No idea mate, I can't comment as had no involvment.
Gas Bottle Storage and Gas Lockers and Regulations
- Thread starter Creamytash
- Start date
-
- Tags
- gas gas-bottle locker
Slidepods would be fine it’s way back
Trying to decide what to do for a gas bottle / cannister.
Is the gas locker requirement only valid for bottles over a certain size?
We'll not use the hob often, so would a small gas canister be ok to connect up?
Is the gas locker requirement only valid for bottles over a certain size?
We'll not use the hob often, so would a small gas canister be ok to connect up?
As already mentioned, there are no legal requirements for gas installations in vans in the UK. There are Codes of Practice from various trade bodies & there are Health & Safety requirements for vans used by paid employees. But for a private use van, the world's your lobster. That said, there's no reason not to take sensible precautions, after all, it's you & your family that'll be sleeping on top of the bomb!! We have a 6KG refillable Gaslow cylinder in a "Gas Locker" I.e. a cupboard in the back of the van with a vent in the base to allow any leakage to escape externally (LPG is heavier than air) 6KG lasts us a full season with heavy usage including winter skiing. We only use it for cooking. If you go down the gas fired heating route, it's a different kettle of kippers.
It would be to boil a kettle when not on hookup and if it was cold/windy/raining outside.
I'm considering using a canister/cartridge initially, if we use it more than expected I'll get a bigger bottle such as the 907.
I'm considering using a canister/cartridge initially, if we use it more than expected I'll get a bigger bottle such as the 907.
If it’s only for the occasional brew in emergencies, I’d get something like a Jetboil or one of the cheap £20 single burner camping stoves that run off the disposable butane cartridges.
Something like this
Outwell Appetizer Solo Stove | GO Outdoors
£34.00 | Heat up and eat up anywhere with the lightweight, compact...
www.gooutdoors.co.uk
And just forget about connecting up the hob on the SMEV 9722 ?
The sink/hob is going in regardless - hence thinking I could just use a canister for the odd time it would be used. Be enough to boil a kettle a few times.
This is worth a read FREE Safety Guide to Campervan Gas Regulations UK 2024 - Vandercamp Adventures
Just redone my 9722 instal with 907, gas locker (directly underneath) & 20mm vent & follewed these Regs. Quite easy to follow. I have to be careful because I dont have a sense of smell. So additional gas alarm installed and hand wand as well. Plan is to move to full electric in time.
For an occasional brew I would happily use a wee canister.
Just redone my 9722 instal with 907, gas locker (directly underneath) & 20mm vent & follewed these Regs. Quite easy to follow. I have to be careful because I dont have a sense of smell. So additional gas alarm installed and hand wand as well. Plan is to move to full electric in time.
For an occasional brew I would happily use a wee canister.
Ahh! I'd missed that you already have a hob, scratch that then. In that case, I'd get a 6kg butane/propane cylinder from your local supplier & fit that. Unless you want to go down the refillable route. Camping Gaz is universally available, but hideously expensive. A 6kg from your local supplier (flo gas/Energas etc. Calor is expensive & increasingly difficult to get hold of) will be cheaper & last at least a season, so even if you go abroad, it'll last the trip. A refillable is a higher upfront cost, but dirt cheap to refill, around £1/litre.
Not an answer to the original post, however their is an alternative to using gas for cooking or heating and that is diesel. I am not not very keen on a plumbed diesel cooker with risks from gas, fumes and so on. The alternative is not cheap in terms appliance cost but the fuel is the same as the pump price, though one could use RED Diesel for cooking or heating. Their is no naked flame and all combusted gases are vented via a flue and the chances of an unburnt gas escape zero so no CO or risk or gas escape. Wallas can provide diesel fuelled Hot Plates, Hot Plates with Heating with Lid with Fan Blower, Stand alone Cooker Cooker with Hotplate, Heater Lid with Blower and so on various models available some can even be equipped with gimbles for tilt adjustment and safety rails. Wallas also supply diesel heaters. Some of these have been developed originally for boats but are also useful in motor vehicles and properties without electricity.
I used a paraffin version for many years in a Landrover 101 Forward Control Radio Body. the heating provided was superb and blown around the body via a thermoelectric lid that when pulled over the hot plates switched the fan blowers automatically. We used to camp ot wild in remote off road places in temperatures as low as -18Deg C and be snug and warm. Just lift the lid for cooking or a cup of tea. Ours had 2 hotplates and would run for a considerable time before needing refuelling. We only ever ran from the vehicles own main battery and yet never ran low on Voltage. Peak amperage is only on starting, then minimum amperage required for running. So other than requiring a flue installation could not be simpler. Stand alone fuel tanks are available in various sizes or they can be plumbed into the vehicles main fuel supply. Some designs are basic other attractive with glass heating covers. The main body stainless steel, flush mount or stand alone depending on model.
I have no connection with Wallas or any outlet, I just believe that they are an excellent appliance with multiple use and safe in terms of gasless and vented flue so no risk of being gassed or explosion or CO poisoning. No condensation is vented into the vehicle unlike conventional gas rings. Only condensation from heated water or cooking only. They work in a similar manner to the heaters most of our vehicles that might have a Webasto or similar just this is applied to cooking/heating. They even do water heaters.
wallas.fi
wallas.fi
www.campervanheating.co.uk
I used a paraffin version for many years in a Landrover 101 Forward Control Radio Body. the heating provided was superb and blown around the body via a thermoelectric lid that when pulled over the hot plates switched the fan blowers automatically. We used to camp ot wild in remote off road places in temperatures as low as -18Deg C and be snug and warm. Just lift the lid for cooking or a cup of tea. Ours had 2 hotplates and would run for a considerable time before needing refuelling. We only ever ran from the vehicles own main battery and yet never ran low on Voltage. Peak amperage is only on starting, then minimum amperage required for running. So other than requiring a flue installation could not be simpler. Stand alone fuel tanks are available in various sizes or they can be plumbed into the vehicles main fuel supply. Some designs are basic other attractive with glass heating covers. The main body stainless steel, flush mount or stand alone depending on model.
I have no connection with Wallas or any outlet, I just believe that they are an excellent appliance with multiple use and safe in terms of gasless and vented flue so no risk of being gassed or explosion or CO poisoning. No condensation is vented into the vehicle unlike conventional gas rings. Only condensation from heated water or cooking only. They work in a similar manner to the heaters most of our vehicles that might have a Webasto or similar just this is applied to cooking/heating. They even do water heaters.
Boat heaters and stoves, cottage heaters and water heaters - Front page - Wallas
Environmentally friendly diesel boat heaters and stoves, camper van heaters and stoves, cottage air and water heaters for off-grid environments.
wallas.fi
Products - Heating and Cooking Solutions - Wallas
Focusing on environmentally friendly smart products, Wallas heaters, cookers, and ovens are most suitable for recreational boats, camper vans, trailers, tiny houses, and cottages in remote off-grid environments.
wallas.fi
Wallas XC Duo - Combined Diesel Hob And Heater
The Wallas XC Duo is a simple cooking and heating solution, designed for campervan use. Ceramic cooking hob and efficient heater
www.campervanheating.co.uk
Yeah the Wallas kit looks excellent. So expensive though.
I bought my van with the usual sink and hob but after an initial burst of enthusiasm for using all the gadgets in the van, realised that we didn’t actually want to cook in it and that in the real world, the sink was too small to be of any real use for its intended purpose. I therefore took out the water container and pump fuse, disconnected the gas cylinder and removed the gas safe. The sink’s used to store all the tea towels, scourers, washing up liquid and a small bowl for transporting stuff to the campsite washing up area. If we’re on EHU, we use a small electric kettle and, if not, a ‘square stove’ that we’ve had for 20 odd years and a small collapsible kettle. All our cooking is done outside on the stove and a small Cadac BBQ. It’s all easily reversible for when we come to sell the van and it’s amazing how much valuable storage is freed up by taking out the gas safe. If I was speccing a new van today, I would have to think carefully about whether or not to include a hob and sink (resale would also come into the equation).
That's exactly it... might not get used that often, if at all. But if/when it comes to selling the van, not having this in place might put some people off.
I'm fairly sure I will just get a gas canister hooked up for the odd time I want to use the hob.
It’s all horses for courses. We use our sink & hob enough to justify their existence. If we’re off grid, the sink gets used for pot washing & teeth cleaning. We don’t fry in the van, but we cook spuds (salty
)/rice/pasta etc. I wouldn’t be without the hob/sink, but we could get by without if push came to shove.They are expensive but one cannot really compare with like. The Wallis can do the job of 2 devices Cooking and Heating or 3 if water heating for washing and dishes is considered and is relatively safe and very cheap to run comparing the price of Pump Diesel against LPG and availability, which is every where for diesel. The running cost equation is even more in favour of Diesel if one can purchase RED Diesel winch is very much cheaper still. However RED Diesel might not be available in in the City or large Town but is available throughout the country side and marinas. The most convenient way is to have them connected to the vehicle supply so every time the vehicle is filled with diesel it supplies the Wallas with 80L . Feeling cold just switch on the Wallis run it all day no need for ducting the lid has fans probably the equivalent of those found in computers so although one can hear then they are not obtrusive.
I have a Wallas from many years back I bought it from a Marine supply store in the Poole Bournemouth coastal area near to a marina. I had never seen one before and at first thought who would run a record player on a boat the needle would slip and bounce. It was being sold used but newish so I went and had a look. Farther in Law a Yacht owner thought it ideal after examination and so we bought it and fitted it to my Ex Military Landrover 101 Forward Control Radio Body. We used it for many many years in all weathers never failed. I was involved with the 101 Club and Register and at meets and off road excursions that the Mrs and I organised lasting a few days even during winter months, guess whose vehicle most of the guys spent time in. Several of the others had self fitted Eberspachers and similar but they kept on running their batteries down so no heat and at several deg below freezing that is no fun, So for hours at a time and may cups of coffee all round then more alcoholic drinks as the evening pushed on well into the night, the other guys would reluctantly drift back to their own 101's for sleep. Next day snow covered vehicles blizzard conditions, Mrs and I nice and snug all the others a bit miserable and cold, so coffee for every courtesy of the Wallas that was 6 x 101's, also had to jumps some vehicles, yet our Wallas was run from the starter battery never ran it down. Then breakfasted another day off roading and the same story.
Best bit of equipment for a vehicle that we ever bought, though ours was Paraffin. Today if I reused, it I would by my Paraffin with fuel bought from an airfield, tax free as aviation fuel. It is still fitted, not used for about 15-20 years so not sure if it will go but would buy another or any of the Wallas equipment for home or vehicle use as some know we are a remote holding in wales and occasionally am cut off from electricity sometimes for a month a ta time in Sevier storms so will cook on a multi fuel coal stove but a Wallas diesel heater or even water heater might tempt me as another back up for those times away for longer. They might be of more interest to someone construing a camper from new rather than an already going camper so much easier to install and consider but I would have no trouble in buying another with little hesitation. I had thought one with an oven would be a cool thing but was firmly slapped down and told that I would be the one doing the cooking as Mrs had no intention of being strapped to the oven that was only for the home and not when out for a jolly...oh
Yes, when you consider the Wallas is replacing both the gas hob and diesel heater, so two devices, than it isn't a huge amount more, plus it saves the space of the gas locker. I think Jerba fit them as standard in their conversions.
The amount of available cash for everyone is very different with life pulling this way and that and at some stage we all might wince at this and that . While I would be surprised if Wallas was everyone cup of tea due to initial outlay but for serious regular year round campers really they ought to be considered at least, especially new build or at refurbish time, other than initial outlay they have so much going for them no idea of the maths in calculating savings on fuel over the years but safety and convenience also need figuring in also. Maybe not for the occasional who might only go away a couple of time a year in the summer.
@doncarlyon we have a 6kg calor butane bottle under the sink and we only use the hob for brewing up and reheating meals or cooking tinned things that aren’t smelly - ie no frying. Occasionally do burgers and steaks in the ridge monkey with pop top open etc.
I wouldn’t want to be faffing with a little jet boil and a small portable stove. I don’t want to go ‘camping’ I want a small home-from/home.
I have adhered to the regs for installation of bottle and pipework and bulkhead regulator and pigtail etc and drop out vents etc.
Mine sits in a plywood 3 sided box but I have a twin slider which gives me access from the rear of the units. I never got round to putting a door on this gas cupboard so it is open to the rear, but my personal feeling is that any gas would go out of the dropout vent before it found its way into the habitation area of the van. It’s all about your acceptance of risk versus ease of use.
I wouldn’t want to be faffing with a little jet boil and a small portable stove. I don’t want to go ‘camping’ I want a small home-from/home.
I have adhered to the regs for installation of bottle and pipework and bulkhead regulator and pigtail etc and drop out vents etc.
Mine sits in a plywood 3 sided box but I have a twin slider which gives me access from the rear of the units. I never got round to putting a door on this gas cupboard so it is open to the rear, but my personal feeling is that any gas would go out of the dropout vent before it found its way into the habitation area of the van. It’s all about your acceptance of risk versus ease of use.
