Gas bottles blue/red whats the difference

Red Calor bottles are Propane, Blue are Butane.. Both will work in a modern caravan with a bulkhead regulator,but you need the  appropriate pigtail connector for the different bottles like <These>

That said, Butane, blue bottles don''t gas off ( work ) very well in cold weather, i.e. below 5C, so most people that use the van all year use red propane, if you wait till warmer weather, the blue butane will work just fine.

The pigtail with the handwheel is a great step forward in my book.  I gradually switched to red bottles after "freezing" one weekend in early November - you can swap an empty blue for a full red (for a price of course).  Since you have a supply you may still have a Butane pigtail to use while you finish up the blue bottles?  It seems there is a slight difference in efficiency but not anything significant enough to make sense to use a mixture of bottles if you use the caravan in winter - it is really snug in a caravan and much less crowded time of year to tour - I love it!  (I have now switched to the much lighter and refillable Safefill cylinders but that is another story!)

In times gone by (when there were kids at home) I used to stop caravanning after half term until end of march. Never had a problem for some 5 or 6 years until one lovely weekend, blue skies and low night time temperatures. Tried to light the stove for a morning brew. No gas, I had to put a coat on and cuddle the bottle against me under the coat to warm it with my body heat for 10 mins. Kettke on OK. Changed to red propane on subsequent refills

I use the red calorlite bottles.  They are lighter than the standard red bottles,  which helps with the caravan payload, and they are easier to handle.  We too use the handwheel connection - much better in my opinion.

It might be worth asking if you can swap the blue canisters for red when you come to change.  Just a thought, if you want to go over to red.

David 

The other consideration is weight. The Propane (Red) has been available for some time in the new light weight cylinders.   As far as I am aware Butane (blue) in not yet available in the lightweight bottle.  Don't understand why.

TF

4.5kg Butane is 9 to 10kg full

3.9 Propane is 9 to 10.5kg full

So could argue that for given gas contents the butane is relatively lighter per kg of contents. Not a lot in it weight wise

6KG calorlite 10.52kg full

Just for comparison steel propane 15-17kgs Full dependant upon age

Figures off the calor web site

6KG calorlite 10.52kg full

Just for comparison steel propane 15-17kgs Full dependant upon age

Figures off the calor web site

As are mine. I prefer the smaller bottle size, height as it is easier for me with arthritis in the spine to manouvre them into position. The calorlite are no lighter than the bottles that I use and I do not need the extra gas given our usage

The other consideration is weight. The Propane (Red) has been available for some time in the new light weight cylinders.   As far as I am aware Butane (blue) in not yet available in the lightweight bottle.  Don't understand why.

TF

I am sure that Calor understand their market and Propane is at least a universal gas in that it can be used all year round so they probably see no advantage in the massive investment needed to buy and supply Butane cylinders in a light weight bottle. We switched to Propane years ago. Not quite sure there is enough advantage in Butane to use it or swap for the summer?

David

 I had to put a coat on and cuddle the bottle against me under the coat to warm it with my body heat

There is an alternative time-honoured method also using body waste heat