,spend thousands and then do everything posible to spend nothing on sites for example.
It’s part of the mindset. Save pennies to accumulate pounds. The wealthy don’t mess with camping, they hire a nice cabin on a cruise ship, get pampered and tip well.
like TG, Ill be off to the sun to be pampered (spa, AI, golf) next saturday, and then again in may (AI fly/cruise)....
in between these Ill be off to Italy in the van where Ill probably spend a good deal of nights slumming it on aires during the journey....where those saved pennies (along with those from non-ehu sites and our chemical-free SOG toilet) will contribute towards
my next tropical break...
tips.....ah, yes Ive got one.....look after the pennies and then have a great time spending them......
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Can agree with you there ,spend thousands and then do everything posible to spend nothing on sites for example.
It’s part of the mindset. Save pennies to accumulate pounds. The wealthy don’t mess with camping, they hire a nice cabin on a cruise ship, get pampered and tip well.
like TG, Ill be off to the sun to be pampered (spa, AI, golf) next saturday, and then again in may (AI fly/cruise)....
in between these Ill be off to Italy in the van where Ill probably spend a good deal of nights slumming it on aires during the journey....where those saved pennies (along with those from non-ehu sites and our chemical-free SOG toilet) will contribute towards
my next tropical break...tips.....ah, yes Ive got one.....look after the pennies and then have a great time spending them......
Write your comments here...B.B, love all the places you go to and are going to, especialy Italy,we go to the same places ourselves.But we are not in our caravan as long as you are in your motorhome. We average about 105 days a year,but where we differ is
that we are frugal up to a point,but would never go to the extremes that some people appear to do to save a bob or two ,that would spoil it for us to the point of not wanting to go anywhere, if that was the way we had to do things. It does not mean we are
right and others are wrong ,it is just our idea of good times for us.
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I look on it as a bit of a challenge to save and use the most convenient way too - a balancing act? Any savings feel good and make me feel I can spend more on something important - like a good steak - or slightly more pricey bottle of wine! Whatever floats
your boat?0 -
We're out about 260 nights every year and always on EHU pitches. We use electrics for most of our cooking, having a single electric plate & the microwave, and all of our heating - Alde - is done with electrics. We do use the oven on gas and occasionally
use a gas ring. A 3.9 kg Propane bottle usually last us over a year.0 -
We're out about 260 nights every year and always on EHU pitches. We use electrics for most of our cooking, having a single electric plate & the microwave, and all of our heating - Alde - is done with electrics. We do use the oven on gas and occasionally use a gas ring. A 3.9 kg Propane bottle usually last us over a year.
Write your comments here... That is a serious amount of caravanning NTH! Have you ever worked out your annual site fees? Are you tempted to follow Merve's example of solar panels, Safefill and non EHUs and worked out the potential saving? It is good to hear someone enjoying their caravan - it would take me 4 yrs to achieve your total !
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We're out about 260 nights every year and always on EHU pitches. We use electrics for most of our cooking, having a single electric plate & the microwave, and all of our heating - Alde - is done with electrics. We do use the oven on gas and occasionally
use a gas ring. A 3.9 kg Propane bottle usually last us over a year.Write your comments here... That is a serious amount of caravanning NTH! Have you ever worked out your annual site fees? Are you tempted to follow Merve's example of solar panels, Safefill and non EHUs and worked out the potential saving? It is good to hear
someone enjoying their caravan - it would take me 4 yrs to achieve your total !Merve keeps on at me to consider swapping but I think I'm a bit long in the tooth to start swapping over all our equipment. We spent £3049 on site fees last year which worked out at an average of £11.73 per night, which we didn't think too bad, as we were
on EHU all year.0 -
Moonchip fresh is essential and I really notice the lack of oxygen to my brain if everything is sealed up! I bet that lamb was tasty too! Jacksons of old Arley ......
Thanks Pippah
The Lamb Henry melted in the mouth and was perfectly accompanied with sauteed chestnut mushrooms & some steamed brocolli
I'll look into 'Safefil' as it looks ideal - I'd get one immediately but had to fork out £ 483 this morning for a new alternator
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Have not toured on the continent for over a year now but I did notice that a few sites over there and here are increasingly banning the use of electric grills / bbq etc. Whether for cost reasons or overloading the supply .
I feel the "I paid for it so I am going to use as much as I can " gang are spoiling things for the more reasonable people .
And surely it will just push the site owners into metering the electricity as is done in many parts of Germany and elsewhere.
Making gas the cheaper option
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Have not toured on the continent for over a year now but I did notice that a few sites over there and here are increasingly banning the use of electric grills / bbq etc. Whether for cost reasons or overloading the supply .
I feel the "I paid for it so I am going to use as much as I can " gang are spoiling things for the more reasonable people .
And surely it will just push the site owners into metering the electricity as is done in many parts of Germany and elsewhere.
Making gas the cheaper option
We have stayed on very many French campsites, over many years, including last year (probably more than a dozen last year alone), and I can't say our electric hob and oven has ever been commented upon, let alone banned. Nor have I ever seen electric barbecues banned except for reasons of fire risk if they are sited on the ground. Some sites ban barbecues (of any sort) because of the fire risk - and this can include electric ones.
I think more monitoring of electricity is inevitable because of the 'green issues' surrounding fuel use - but if we go down this road then the same considerations may also take in excessive gas use - as gas is a fossil fuel too! Whether we use electricity or gas, it's a finite resource, and if we use it we use it, one way or the other, let's face it!
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I Feel you are missing the point .
I did not mention the green issue just the position of a campsite owner finding the electricity bill sky rocketing and having to take action .
It is a fact that in Germany most campsites now meter the electricity making gas the far cheaper option . Nothing green about that . We were talking to a campsite owner in the Loire ( site name eludes me at the moment )and I asked the reason for banning
electric grills bbq s and the reply was emphatic."They are costing us to much on the electricity bill"
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Have not toured on the continent for over a year now but I did notice that a few sites over there and here are increasingly banning the use of electric grills / bbq etc. Whether for cost reasons or overloading the supply .
I feel the "I paid for it so I am going to use as much as I can " gang are spoiling things for the more reasonable people .
And surely it will just push the site owners into metering the electricity as is done in many parts of Germany and elsewhere.
Making gas the cheaper option
If I am guilty of being one of the "I paid for it so I am going to use as much as I can " gang (who) are spoiling things for the more reasonable people and I use electricity to cook with then if the supply is metered I will pay a lot more than those who use only a little electricity and prefer to use gas. How is this spoiling things for the rest? If you don't use it you won't pay for it.
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Have not toured on the continent for over a year now but I did notice that a few sites over there and here are increasingly banning the use of electric grills / bbq etc. Whether for cost reasons or overloading the supply .
I feel the "I paid for it so I am going to use as much as I can " gang are spoiling things for the more reasonable people .
And surely it will just push the site owners into metering the electricity as is done in many parts of Germany and elsewhere.
Making gas the cheaper option
If I am guilty of being one of the "I paid for it so I am going to use as much as I can " gang (who) are spoiling things for the more reasonable people and I use electricity to cook with then if the supply is metered I will pay a lot more than those who use only a little electricity and prefer to use gas. How is this spoiling things for the rest? If you don't use it you won't pay for it.
Write your comments here...If a campsite owner decides they have to take action as the electricity bill is becoming to expensive and decide to go down the route of metering or just push the price up then we all have to pay more because of the few who are taking advantage.
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