Butane v propane....

[slim_boy_fat]

Asking for a neighbour who has a small gas 2-burner stove for use in case of power outages [winter's a-coming and we could be subject to power cuts/planned outages.

He has a full bottle of propane but would burning this [for short term use, boiling water/heating or cooking food etc] do any harm to the stove components like burners etc, since it burns hotter than butane? Don't know what regulator he has but I think it's blue, therefore Calor for butane.

 

[RWD3M]

Propane needs a different regulator (iirc they are red) but aside from that there should be no issues. Those who insist on towing their home around behind their car in winter tend to use propane as it has a lower boiling point. Butane can easily just stay in the bottle once the temperature falls.

Edit: Just found this:

What is the difference between butane and propane?

<p>Propane and butane are both forms of LPG gas – but what’s the difference between the two? We’ve pulled together everything you need to know about the two gases, and how to decide which one is best suited for your needs. </p> <ul style="color: #222222; background-color: #ffffff; margin: 1.5rem...

www.calor.co.uk

It might help.

 

[hotponyshoes]

Yes.
You'll need to change the jet (and possibly adjust the air gap)
Jets are cheap and easily available.

 

[RWD3M]

Yes.
You'll need to change the jet (and possibly adjust the air gap)
Jets are cheap and easily available.

I never did in my caravan

It was a bally long time ago mind you!

 

[ajlelectronics]

Yes.
You'll need to change the jet (and possibly adjust the air gap)
Jets are cheap and easily available.

Not enough difference to make it necessary.

 

[premmington]

Propane boils off at lower temp - from a fluid to a gas in the bottle...

Even little lightweight backpacking stoves - now have butane/propane mix - so they work at lower temps.

I just default go for propane and it is cheaper

--------

Beware thou - allot of small bottle sizes have been discontinued of late...

 

[hotponyshoes]

You might well get away with it on a small/portable type stove.
I've seen it run on catering type equipment and it burns out grills etc pretty quickly

 

[gaz1]

this can be made so easily is better with brick pavers as ive played with those they hold the heat well

 

[MoreWellie]

Yes.
You'll need to change the jet (and possibly adjust the air gap)
Jets are cheap and easily available.

This is correct, ignore the nay sayers above you need the right jet for your gas

This is my son using the wrong gas for his stove, wanted to know what was happening. loads of soot, nasty gases, very worse case big bang

 

[RWD3M]

This is correct, ignore the nay sayers above you need the right jet for your gas

This is my son using the wrong gas for his stove, wanted to know what was happening. loads of soot, nasty gases, very worse case big bang

View attachment 417300

Are you sure that's the wrong jet and not just the wrong regulator?

 

[MoreWellie]

he purchased the lpg jet set from the hob manufacturer and it sorted it out, said the holes were a lot smaller in the new jets

 

[waddycall]

This is correct, ignore the nay sayers above you need the right jet for your gas

This is my son using the wrong gas for his stove, wanted to know what was happening. loads of soot, nasty gases, very worse case big bang

View attachment 417300

That’s not lpg on a natural gas hob is it?

 

[Erie Fred]

he purchased the lpg jet set from the hob manufacturer and it sorted it out, said the holes were a lot smaller in the new jets

I was thinking when I saw the yellow tipped flames, that there is way too much gas, not enough air.

 

[Barking Mat]

I use butane or propane on my hob, no difference.

 

[ajlelectronics]

I was thinking when I saw the yellow tipped flames, that there is way too much gas, not enough air.

A jet replacement is definitely required when switching from mains gas to LPG but not for alternating Butane and Propane; just the regulator to swap in that instance.

 

[Agroshield]

This is correct, ignore the nay sayers above you need the right jet for your gas

As above, the situation you show is slightly different to the OP's question.

100% there is a difference between natural gas and LPG and swapping between those two does need a jet change.

However, propane and butane are both forms of LPG, so the difference is not as severe.

 

[RWD3M]

This thread puts me in mind of the big switch from coal (town) gas to natural gas back in in the late 60's?

I guess only those of a 'certain age' will recall

Sorry for the thread drift.

 

[optima21]

rather than typing this again I recently sent this in an email to a friend who uses gas to fire smalll steam boiler, so details butane, propane and butane/propane mix (with up 30% propane in it)

after our discussion about gas for model steam engines I thought it would be to write it down. The gases we use for burning to heat up model steam boilers are normally butane and propane, and are stored as a liquid in a sealed container. As the gas is used it evaporates in the container, but this process causes the contents in the container to cool down (latent heat of vaporisation) and this can get much lower than the ambient temperatures. If you need to use high volumes of gas in a cold environment you need propane, but for using small quantities of gas in a warm environment, butane will be fine. this is because butane starts to evaporate at 0.6C and propane starts to evaporate at -42C. This is why propane is used for road lining machines and catering vans as they are the red cylinders and in winter you can see them with ice on the outside of them. (butane are blue). One issue with using propane rather butane is that for a given temperature, propane will be at a much higher pressure. so at room temperature (20C) propane is at approx 105 psi while butane will be approx 15 psi. allowing for safety margins (and possible higher temperatures) this would mean that for model use if we did use 100% propane. we would need to make things of heavier construction, and why model gas tanks are pressure tested to 400 psi. I think this will be due to propane being approx 200psi at 50C, which may be attainable in a small gas fired garden gauge locomotive where the gas tank is close to the firebox or boiler. As a compromise many people use a 70%/30% butane propane mix which gives better performance than 100 butane at lower temperatures but without having the heavier construction that 100% propane would require for storage. the 70/30 mixture is approx 43psi at 20C and 16psi at 0C

 

[MoreWellie]

That’s not lpg on a natural gas hob is it?

maybe
Sorry!

 

[Hopefuldave]

This thread puts me in mind of the big switch from coal (town) gas to natural gas back in in the late 60's?

I guess only those of a 'certain age' will recall

Sorry for the thread drift.

Drift.. this is caught in the rapids - I was really upset, I had a beautiful singing gasfire in my bedroom (with a ring for a kettle!) and when natural gas came in it got the pipe capped off :'(