Bottled Gas

Propane, Butane and LPG

Propane (boiling point -42°C and supplied in red tanks) and butane (boiling point 0°C and supplied in blue tanks) are gases derived from petroleum refining during crude oil or natural gas processing.

LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) is a mixture of mostly propane and smaller amounts of butane, propylene and butylene, and has similar characteristics to propane.

If you use your Eriba in the winter, then you should consider buying a propane gas bottle because propane will still vaporise even on the coldest sub-zero day.

Most people in the UK will opt for butane, mainly becuase it is at least 10% more efficient, but if you are caught out by freezing cold weather in April, then simply pouring some warm water over the bottle will get the gas flowing again.

Comparative Pricing

These prices were assembled from a number of sources in Spring 2006, and are representative of local distributor and direct sales:

The Gaslow refillable starts to repay the investment after using 100 kg of gas, if you are competent to install the DIY kit rather than opt for the professional installation. Note: you can only refill a Gaslow tank at an authorised refilling centre.

Camping Gaz is expensive, if bought in the UK. So plan to replace your Camping Gaz bottle when on vacation in France or Holland.

The cost per hour is based on running a Truma S3002 heater on gas alone, on a medium setting burning about 100 grams of butane per hour - about 10% more Propane is needed for the same heat output - further increasing the costs of Propane operation