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Evening all, we have recently bought our holiday home which is not connected to the main gas supply. My question is I have noticed bottled gas cylinders are sold as either propane or butane (one is dearer than the other). Can anybody please explain what is the difference? and can I use either to fuel my hot water boiler?
For most intents and purposes Propane and Butane are interchangeable but all bottled gas appliances should bear a label saying which they are designed to use so follow that.
Posted: Wed Jun 27, 2018 10:23pm
Thanks Pete - very helpful.
Posted: Wed Jun 27, 2018 10:24pm
Movingon wrote on Wed Jun 27, 2018 10:01pm:
For most intents and purposes Propane and Butane are interchangeable but all bottled gas appliances should bear a label saying which they are designed to use so follow that.
Thanks, appreciate the info.
Posted: Thu Jun 28, 2018 4:26am
Legendary helpful member
To add to what Pete's said, Cepsa also have grey steel bottles. Those with a red plastic top are butane, and a blue top is Propane.
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Posted: Thu Jun 28, 2018 11:20am
jimtaylor wrote on Thu Jun 28, 2018 4:26am:
To add to what Pete's said, Cepsa also have grey steel bottles. Those with a red plastic top are butane, and a blue top is Propane.
Thanks Jim
Posted: Thu Jun 28, 2018 11:25am
This post that was quoted has been deleted.
It seems the butane bottles are dearer. Is there any reason for this - I assume this burns longer, more efficiently - just trying to understand whether it is a false economy going with the cheaper fuel?
Posted: Thu Jun 28, 2018 12:11pm
I think that pretty much answers my queries. Thanks again Pete and the rest of you for taking the time to respond.
Posted: Sat Jun 30, 2018 11:07am
Hi Pete and all, following your helpful comments I took the opportunity to look at the gas supply setup to my boiler. I have realised that it is fed by two gas cylinders (propane) attached to an automatic changeover valve. Coincidentally, and since my last post, I am now without hot water supply, I have replaced the cylinders with refills (propane) so I know the supply is full - but still no hot water. My suspicion is that the auto changeover valve is faulty though this is purely a guess. Either way I think it is probably a good idea to replace this, especially as we have only recently purchased our house, so no idea of the age of this part or the boiler generally. Can you recommend a good local gas engineer and where I can buy a new replacement valve?
Thanks, Frank.
Posted: Sat Jun 30, 2018 2:55pm
Yes, all boxes ticked on the points you list. My auto valve bears no resemblance to yours. Interesting you should mention the isolation valve to the boiler - I do not recall seeing one, but now that you mention it, it seems logical that there should be one. I am back in the UK now but will be returning to the villa in the next 3 weeks so will Look at this again then. Curiously, there doesn’t appear to be an indicator to show gas flow/leves which I suppose is odd.
It may be that if I still have no joy, I will need a service engineer to give me peace of mind that the boiler is fit for purpose and has been suitably serviced and maintained, as I have no evidence of age or service records. If anyone can recommend a local service engineer then please let me know.
In the meantime, thanks Pete for your comprehensive thoughts.
Frank
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