# Gas in France



## prog54 (Nov 22, 2010)

As an extension to a previous post, I understand that I will need to buy gas of a different make to the blue bottles I have in the MH.
1) are the French ones exchangeable with my current ones when empty.
2) I understand the French regulators are different to my current ones so can I buy the correct regulator at same time as replacing my empty blue bottles.
3) are the French bottles refillable or exchangeable in UK when I get back
Or do I end up with possibly 4 bottles to carry around for at least half the duration of the trip.

I've not been away long enough so far to worry about running out of gas so the previous post on this worried me.
Cheers
Terry


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## rosalan (Aug 24, 2009)

A well worn path this question, I am afraid.
No you cannot change bottles with any outside of each country.
No, you cannot refill UK bottles.
Other than camping gas, which is fairly international, you are a bit stuffed if you run out of gas.
For this reason, Gaslow and Alugas etc are used. They cost upwards of £300 and can be re-filled in almost any country at fuel stations.

Alan


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## Penquin (Oct 15, 2007)

You could take one cylinder only from the UK and get a French one and the suitable adaptor to connect it......

to some extent it depends on how your gas system is installed, do you have a cylinder mounted regualtor or a wall mounted?

If it is a cylinder mounted one and you change from one cylinder to the other then you could have a French one + a French reg on that cylinder and the UK one on the other...

use the French one mainly and the UK one as the "reserve" snce it is easy to replace cylinders in France - the same places that sell the cylinders sell the regs too.

If you have a wall mounted one then you may need to buy an adaptor to allow the French one to be connected - I cannot advise you on that as I have never done it - we installed Gaslow and it is sooooo easy and no mor cylinders to be lugged in and out through the notoriously small hatch in our Swift......  

Dave


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## Zebedee (Oct 3, 2007)

It would be well worth using the search facility and having a browse.

There are a number of different ways to overcome the problem, some costing less than ten pounds, and all have been described at great length - far too much to repeat in a single post.

Dave


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## prog54 (Nov 22, 2010)

Thanks to everybody for the replies.
The idea of the French bottle and regulator is the better option for me.
Can the French bottle etc be purchased in England or would I need to travel with one bottle until I find somewhere in France to buy their bottle and if touring for a long period to either Italy or Spain via France are the French bottles compatible with these other countries or am I faced with another set of bottles and regulators.

How do the cost compare to the British bottles.

Cheers
Terry


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## VJP (Dec 8, 2010)

Last year we ran out. We got 'Le Cube' from an Intermarche supermarket petrol station and an adapter that screwed in the UK pig tail hose. To get your first bottle you need a French address, we gave the aire that we stayed the night before. 

Vic


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## Zebedee (Oct 3, 2007)

It's ever so easy Terry - really. Stop chewing on your comfort blanket!! :lol: :lol: :lol:

Firstly, buy one of >> these << adapters.

Leave home with a full(ish) bottle of Calor PROPANE (see below) and leave space in your locker for a second bottle.

Go to the first decent sized Intermarche you come to and buy one of their fawn coloured "own brand" 9kg bottles of propane. Beware, they put both propane and butane in the same coloured bottles. There is a card collar around the neck which tells you what it contains. The Intermarche bottle still (I believe) costs only one Euro to hire, and we had no problem at all buying one. Just handed over the cash and a bored but very helpful lad even carried it to the van for me.

_(Other supermarkets sell various sized bottles if your locker is a bit small, but they must have a 21.8LH thread for the adapter to fit. Go into the shop with the adapter in your pocket and try it before you buy - just to be sure.)_

Screw the adapter onto the Intermarche bottle - left hand thread and not too tight. It has a thick rubber washer so no brute force is necessary. Then screw in the standard PROPANE (POL) **** end of the hose connected to your bulkhead regulator, and start using the French gas . . . keeping the British cylinder in reserve for if/when you run out.

**** You are using butane at the moment, so you will not have the propane connector on your hose. As I said below in the P.S. I would strongly advise you to change to propane anyway. It's no more expensive (_maybe pennies_?) but so much more versatile. You can buy a complete hose, or just a screw on POL (Propane) connector to adapt your existing hose.

Dave 

_(BTW - I would change your blue bottles for red ones. Butane is useless below about +10 degrees while propane is OK down to -40. The Calor supplier will exchange them when you collect a refill.) _


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## rayc (Jun 3, 2008)

I have a Totalgas 13kg Propane which I use on my French trips backed up by a 6kg calorlite. The Totalgas cylinder can be replaced virtually anywhere.
It connects to my fixed bulkhead regulator with a standard UK BUTANE high pressure hose.


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## Zebedee (Oct 3, 2007)

rayc said:


> I have a Totalgas 13kg Propane which I use on my French trips backed up by a 6kg calorlite. The Totalgas cylinder can be replaced virtually anywhere.
> It connects to my fixed bulkhead regulator with a standard UK BUTANE high pressure hose.


Hi Ray

Don't we need a word of caution here?

*I think ??* the butane connector is different depending on the size of the bottle . . . Never used it so I'm not sure - but Terry needs to be certain or he could find himself in the merde!

Dave


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## rayc (Jun 3, 2008)

Zebedee said:


> rayc said:
> 
> 
> > I have a Totalgas 13kg Propane which I use on my French trips backed up by a 6kg calorlite. The Totalgas cylinder can be replaced virtually anywhere.
> ...


I did say it was how mine fitted. I do not know what type of regulator Terry has, a fixed bulkhead or bottle type.

A UK butane high pressure screw on hose fits a French Totalgas 13kg propane or butane bottle [the bottle is the same for both types of gas]. One like this:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Caravan-Accessories-Butane-High-Pressure-Hose-0-45m-/370550794597


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## Zebedee (Oct 3, 2007)

You misunderstand I think Ray - I probably didn't express it very well.  

That hose is ideal for the job as it has a 21.8LH thread on the cylinder end and a 3/8 BSP thread (I think) to fit a bulkhead regulator on the other.

I meant to say that I think (but am not sure) that the little dumpy butane bottles have a 21.8LH thread, but the bigger ones use a clip-on regulator.

Am I right? If so, Terry needs to be careful or he might be misled!

Dave


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## rotorywing (Jul 19, 2010)

Firstly, buy one of >> these << adapters.

Is it me or have these adaptors dropped in price ??

martin


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## Zebedee (Oct 3, 2007)

rotorywing said:


> Firstly, buy one of >> these << adapters.
> Is it me or have these adaptors dropped in price ??
> martin


No Martin, it's not you. They have almost halved in price.

I suppose we shouldn't knock it when almost everything else is going up! :roll:

Dave


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## prog54 (Nov 22, 2010)

Thanks again to all including Zebedee.

I think I am still being a bit thick and confused here.

Why would I need a Hamiltons Converter for Propane to Butane when I am currently using Butane, can I not just buy Butane in France.

If I can, do I still need to have a different regulator, which mine is bottle connected not bulkhead,

As I have 1.5 bottles of Butane I am reluctant to dump if there is the possibilty of keeping one and utilising what connectors I have on French Butane bottles, or have I got the wrong end of the stick. :? 

Terry


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## Zebedee (Oct 3, 2007)

Why would I need a Hamiltons Converter for Propane to Butane when I am currently using Butane, can I not just buy Butane in France. Now you have said that you use a bottle-top regulator, you don't need one. BUT your present regulator may not fit the French bottles. If it is a screw-on one it will fit some types(_probably_) but if it's a clip-on one it almost certainly won't fit.

Easiest for you is to buy a bottle and regulator at the same time. Most supermarkets and a lot of hardware shops sell them - but the supermarkets are likely to be cheaper. (See John's info above.)

As I have 1.5 bottles of Butane I am reluctant to dump if there is the possibilty of keeping one and utilising what connectors I have on French Butane bottles, or have I got the wrong end of the stick. :? Don't dump it - use it in this country when it's not too cold. Just ensure you have a screwdriver with you and a couple of spare jubilee clips for swapping your existing regulator for the new French one.

Dave


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## 113016 (Jun 5, 2008)

prog54 said:


> Thanks again to all including Zebedee.
> 
> I think I am still being a bit thick and confused here.
> 
> ...


Hi prog54
I am not going into full details as there are so many threads you could search.
Gas is gas,butane is readily available in France, but the cylinders are not interchangeable with our Calor cylinders.
What I mean is the dealers wont exchange and the pipe and regulator fittings are different.
If you want to use a French cylinder, you will need a French suitable regulator to fit the French cylinder.
These are readily available.
I have no experience of using these as I use refillable cylinders and Autogas.


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## jedi (Nov 22, 2007)

Hi Terry,

I used the 10kg Calypso light weight bottle in France. You do need the French regulator. These are widely available at supermarkets and petrol stations throughout France. You exchange them in just the same way you would exchange bottles in UK. Cheaper than Calor Gas too  

If you are only going to be in France for a couple of months in summer, particularly if you use EHU, then you can easily take enough 'English' gas with you.

I have just installed a Gaslow system so mine is surplus to requirements for a small fee  to anybody interested (East Anglia).

Jed


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## prog54 (Nov 22, 2010)

I am really sorry for coming back on this subject and very grateful for all the helpful answers but apart from me getting the type of gas I have wrong, I have red cylinders ( Propane) I am still not sure what I have to buy in France.  

If I get one of these >> these << as suggested do I still need to buy a French regulator or if I have to buy a French regulator with the French gas do I still need the Adapter.

Also as my gas pipe leading from the regulator is impossible to get off without cutting do I have to cut the tubing every time I changed to a different regulator? I also find it impossible to insert any regulator into the gas pipe without the use of boiling hot water to soften the pipe.
Surely there must be a better way of making any change over or am I expecting too much. :roll: 
Thanks again
Terry


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## Penquin (Oct 15, 2007)

The first question you really need to answer (apologies if I have missed your saying this before), how long will you be in France for?

If it is less than say 4 weeks then 2 FULL UK cylinders will probably more than suffice in summer (although not is you are using the gas heating).

It also depends on whether you will be using EHU - that reduces the amount of gas used for the fridge and cooking,

so if you are using EHU two full UK cylinders will probably more than suffice, if you run short then that is the time to consider a French cylinder and regulator, have you for instance got a BBQ external connection?

If you have then using a French cylinder + regulator + a length of LP hose and a connector, you can feed gas *IN* to use in the MH while stationary by standing the cylinder near the BBQ point and plugging it in, that preserves your UK gas for when you cannot put the French cylinder outside safely.

but the key point is to work out how much you are likely to use, and then calculate accordingly...

Both butane and propane cylinders (and suitable regulators) are readily available at supermarkets and most garages as well as hardware shops etc. So you can get what you want, when you want it (except Sundays and Public Holidays)

Dave


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