MySwag.org The Off-road Camper Trailer Forum
General => General Discussion => Topic started by: brianvicki on April 05, 2024, 10:42:03 AM
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Im looking at reducing the amount of weight /gas on our van by changing to smaller gas bottles, as we dont do long term off grid, what are the ways everyone has does this ?
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We are going to remove our gas cooker all together.
Last weekend we only used the induction cooktop for cooking dinner, coffee and tea.
No need for gas anymore.
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Im looking at reducing the amount of weight /gas on our van by changing to smaller gas bottles, as we dont do long term off grid, what are the ways everyone has does this ?
Its as simple as either changing the bottle holder or modifying the one you have.
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Hi, I use a smaller bottle (2kg) with a pol adapter.
Cheers (https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20240405/29e7ba6f1dc0791a028e2b62b94b623d.jpg)(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20240405/415a001fd1eff1d697dae2deacd5df54.jpg)
Sent from my Pixel 4a using Tapatalk
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We are going to remove our gas cooker all together.
Last weekend we only used the induction cooktop for cooking dinner, coffee and tea.
No need for gas anymore.
That's fine if you have access to 240v, or the weather is solar-friendly, but IMO it's a bold move without them....
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Hi,
From what I've read, 200Ah of lithium battery with solar and about 2 hours of driving should cover the average needs of most couples without a huge van .
Cheers
Sent from my Pixel 4a using Tapatalk
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The issue is if it is a van is what are you doing to heat the hot water unit. Gas is generally the only way, yes there are diesel water heaters but not necessarily efficient. You won’t find any water heater with an electrical resistant element that work on 12 volts and electric instantaneous heaters require 15amps /240v.
For us we have 3x 100 amp/hr lithium batteries, 4 x 190 pv panels. Can also charge from vehicle.
We have gas cooktop inside and although we have a slide out kitchen with gas cooking but chose to use an induction cooker outside plus the Webber.
We run a ducted gas room space heater.
The van is wired to run off an inverter.
The van has not been plugged into a power point for more than 12 months now running the 228 litre fridge.
For these reasons I will persevere with gas to run the water heater and space heater but potentially would consider having an induction cooker inside but just the portable type like we use outside. The issue is we can’t remove the gas cooktop as it would then trigger a need to replace the bench top.
Also I only run 1x9kg and a 4 kg spare.
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If I were you I’d weigh the bottles first. 2 x 4.5 weigh more than 1 x 9 if they are full. I used to refill lpg and still have the decanting tools. I top my bottles off myself before going away as 9kg is sold as 8.5kg & I think 4.5kg is 4 kg at the Change over cages.
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Saving a couple of Kg's on a gas bottle won't do anything, unless your going to pull out other stuff and get 50-100kg reduction in weight. ???
Foo
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The issue is if it is a van is what are you doing to heat the hot water unit. Gas is generally the only way, yes there are diesel water heaters but not necessarily efficient. You won’t find any water heater with an electrical resistant element that work on 12 volts and electric instantaneous heaters require 15amps /240v.
https://swiftappliancegroup.com.au/hot-water-system/ (https://swiftappliancegroup.com.au/hot-water-system/)
The unit in the link is gas/electric operation. Electric is 240v, with a 1000w element.
Run it from your batteries via an inverter and away you go....
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Saving a couple of Kg's on a gas bottle won't do anything, unless your going to pull out other stuff and get 50-100kg reduction in weight. ???
Foo
What he said.
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If I were you I’d weigh the bottles first. 2 x 4.5 weigh more than 1 x 9 if they are full. I used to refill lpg and still have the decanting tools. I top my bottles off myself before going away as 9kg is sold as 8.5kg & I think 4.5kg is 4 kg at the Change over cages.
Thanks that is a good way to look at it, the expense of replacing 2x9kg with 2x4.5kg, yes easier to remove one gas bottle… and I could put a bucket in the bottle holder for very lightweight stuff…
Thank you
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Hi,
From what I've read, 200Ah of lithium battery with solar and about 2 hours of driving should cover the average needs of most couples without a huge van .
Cheers
Sent from my Pixel 4a using Tapatalk
Exactly.
When we camped 2 weeks ago, we used induction full time for meals and coffee/tea.
For the dishes, we used the dieswl hot water system which works really fast.
Started with 100% charge, in 24 hours it went down to 83% of our 200Ah battery. So we used 34Ah.
With the 300W solar panels, the battery was fully charged again before lunchtime.
On our trip to brisbane, we are taking a butane stove with us as a backup.