Camping gas 907 bottles, how long do they last you?

In Norway and Sweden, where Camping Gas was either unobtainable (Norway) or £50+ (Sweden, if located) we made a habit of always boiling the electric kettle and filling two thermos flasks before departure to minimise gas use making hot drinks etc.

This year bought a portable electric induction hob also - but not had much chance to use it !
Note that pre-Covid this was £34.99 so ignore current inflated prices - VonShef Induction Hob - Portable Ceramic Tabletop Electric Cooking Hob with 180 Minute Timer & LED Display Panel - 2000W: Amazon.co.uk: Kitchen & Home

Generally we get 2-3 weeks from Gas cylinder cooking on board (pre induction hob), but not using oven.
 
This thread is seriously making me consider coughing up for a diesel stove, previous boat I could just lug around 2x14Kg propane cylinders that were about 35 quid each to replace and lasted 3+ months. Locker is 907 sized on newboat. My diesel tankage is pretty large for a 33' at 200L, but waiting 10 minutes to boil a kettle could be a PIA, plus the leccy requirements.

I guess I just need to find out how much the 907s bug me in real life given the punishment pricing and availability issues.
 
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Just checked one of our XLS files.

Usage obviously varies a lot but we usually managed 25-35 days when in the Rias, Balearics, Sardinia etc.
Recent usage in Greece has been more like 45-55 days. I think that's partly because cylinders from a garage are slightly overfilled and we also eat out a lot more often in Greece.

Quite a spread from 4 - 7 weeks and that's for the same 2 people on the same boat. Lifestyle has a huge impact and changes hugely for different people in different places. We also use an electric kettle and toaster when shore power is available (sometimes cooker as well if electricity is free).
 
I would say we use three refills a year with leisure use.......... and we do use the oven as well as the hob.
Always use electric kettle while we have shore power .

Campingaz refill charges always have been a rip off.
 
Our gas usage is pretty consistent at 3 weeks give or take a couple of days. We’ve got a collection of about 5 Greek 907 lookalikes which we get filled before we set off for the summer and that generally does us for the season. Costs about 9 or 10€ a time by using a shop in town rather than quayside shops in the islands.
When (if) we bring the boat back to UK, I’ll look at replacing the current gas locker with one that’ll take the small calor gas propane bottles rather than paying the silly prices for 907 refills, although I’m much tempted by the refill you own route adopted by some folks.
 
Do keep in mind that boiling a kettle of water for a cup of coffee on a diesel stove takes a lot longer than on gas. We have a Refleks diesel heater / stove also that we used in Holland.

The same for our wood stove. It is slow cooking.

Each morning first thing I do is starting the wood fire and putting a kettle on. Then the usual morning routine for an old man, and depending on how often I forget to put a small stick of wood on the fire it can take an hour before the water boils.

My wife loves it, that way she ca stay in bed longer.

If I really load the stove and have a hellfire 20 minutes is the minimum.

On gas??? 6 minutes or so ?

I love the slow way of living also. Get totally stressed up when I have to use the gas. Cant keep up.

Rinsing the coffee pot, putting coffee in it, and all of that in 6 minutes. Stress.
 
2nd for the induction stove. Our electricty in the med is included with the Amarre, so its a no brainer. Annoying that its only one stove but its so efficient, boils water rapidly! Also, because your not burning gas, zero humidity (not a problem here but was in the uk in winter) We also have a Remoska which we use as an oven, we can explain how amazing that thing is!! Bake cakes/bread etc and only uses around 400 watts!!
 
I have studied our gas usage over several years. It's 200g per day when we're living on the boat. But I mean 24/7 aboard, at sea, and in a cold climate. We make coffee and toast, not often cooked lunch, but always a cooked supper. Sometimes the bbq over the stern, and bread every few days. So I imagine that we are near the top end of usage. Light use, which is often in the tropics, maybe 1/2 to 1/3 this usage

A 907 contains 2.75kg of Butane, so that's 14 days, ie 2 weeks, at our extravagant rate. Hence it could be up to 6 weeks if in port for a 907.

I also refill bottles. I'm not sure it's illegal, but risky unless you know what you're dong. I use a spring-balance to weigh the receiving bottle, but will do some calcs on when the the density reaches 1.0 as it's an intriguingly simple idea. This is the table I use to calculate weight of gas to refill from empty, assuming propane when somewhere where I can't be 100% sure what the 'donor' gas is.

gas_bottles.png
 
Some of you probably should check for gas leaks. A 907 bottle lasts us around 3 months. That's cooking for two, we rarely eat out (especially these days). We use an electric kettle in port and a Microwave to heat the milk for the Cappucinos. Baking very occasionally.

Refills were under €5 last year, but that guy got shut down, now they're €7.50 if you drive to the place yourself or €15 if you give it to the local yacht service to do it for you. Or €25 at the official bottle swapper. Not really a big deal every 3 months and we have four bottles so not at risk of running out or having to pay extortionate prices out of desperation.
 
Yngmar said:
Some of you probably should check for gas leaks. A 907 bottle lasts us around 3 months. ...
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That's very interesting. So lets do some sums. 3 months is about 90 days. A 907 contains ~ 2.8kg of Butane, so that would be 31g of gas per day. One mole of gas is 58 g, so 31/58 = 0.53 moles per day. One mole of Butane's heat of combustion is 2.8e6 Joules (source Wikipedia), so 2.8e6 * 0.53 = 1.5e6 J.

My cooker's burners are 2.4kW for the big one and 1.0kW for the little. The oven and grill are both 1.5kW (source Force 10). Let's take a sort of average of 1.5kW. 1.5e6 / 1.5e3 = 1000 seconds, or 16 mins 40 seconds. So you cook, on one burner at most, never on two, only 16 mins 40 a day. A cup of coffee in the morning, one piece of toast and then a cup of tea in the afternoon and it's all gone. Never any potatoes, never a roast. Not exactly cordon bleu at yours then!

It may indeed be how you choose to live, but you have to be honest about your cooking habits. No need to make offensive slurs about others having undetected leaks. Accuse me of being an insufferable foodie and I'd plead guilty!
 
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mikegunn said:
Boat's in UK at the moment and there's not enough sun here to power a cooktop, unfortunately.

Looked on line for 907 refills, but all i could find for £25.00 were empty bottles.

MIght try decanting from the larger Calor Gas bottles.

Mike
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Mike J&H said your been around , drop us a email mate let us know how it's going
 
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