Propane usage whilst cruising

[Pdxstriper]

Hi,

Most of the tugs I've looked at hold (2) 5 gallon propane tanks to supply a stove and BBQ. In fairly constant usage - using the stove, cooktop and BBQ like one would at home (say hot breakfast and dinners 4 days a week average) can someone offer their experience as to how long would these 2 tanks last between refills?

thanks,
Pete

 

[High Wire]

For my wife and I in cruising mode, use about one gallon in 2 months with NO oven baking. BBQ is separate using 1# cylinders. 4-5 meals per cylinder.
You should have no issue.

 

[jleonard]

We live aboard for 4 months in the summer. We perk coffee every morning, usually cook for breakfast and dinner.
A typical 20 lb barbeque tank last us almost the entire summer.
NOT included is the 4 or 5 1 lb camp style tanks we use on the barbeque grill.
I don't know if that helps you or not cause it hard to correlate.

[QUOTE4-5 meals per cylinder.][/QUOTE]

That sounds about right for us also.

 

[psneeld]

Full-time live aboard here..... my 5 gallon or 20 lb tank lasts a year, supplying a galley stove top for pretty regular use and occasional filling of 1 pound bottles for the barbecue .

The barbecue will burn up a lot of propane if you use it extensively..... because of its large burner compared to the amount of food you actually cook.

 

[DavidM]

My experience is similar- 2-3 months of full time use out of a 5 gal, 20 lb tank.

David

 

[stiggy]

Full-time live aboard here..... my 5 gallon or 20 lb tank lasts a year, supplying a galley stove top for pretty regular use and occasional filling of 1 pound bottles for the barbecue .

The barbecue will burn up a lot of propane if you use it extensively..... because of its large burner compared to the amount of food you actually cook.

You can do that?

 

[RT Firefly]

Greetings,
Mr. s. Just an example. There are cheaper units out there. https://www.samsclub.com/p/1lb-refill-kit-propane-refill/prod21220770

 

[Dwsmith69]

Full time cruiser with daily use of cook top and oven. Typically 1 to 1.5 gallons per month.


You need a Refill adapter.

https://www.amazon.com/DozyAnt-Univ...uPWNsaWNrUmVkaXJlY3QmZG9Ob3RMb2dDbGljaz10cnVl

 

[Pete Meisinger]

Our oven is strictly for storage. Our 5 pounder lasts for at least a season for the cooktop. The BBQ eats up the propane, about a bottle for every 4 or 5 meals. I have a refill adapter but have never used it. The tanks are cheap. I just wish they could be recycled better. Not a big deal since they are steel and will rust out in a landfill in probably a couple years.

pete

 

[Mischief Managed]

The LPG stove will sip propane (even the oven). A BBQ grill uses substantially more. Expect about 4 typical grilling events per pound of LPG. I think with two tanks, you will have at least 2 months warning to get the first empty tank filled, probably a lot more than that.

 

[slowgoesit]

Greetings,
Mr. s. Just an example. There are cheaper units out there. https://www.samsclub.com/p/1lb-refill-kit-propane-refill/prod21220770

Not meaning to steal the thread, but Boy, did YOU just open a can of worms! Been doing this for years, but the haters over on IRV2 bout tore me apart . . . there HAVE been cases of refilled propane cylinders leaking, but if stored properly, with proper venting, (ie; storage on the fly bridge, and NOT in the bilges) the worst that can happen is you loose propane. I use only cylinders in good condition, take particular attention to the condition of the seals. In 7+ years I haven't had one leak yet. . . . but maybe I'm just lucky. It helps to put the cylinder to be filled in the freezer before filling so you get a better fill. The way I look at it is 3 or 4 containers refilled, is 3 or 4 containers not going to a landfill somewhere.

 

[RCook]

Using the Magma Newport BBQ 2-3 times a week, and the Force 10 stove every morning for coffee, most evenings for dinner, a few lunches, and occasional baking, we average about 1.7 gallons per month.

 

[O C Diver]

Instead of refilling 1 pound tanks, I prefer a hose from the bulk tank with the other end having the 1 pound bottle fitting. Really like composite or aluminum tanks as opposed to steel.

Ted

 

[Mischief Managed]

I have two Magma grills, one Newport and one kettle that we only use if we need the extra grill space, or need an outdoor stove burner. The Newport is "permanently" mounted to a big HDPE cooking station that I made. It hangs off my aft deck railing and it's awesome. The Newport connects directly to my 20lb cylinder with an T, a valve, and a special regulator I got from Defender. I found that my Newport did not get very hot with a 1 lb bottle, but it really heats up nicely when connected to the 20 pounder. Guessing the 1lb bottle regulator is starting to fail???



I use one pound bottles for the kettle grill and refill them from my 20 pounders. They store nicely in my LPG locker in my cockpit and have not leaked yet. I toss them when they start to look nasty.

 

[rslifkin]

Instead of refilling 1 pound tanks, I prefer a hose from the bulk tank with the other end having the 1 pound bottle fitting. Really like composite or aluminum tanks as opposed to steel.

Ted

Agreed. And if portability is an issue, they make little 5lb tanks that are easy to carry around.

 

[MYTraveler]

One gallon of propane produces 92,000 BTUs. My two burner built-in grill produces a max of 50,000 BTUs per hour. So, my 8-gallon tanks should be good for about 14 hours each, on high. I figure that a typical grilling session is the equivalent of about 20 minutes on high -- I turn it to high for about 10 minutes to get it hot and to sear the meat, then down to medium for another 15 minutes to finish the cooking. 80-90% of my use is grilling, but the stove top is also propane (electric oven). And the stove top consumes far less propane, so, I should be able to get about 40+ grilling sessions per tank. I have never counted, but that seems about right.

 

[psneeld]

Refilling tanks.. .there are legal small tanks now..you can debate it all you want.. The gasolinebboat next to you is probably a bigger threat if one uses their head with propane.

As far as how much a portable gas grill consumes is a function of the grill and what you cook and if out in a stiff breeze or not. That's why I prefer the small bottles over a hose as I can move the grill out of the wind when I can.

 

[DDW]

.... there HAVE been cases of refilled propane cylinders leaking, but if stored properly, with proper venting, (ie; storage on the fly bridge, and NOT in the bilges) the worst that can happen is you loose propane.

A friend of mine (fireman) used to do this. One day he left one of these in the sun. The explosion was spectacular, fortunately no one very close so no one was hurt or killed. Make sure you leave enough expansion space.....

 

[MYTraveler]

A friend of mine (fireman) used to do this. One day he left one of these in the sun. The explosion was spectacular, fortunately no one very close so no one was hurt or killed. Make sure you leave enough expansion space.....

Does your friend have any theory about how that happened? I suppose the heat could have ruptured the tank, but then what ignited the escaping propane? Was the theory that the propane somehow exploded while still in the tank? Hard to imagine that the sun could produce enough heat to ignite the propane, particularly given the lack of oxygen?

 

[firehoser75]

We have 2 aluminum Propane tanks. One is a 20 lb. tank used for the galley stove top and rarely the oven (very rarely). The other is a 10 lb. tank used for the Magma BBQ. We use the BBQ to cook dinner about 4-5 nights per week. We make tea about 5-6 times per day using the stove top. On average, I refill every 2 months, but we are not totally empty when I refill. Having the 2 tanks gives some redundancy, but even so, I would rather not run out, and refill when low, rather than when out.

 

[jleonard]

I've refilled the small bottles from a 20 lb tank for almost 30 years. I never had a problem.
I don't do it any longer but not because of safety, because of convenience.

 

[Wxx3]

Instead of refilling 1 pound tanks, I prefer a hose from the bulk tank with the other end having the 1 pound bottle fitting. Really like composite or aluminum tanks as opposed to steel.

Ted

Exactly.
Our propane tanks on the fly bridge supply both the stove and the bbq that's on the stern.
System works great.
Now, with full time live aboard we get about 1 to 2 months for one 20 lb tank, depending on how much we grill. We do use bbq minimum of once a week, no matter the wx.

 

[MOJO]

Many years of full time live-aboard including 6 years in the Caribbean where we cooked almost every meal including baking bread a couple days a week, etc. Propane usage down there was consistently 20 lbs every 3 months. We had 2 20 lb tanks so when we switched tanks we had 3 months to find a refill. Was never a problem. Our usage in the US is less since we tend to eat out a little more, so maybe we get 4 months out of a 20 lb tank. The BBQ is on a separate 10 lb tank which seems to last 4-5 months cooking on it 2-3 times a week. It's set up so if the BBQ tank runs out I can move one of the 20 lb house tanks to the aft deck and hook it to the BBQ. Finding propane in the US has never been a problem. http://www.mvmojo.com

 

[BrianSmith]

Full-time liveaboards. We make coffee every morning, and cook about 1 meal per day (breakfast or dinner) onboard. We get about 6 months from a 20 lb. tank. By having a full one in reserve in the same compartment, we've never even come close to running out of propane, as we can always find somwhere to refill the empty within 6 months.

 

[Southx10]

Propane usage

The only thing I can figure is most of you eat out alot or lots of PB&J. My wife and I are full time liveaboards, as in this is home 365. We have 2 20 pound and one 30 pound. The 20's are for galley an one 20 lasts about 6 weeks the 30 depends on how much we grill and or how cold it gets.

 

[firehoser75]

The only thing I can figure is most of you eat out alot or lots of PB&J. My wife and I are full time liveaboards, as in this is home 365. We have 2 20 pound and one 30 pound. The 20's are for galley an one 20 lasts about 6 weeks the 30 depends on how much we grill and or how cold it gets.

I agree.......see my earlier post #20. A 20 lb. tank for the galley lasts about 2 months (full time use), and a 10 lb tank about the same for BBQ. Both low at the same time usually.

 

[tiltrider1]

Clearly there is no answer to this question. A range of 3 to 2 months for 20lbs in a normal liveaboard situation appears most often in this thread. I can add this. Different stoves and different installations use different amounts of propane to do the same job.

On our last boat we had a Magic Chef stove/oven, no other propane use, a 20# bottle lasted 3 months. Our current boat has an Atwood stove/oven and a 20# bottle lasted 2 months. These numbers have been consistent for years.

What I can’t tell you is why one set up uses more propane than the other.

 

[FF]

Remember todays 20# bottles can only be filled to about 15# for the OPD device so untrained folks can do the fill.

The BBQ is the big user , we never bothered.

The Hiller range and oven easily go 2-3 months of full time living.

Our big antique reefer uses a a bottle every 3 weeks to keep the food cold and ice cream hard with no electric draw.

 

[john-o]

Alternate cooking methods is a way to extend your volume storage. I've used a solar cooker for meals - not snacks or BBQ. These solar cookers are great for sunny locations, easy to use, easy to clean. In fact, it's kind a fun. Also, for coffee I use my Trucker's 12 volt coffee maker, and for heating soups and stews, I use my Trucker's 12 volt hot box. The Trucker's hot box is about the size of a small lady's pocketbook, plugs into any cigarette lighter and really heats up quickly. In fact, most 12 volt appliances when used for small stuff, is not a drain on the batteries, works quickly, and stores in small places.

 

[GoneFarrell]

1 lb green bottles have an over pressure relief valve, it's that thing on top that looks like a Schraeder valve, which is exactly what it is, but setup for flow out. You can pull up on it with needle nose pliers to demonstrate functionality.

I use combo of 1 and 5 lb with hose to Magma, and keep the disconnected fiver in the open on deck strapped to the gunwale. The one pounders on the flybrige. Never been a problem.

Been refilling 1 lb for years, for boat , dirt camp, place in Baja. Zero issues, toss 'em when rusty.

I fill the 5 about twice a year.