Convince DW that Propane is OK or Give Up?

[seasalt007]

Buying a boat with a Princess propane stove/oven. DW is afraid of propane and wants me to rip it out and install new Force 10 electric stove/oven.

Bottom line is that she won't use either one. She will use electric skillet or toaster oven and I will grill outside.

She is an Internet junky and has found 10 million blogs against propane and one post for it.

I'm not afraid but if Momma ain't happy no one is. What to do? Getting a new DW is more expensive than new stove/oven.

 

[dhays]

I am on my fourth boat with a propane stove/oven. I'd rather have it then have to run the generator a lot more often.

 

[markpierce]

Aren't many fires on boats involve electricity rather than propane?

 

[Insequent]

If neither of you are going to use a stove/oven then remove it and use the space for something else!

But a properly installed propane system is far preferable to electric stove/oven in my view. That means a proper cylinder enclosure, solenoid cutoff at the cylinder, a detector next to the oven and one at a low point in the sleeping cabin, and a continuous hose run from solenoid to appliance (no joins whatsoever). A used boat may not have these attributes, but they can be readily fixed.

 

[O C Diver]

Having a propane stove on the boat doesn't obligate you to hook a tank to it. Have an electric stove on my boat that I was adamant about replacing with propane. Have used it twice so far. It's moved down and off the priority list. Best answer is buy the boat, and tell DW that the two of you will evaluate whether you truly need a stove on the boat or not.

Ted

 

[RT Firefly]

Greetings,
Mr. 007. Oh dear. What will it take to convince Momma that it's safe? Maybe an official USCG inspection? Written certification by AYBC "expert"?

Our current boat came with a 3 burner electric stove and I couldn't wait to get rid of it. Installed 3 burner Princess propane. Previous vessel came with propane. No problems with either one.

Regarding the bottom line...IF she isn't going to use a stove at all, leave the propane one in place and don't hook any bottles up to it.

 

[CPseudonym]

Does your wife like the boat?

Are you sure?

The problem may be a propane stove objection is the first of many objections awaiting their turn...

If it really is a propane phobia rip the damn thing out and stick an electric in its place. In fact, splurge and buy an induction unit.

 

[BruceK]

Insurers here want a propane system certification by a qualified fitter. As RTF suggests, the certificate may help. But on what you wrote, I doubt it.
My propane experience is positive too. And who wants to fire up the genset for coffee or tea(unless you have a mains espresso machine like us, or lots of battery to feed an inverter), or run it for hours to do a roast.
As well as the bottle valves and a selector for the one of 2 bottles in use,we have a valve in the cabin headliner s that after cooking the supply can be turned off without visiting the FB, though the nervous will do that too.
Modern stoves have a flame out/propane off safety valves. Plenty of reasons it is not a problem but, I sense that may not be enough.

 

[BandB]

Buying a boat with a Princess propane stove/oven. DW is afraid of propane and wants me to rip it out and install new Force 10 electric stove/oven.

Bottom line is that she won't use either one. She will use electric skillet or toaster oven and I will grill outside.

She is an Internet junky and has found 10 million blogs against propane and one post for it.

I'm not afraid but if Momma ain't happy no one is. What to do? Getting a new DW is more expensive than new stove/oven.

Wifey B: Is that thing not out yet?

 

[BandB]

Does your wife like the boat?

Are you sure?

The problem may be a propane stove objection is the first of many objections awaiting their turn...

If it really is a propane phobia rip the damn thing out and stick an electric in its place. In fact, splurge and buy an induction unit.

Wifey B: We've read all that too, but we still chose no propane. Many years on the lake of being told it was bad. Told about fires and explosions. Logic loses out to emotion.

 

[cardude01]

I love making espresso early in the am on the super quiet propane stove. I use this:

 

[nmuir]

We have a princess stove/oven and love it. It was actually a selling feature with my wife. We run an entire season - including using the oven for baking - on a single propane bottle.
As per previous posters, with remote shutoff, proper installation, etc you should be totally fine.
I have been on boats that need to run the genset to make a cup of coffee - I would never want that!
If it is in and properly installed I suggest keeping and using it for a season - then see if you want the work and expense of changing it.

 

[HopCar]

While I have no problem with propane on a boat, you might save yourself a bunch of trouble by installing an Origo alcohol stove. It is very safe and it doesn't require running the generator.

Kenyon makes a combination electric / alcohol stove if you want both.

My wife actually likes our Origo.

 

[CWO KPM]

God is great, beer is good and people are crazey.
All said, Propane is the only way to cook.

 

[CWO KPM]

NO electiectiic

 

[BandB]

Wifey B: I like my bacon electrifried.

 

[Cigatoo]

Origo

While I have no problem with propane on a boat, you might save yourself a bunch of trouble by installing an Origo alcohol stove. It is very safe and it doesn't require running the generator.

Kenyon makes a combination electric / alcohol stove if you want both.

My wife actually likes our Origo.

Plus 2 on the Origo

 

[cafesport]

Use the propane tank with a proper regulator to fuel a grill outside and buy an induction burner that will run off your inverter for meals inside.

 

[psneeld]

Fear is a funny thing.

No amount of convincing and often no amount of counselling changes a thing.

There are plenty here that can spout off a million boats or blogs that use propane but I doubt it would help.

If my boat doesn't have an issue with propane, why write about it? If it does, like everyone else thesevdays, they have to become a crusader against it, like they actually know something the rest of us don't.

More boats sink every year and people drown than people blowing up...yeah...yeah I understand statistics to and it's phoney baloney, but no more than an irrational fear of propane.

 

[CMS]

Buying a boat with a Princess propane stove/oven. DW is afraid of propane and wants me to rip it out and install new Force 10 electric stove/oven.

Bottom line is that she won't use either one. She will use electric skillet or toaster oven and I will grill outside.

She is an Internet junky and has found 10 million blogs against propane and one post for it.

I'm not afraid but if Momma ain't happy no one is. What to do? Getting a new DW is more expensive than new stove/oven.

The stats simply don't back up her fears... If you really want to scare her tell her that 55% of all boat fires are electrical in nature then have her go hunt for the numerous unsafe areas of the installed AC & DC systems, which 99.5% of boats have..........

A safely installed propane system, using equipment designed for a marine installation, and done to ABYC standards, is extremely safe. In every single case I have been made aware of, where propane was involved (there are quite few actually), the system did not meet the minimum safety standards. If someone can point me to a vessel where propane caused a fire, and the system was installed to ABYC standards, PLEASE DO....

The last one I was involved in was a large Hatteras where a clamp-on propane heater was mounted to a 20 pound tank and being used in the saloon, on shag carpet..... NOTHING about this met the safety standards. The boat was burned to the waterline when the heater tipped over. The fault of propane? NOPE, not at all, but that is what the "stats" will show....

 

[CPseudonym]

Owning a pleasure boat at its essence is irrational and now you guys want to bring logic into this. Just wait until the next gas vs diesel thread, I'm cut and pasting every single one of your pro-propane posts from here to it.

Those convinced against their will are of the same opinion still.

Again, if her only objection really is the stove, pull it out and toss it overboard. That is unless you really don't want to use the boat and just pay moorage and maintenance. Because I guarantee if there is something about the boat she don't like you will not use it much.

 

[RCook]

We cooked almost every day onboard for 25 summers so far. Have had four different stoves:

Origo alcohol (low heating power, gets even lower when low-ish on fuel, messy to re-fill, produces a lot of moisture and some smell)

Wallas kerosene-powered ceramic top (very efficient, but a bit cranky. Don't like how slowly it reacts to changing heat settings)

Princess 2-burner propane (very controllable, flawless)

Force 10 3-burner propane with oven (flawless cooktop, haven't used the oven very much yet)


At home, we replaced electric cooktop with gas, for more controllable cooking.

Propane is far and away my choice (for boats). Plenty of heat, more controllable. Would not want to fire up the generator every time we cook. A couple of times in 19 years our propane systems needed a bit of maintenance. Did it myself, dead easy.

 

[cardude01]

Again, if her only objection really is the stove, pull it out and toss it overboard. That is unless you really don't want to use the boat and just pay moorage and maintenance. Because I guarantee if there is something about the boat she don't like you will not use it much.

[emoji106][emoji106][emoji106][emoji106]

It's not worth arguing about. Don't give her any reasons not to get on the boat. It's that important.

 

[rwidman]

You want folks on a boating forum to gang up on your wife so she will accept a propane stove on a boat? Not likely to happen. We can gang up and we can state how much we love propane cooking and point out that we are still alive but that's not likely to change her mind.

Unless you have a genset that works reliably, an electric stove on a boat will only work in a marina with shore power. Many of my friends have gensets on their boats and they are constantly having trouble with them. Anchored out with a broken genset and you'll be eating raw bacon and eggs for breakfast.

You'll never have trouble starting propane.

My previous boat had an alcohol stove and in my opinion, alcohol is a distant second to propane. I wouldn't bother.

I believe propane on a boat is safe as long as it's installed, maintained and used correctly. If she balks, disconnect the tank and buy her the electric fry pan. Don't rip out a perfectly good system, just don't use it. Maybe your next wife will be a fan of propane.

 

[dhays]

Owning a pleasure boat at its essence is irrational and now you guys want to bring logic into this. Just wait until the next gas vs diesel thread, I'm cut and pasting every single one of your pro-propane posts from here to it.

Those convinced against their will are of the same opinion still.

Again, if her only objection really is the stove, pull it out and toss it overboard. That is unless you really don't want to use the boat and just pay moorage and maintenance. Because I guarantee if there is something about the boat she don't like you will not use it much.

I have to agree. I may think her fears are unwarranted, but you likely won't change them. The stove will be one of many boating compromises that you will make if you still want to have both a wife, and a boat, in a few years.

I have been boating for 50 years and been married for 35. I certainly would give up the former if necessary to ensure the latter. A stove is nothing.

 

[Lepke]

Propane Cooking

Enuf said

 

[RT Firefly]

Greetings,
Mr. L. "Enuf said"

OK...

 

[psneeld]

Enuf said?


Really?


As CMS said...show me one of those propane incidents with ALL the evidence...not selected jargon I have seen in many government stats...that it was cause by a properly installed and used propane system.


Even if one or two...you have a better chance of being hit by lightning in all likelihood.


'nuff said.... not even close....

well unless I guess you are accident prone, can't follow simple instructions and don't take care of your stuff...then MAYBE it is more dangerous than many boating things in general.


Classic feamongering posts..... someone on a crusade. Instead of listing classic failure points to show the danger spots in the system or how to prevent it...lets post some burnt baby pics.

 

[dhays]

I haven't paid a lot of attention to specific causes, but we have a LOT of propane stoves here in the PNW. While I can think of a number of marina and boat fires, I can't recall that any of them were related to propane systems.

A quick search can't even find propane cooking systems as a separately identified cause of boat fires or boating accidents. Over half of boat fires that start on board are electrical in nature. About 16% are related to engine or fuel issues. Propane would be tossed into the 18% that are "other".

 

[BandB]

I haven't paid a lot of attention to specific causes, but we have a LOT of propane stoves here in the PNW. While I can think of a number of marina and boat fires, I can't recall that any of them were related to propane systems.

A quick search can't even find propane cooking systems as a separately identified cause of boat fires or boating accidents. Over half of boat fires that start on board are electrical in nature. About 16% are related to engine or fuel issues. Propane would be tossed into the 18% that are "other".

On the lake I grew up on and we lived on I am aware of one fire started as a result of improper storage of propane on a boat and another that was not caused by propane but exacerbated greatly with a propane caused explosion. The majority of boat fires are caused by the same things as house fires. Three major causes: Electrical, Kitchen, Cigarettes.

Still I have no issue with someone who has a fear of propane on a boat as it's not a must have. I'm not about to try to argue them out of it by pointing out all the other hazards and risks on a boat. I'm just going to accept it and move on.

We have no propane on a boat. Don't have a reason to go through the process of doing it right. The most common reason of needing to run the generator to cook, we don't have as the generator is already running for the refrigerator and freezers, for laundry, for hot water, and for air conditioning or heat. If we're on the boat, not docked, the generator is highly likely to be on.