Gas v Paraffin

[alan54]

My newish gas burner is playing up and I am contemplating a new two burner cooker.
What are readers ideas on gas or taylors paraffin ? I know we all know the dangers of gas on board but are there any other advantages or disadvantages in the two systems?
How easy is it to obtain paraffin, especially outside Europe ?
Is paraffin clean, efficient and practical? What are readers experiences ?
regards,
alan54

 

[johnsomerhausen]

I'm prejudiced in favour of paraffin (my previous boat was purchased in Breskens and unless they have dredged there, the gas stove that came with it is still 2 cables NW of the harbour entrance...). Paraffin burns a bit hotter than gas and does not cause as much condensation. It is easily found outside Europe (in desperate cases, you can go to the local airport if jets land there and beg for some JP1 - jet fuel - which is 99% paraffin. If mixed with 5% engine oil, you can use it for your diesel engine and you can use diesel in your stove... But it will soot upo the "ceiling" of the cabin if you've got "flare ups" or use diesel
The priming of the paraffin stove is a bit tricky for beginners (give it plenty
pf alcohol to be sure to have a good prime at first, then progressively reduce the quantity). Nigel Calder has some good tips on overhauling paraffin stove in his "Boat Owners' Mechanical and Electrical Manual". One additional one I gave him is that you can bring your jets to a diesel pump repairing firm and ask them to give them a good clean with the ultrasonic cleaning machine they use for cleaning diesel injectors. The carbon deposits are the same in both cases/
john

 

[BrianJ]

For me their is no choice..I say GAS,
had a couple of bad experiences doing deliveries on yachts with paraffin.
brianj

 

[Plum]

I researched this topic a few years ago and, although there are people that will swear by each system, the two main points that caused me to decide on gas were:
1) a gas system is just as safe as a parafin system IF IT IS PROPERLY INSTALLED and IF YOU USE A GAS SNIFFER TO DETECT A BUILD-UP IN THE BILGES
2) if you are sailing along single-handed and you want to put the kettle on, then you want to light the stove quickly. Gas is almost instantanious to light. Parafin will take at least a minute, maybe 3, and is fiddly and tricky in a seaway.

On a positive not for parafin, I learnt that some people dispense with the heating of the jets with alchohol and heat them using one of those gas blowtourches that have auto ignition. The sort you can get from DIY stores, or, in smaller sizes, from kitchen shops sold for flaming/crisping the tops of food dishes.

 

[billmacfarlane]

I've always used gas without any problem and my experience of paraffin is with a friend's boat. I found the stove very fiddly to light and once or twice had a fairly large flame after priming which didn't strike me as very safe. As one of the replies said you'll find people who swear by either system but if you use gas I would get the whole installation checked and corrected if necessary by a Corgi installer and use a gas alarm which should give you peace of mind.

 

[J_Priedkalns]

I have been using a kerosene stove with oven manufactured by Wallas Marin (since 1985) which has no exposed flames, is preheated electrically and is vented outside so that there is no kerosene smell in the cabin. Any excess fuel is returned to the kerosene fuel tank. This system does work quite well. Having witnessed the effects of propane gas on a boat was the determining factor for choosing a kerosene stove. My only gripe with this stove is with the manufacturer who do not seem to want to respond to any correspondence. Trying to communicate with them from Canada was a dead loss; however a PBO reader was able to to assist

 

[vyv_cox]

I have used a Taylor's paraffin stove in a camper van for nearly 30 years and gas in boats for nearly 20. On balance I would pick gas for its convenience and lack of smell. Following simple safety rules makes use of gas perfectly acceptable.

Millions of boats throughout the world use gas and reports of accidents are pretty infrequent. It seems to me that far more accidents result from the use of the boat than the use of the cooking fuel. Does this mean that yachting is unsafe? I don't think so.

 

[Guest]

We have had a Taylors paraffin cooker for about 5 years, we are very happy with it.
A few tips that may be worthwhile are;
1. Use a Tilley tongs (as used on Tilley lamps) for pre-heating, rather than the meths cups
2. There is no safety cut-off and the controls are possible to knock into the open position. This is not dangerous, but can cause quite a mess of overflow paraffin.
3. If planning to sail in Europe, apart from France, paraffin is almost IMPOSSIBLE to find. Due to this fact, if I were buying now, I would consider a diesel cooker instead.
Best of luck.

 

[martinp]

Paraffin can be found in chandlers in Holland it's called Petroleum. It's sold in sealed 5 litre plastic cans.

 

[Paulka]

Paraffin is easily available in Spain and Portugal as well!

I refused to take the risk of having gas on board. The many regulations, "safety checks", "proper installation" (which, by the way, are different from country to country, so which is the right one?), etc. are like a red flag to me. And are you aware that gas detector do NOT work if wet? What can easily happen in the bilge!

I used paraffin stoves for a very long time and was satisfied, nevertheless, I recently switched to Origo alcohol.
The reasons behind my switch :
- No pre-heating,
- no smell, which can be disturbing with paraffin,
- cleaner fuel.

The drawbacks of alcohol :
- not available in most of the third world. (doesn't matter for me any more)
- heavy evaporation from the stove's tank under "mediterranean" climate.

I am fully satified of my alcohol stove under my current conditions, but would switch back to paraffin to sail anywhere outside Europe.

 

[charles_reed]

Leaving aside the "risk" element, which tends to excite such extreme subjective words as never and always:-

For a two burner stove the difference in convenience is small, lighting a paraffin stove needs some care and knowledge which, if absent, can result in exciting flames, loss of eyebrows etc.
When you come to the grill the gas one has considerable advantage over paraffin.
I have never yet met anyone who is prepared to cook anything in their Taylor's oven, where gas wins hands down over paraffin.

Paraffin, kerosene are reasonably easy to obtain in N Europe, but the further afield you go (or so I am assured) the more difficult is to get the stuff, especially in 3rd world countries where LPG has replaced the stuff.

So:
If you sail by yourself or with the same crew the whole time, don't use the oven or want to eat toast, paraffin is quite OK.
If you have changing guests, LPG is both more convenient and safer (providing you have flame failure devices on all burners).
If you want to be able to cook a decent meal aboard LPG is a better bet.

Regarding the risk - both are inflammable - if you are very careless and lack a sense of smell LPG can result in an explosive mixture in the bilges (as can petrol, and paraffin in hot climates).

The only thing I'll never have again is an alcohol stove the Origo I had was rapidly converted to LPG and, whilst I had the boat, we lived very happily thereafter.

 

[ccscott49]

Gas! everytime, None of the flames, smoke smell of parafin, as Charles says if you want to camp onboard, go for parafin, if you want to live onboard, go gas. IMHO.

 

[Mirelle]

Ian Wright who posts here sometimes does that (the blowtorch trick) and it is impressive - not only is it a quicker way to start a burner, but you can light a hot burner with it. I see that Taylors now recommend it themselves.

I don't believe the stories about paraffin being hard to find in third world countries. Never seen any shortage of it myself living in the Philippines and China, but have had no end of fun with incompatible gas bottles.....

I am a confirmed paraffinite.

 

[wakeup]

What did you find wrong with the Alcohol burner, they seem to be very popular in the states?

yada yada..