gas or diesel heating & cooking choice

rab126

Guest
I am in the process of planning for my new van coming and am now seriously considering diesel over gas
gas choices

heater and water TRUMA COMBI 4E @ £1500 system
gas it tank 30ltr kit £375.00
dometic smev hobkit £324.00
3.9kg propane cylinder will last - 27.5 hours running heater only

total about £2199

or

Wallas XC Duo kit -
Diesel hob & 1.8kw heater
all in one compact unit
£1597
Fuel Consumption: 0.09 - 0.19 litres per hour

and sort out a water heater later

also
lpg gas price is about 60p per ltr
a propex uses
3.9kg propane cylinder will last - 27.5 hours

i can never understand why people plumb their diesel heaters into the fuel tank
diesel at the pumps £1.24per ltr
red diesel £0.55p per ltr
kerosene £0.43p per ltr

my plan would be to have a secondary fuel tank running kerosene

just want opinions and some thoughts on my preferred choice

i will also be running as much solar as i can fit on the roof and
4 or 6 trojan deep cycle 6v batteries

rab
 
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Have you thought down the induction hob route?
Very very quick.
 
The Diesel Hob/Heater does sound interesting.
As you know, I like the Induction Hob option but you would need a fairly hefty inverter when using it.

One question .... Kerosene at 40p/Litre? can you tell me the supplier as I just paid 59.8p/Litre (plus VAT) last week for 600 litres!
 
we get a weekly price at work for gas oil and kerosene from a national conglomerate and that was this weeks price and Scotland is always about 1p or 2p dearer than England i think they trawl suppliers and offer users the best price
 
Hi. Gasit tank 30 litre £375. Kit. Where is that please. Cheapest I have been quoted for tank. Is £599 fitted. Thank you
 
"lpg gas price is about 60p per ltr"

Admittedly I filled up at 57p per litre on saturday, but I paid 72p per litre yesterday and most are currently round that.
 
Truma water plus room heater ticks away all night and uses little gas and makes little noise and uses little power. Diesel equivalent makes far more noise and uses far more power.
I have both (in different vehicles) and while initial cost is some consideration it is the ongoing convenience of gas that makes it a good choice. If gas supply is on just about every corner then there is no problem, but where I use the other rig the nearest gas might be 200 miles away so then diesel is the only option - hot water, space heating and cooking.

You have to look at the whole system - fridge, hot water, space heating and cooking. No good saving a few dollars on one part of it and then spending a couple of grand setting up big solar to run the fridge.
 
Caz said:
"lpg gas price is about 60p per ltr"

Admittedly I filled up at 57p per litre on saturday, but I paid 72p per litre yesterday and most are currently round that.
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Round here , it varies between 52.7p and 59.9p in most places. There are some charging well over 65p, but no reason to go there.
We needed to top up somewhere East of London a week or two ago, and that was expensive, but nothing like 72p. Only Sussex and Kent seem to cost over 70p consistently.
FillLPG is the place to look.
 
We looked into this, particularly using a second tank for fueling a heater. However there simply wouldn't be space.

We pay 46p/l incl VAT for kerosene, have very few local stockists for red diesel and pay £1.399 for road diesel so, if space permitted for a second tank and it were practical, it would undoubtedly be cheaper to run.
 
Our Eberspachers were plumbed into the fuel tank when we got the van. Both work perfectly on road diesel to date and have been in the van over 3 years from invoices I have.

Road fuel is more expensive but the way I look at it is you don’t need to carry anything else and less risk of being caught short as most folks fill up fuel tank as they go. Gauge is in front of you reminding you all the time you drive.

If you go the diesel route you can pick up the Eberspacher or Webasto pre heaters to heat your water secondhand on eBay for around the £250 mark.
 
Caz said:
Yes I use filllpg. My nearest 4 (within 20 miles of home) are currently showing as 70, 72, 75 and 77 on the map.
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Isn't Countrywide an option round your way? They tend to be good on price, but it isn't advertised because you have to be a member.
 
nabsim said:
Road fuel is more expensive
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Well, it is, but not as much more as you'd think. The calorific value is about the same per KG, but the specific gravity is different.
55p or so gets you a litre of LPG, so a kilo of LPG (containing 13.7KWh of power) costs £1.10 = 8.02p / KWh
£1.25 gets you a litre of diesel, so a kilo of diesel (containing 12.67KWh of power) costs £1.48 = 11.66p/KWh

OK, it looks a bit more expensive to use diesel, but "free" solar power costs far more.

If the load takes your battery bank down to 50% or lower, that will use 0.7% of the battery's life cycles.

Assume £100 for 100Ah of battery with a true 150 cycles life, 50Ah at 12v (which is 0.6KWh) uses £0.67 worth of battery life.
So that works out at £1.11/KWh

You can adjust the battery life/cost figures quite a bit, and reduce the discharge amount to increase battery life, but you'll never match the cost of diesel or LPG as a power source.
 
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Caz said:
Never heard of them . On checking, apparently not.
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Last year, Countrywide went bust, but Countrywide LPG carried on, with member-only stations, mostly in the Shropshire area. But it seems that FloGas have bought the business (I didn't know that), so the prices will have shot up.
 
to hairydog
Well, it is, but not as much more as you'd think. The calorific value is about the same per KG, but the specific gravity is different.
55p or so gets you a litre of LPG, so a kilo of LPG (containing 13.7KWh of power) costs £1.10 = 8.02p / KWh
£1.25 gets you a litre of diesel, so a kilo of diesel (containing 12.67KWh of power) costs £1.48 = 11.66p/KWh

but if you use kerosene @43p per ltr it is way cheaper

rab
 
rab126 said:
but if you use kerosene @43p per ltr it is way cheaper
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Kerosene at 43p per litre would indeed be about 4.4p per KWh, but unfortunately, kerosene seems to cost a lot more than that when sold retail in sane quantities.

I know you can get it for about 50p per litre if you buy 600 litres or more at a time, but can you suggest where you can buy 10 litres for £4.30?
 
hairydog said:
Kerosene at 43p per litre would indeed be about 4.4p per KWh, but unfortunately, kerosene seems to cost a lot more than that when sold retail in sane quantities.

I know you can get it for about 50p per litre if you buy 600 litres or more at a time, but can you suggest where you can buy 10 litres for £4.30?
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I wish it were 50p a litre at 600 litres! think get stung a bit in the rurals (oooo doctor!)
 
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