Just my observations for forty years on the Cheaspeake Bay. Propane explosions are news worthy, powerboats blowing up at the fuel dock are a several times each summer event, they make headlines if someone has to be rescued.
Butane, propane vs alchohol stoves
- Thread starter vmaks
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Agreed. With a sailboat with a diesel auxiliary, I'm more worried about the propane than anything else. I would prefer to have CNG, but my boat wasn't built that way.
Yeah, but not nearly as many. MANY people have and use propane safely on thier boats.
propane has been the cooking fuel of choice in my family for as long as I can remember. We used propane before we had electricity from the grid. Grandma cooked over kerosene before propane was available.. I have had propane on my boat since 1999 and it has always been reliable and trouble free.
I must be confused... I thought gasoline, diesel, propane, butane, and alcohol were all fuels... How can you separate anything if USCG data is only for fuel and non-fuel??? -Paul
I thought the main difference in appliances using propane, butane, and CNG were changes in jet sizes.
That's a good question. I am interpreting the statistics as if when they refer to fuels they mean fuels for propulsion. In the reports I read they don't say very distinctly, so I may be misinterpreting the data.
We slip on a small lake, and our cooking will be shore power on the boat, and a barbecue grill at the clubhouse.
In the boat, microwave. Still being installed, ruffed it in yesterday. Just peeking out above the refrig / freezer. There was a charcoal stove in that location, which I am pleased is out now.
Propane is a friendly gas, until it is no longer friendly. It explodes with a great deal of energy. I am doing some work on my boat right now, and have a propane torch, but I will be glad once it is off the boat.
Purchased a butane torch to use on the boat, but it has gotten miss-filed somewhere.
Our 1976 sailboat has an alcohol stove top built in. I suspect, I will do away with it, being so old I doubt I will trust using it.
Anyone with an inboard gasoline engine will more likely die from a gasoline explosion, than a cooking explosion, according to Insurance companies. The guy I purchased my sailboat from was very much against gasoline on a sailboat.
In the boat, microwave. Still being installed, ruffed it in yesterday. Just peeking out above the refrig / freezer. There was a charcoal stove in that location, which I am pleased is out now.
Propane is a friendly gas, until it is no longer friendly. It explodes with a great deal of energy. I am doing some work on my boat right now, and have a propane torch, but I will be glad once it is off the boat.
Purchased a butane torch to use on the boat, but it has gotten miss-filed somewhere.
Our 1976 sailboat has an alcohol stove top built in. I suspect, I will do away with it, being so old I doubt I will trust using it.
Anyone with an inboard gasoline engine will more likely die from a gasoline explosion, than a cooking explosion, according to Insurance companies. The guy I purchased my sailboat from was very much against gasoline on a sailboat.
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You can make the numbers say what ever serves your goal
This year at saftey at sea the guy running the fire module had a gruge on gasoline and went on about 97% of the fires bla bla bal
WELL that's because about 99% of the total small boat market has gasoline on board and if you allow a complete lack of care on anything it will fail
To start my GASOLINE A4 i have to stick my face next to the fuel system to open the seacock and in general even a TINY fuel leak will result in the cabin reeking so its kind of hard to miss a problem
This year at saftey at sea the guy running the fire module had a gruge on gasoline and went on about 97% of the fires bla bla bal
WELL that's because about 99% of the total small boat market has gasoline on board and if you allow a complete lack of care on anything it will fail
To start my GASOLINE A4 i have to stick my face next to the fuel system to open the seacock and in general even a TINY fuel leak will result in the cabin reeking so its kind of hard to miss a problem
If the alchohol stove is non-pressurized, like an Origo, I'd go with that. You don't need a special locker to safely store alcohol fuel on a boat. And there is virtually nothing to go wrong with an Origo, old or new. The fuel control is simply a door that closes over the top of the burner. The main safety rule is to only refill the burner when it is outside the stove and cool.
the non pressurized alcohol stove in my formosa, before i bought and converted her, caused 5 galley fires in 8 yrs. as the alcohol flames are very light blue, the flames were not visible and damnnear burned her cabin top off her decks. try adding fuel to the stove while under way in a big sea---
i will keep my propane system....
i will keep my propane system....
It is interesting to me that over the last several years, I have read on this site 5 or 6 posts where people have related their personal experience with an alcohol stove starting a fire, but not one personal experience of a propane stove starting a fire. Yet every time the subject comes up, there are many who post that propane is so much more dangerous. I believe that, with reasonable precautions, propane can be as safe as any other fuel, and that there is a much greater chance of spilling a liquid fuel than having a smelly gas leak go unnoticed. I have cooked and heated with propane in my home for 44 years, used propane lanterns and camp stoves almost that long, and used propane on my boat for 4 years, all with no problems. My boat came with a one-burner butane stove, which was ok, but I have no local source for butane cans. I prefer a 2-burner stove for meals, and a 2-burner propane stove works for me. -Paul
i strongly agree with you Paul.... understanding the properties of the fuel and taking reasonable precautions in its use and storage is the key to making it as safe as it can ever be.
with alcohol, the fuel itself may seem safer, but the device burning it is not.... and propane is heavier than air so it tends to settle in unventilated areas causing a high danger of explosion.....
butane may be the safest of the three, but its more expensive and harder to come by in some areas.... but as safe as it may seem, even it isnt fool proof...
paying attention to the direct cause of potential problems will go a long way in preventing any real problems...
Food can be cooked over any source of heat but some are very inconvenient and very difficult to control. Try cooking on a solid fuel fired stove, either wood, charcoal or coal. You won't have any problem understanding why propane is the fuel of choice wherever it is available. many people also cook on pressurized kerosine burners, those are also interesting. Electric stoves are also popular but that long extension cord limits your sailing.
How I see it -
Alcohol safety "pros":
Propane safety "pros":
Feel free to add to this.
I've taken the propane tank off my boat, and don't plan on returning it until I upgrade the whole system, including building a propane locker if necessary. (The boat's vintage '65, and I'm not sure about the current propane system. Same reason I've yet to connect to shore power.) But I definitely plan on going with propane. Until then, it's cooking in the cockpit on my portable butane camp stove.
Alcohol safety "pros":
- fumes lighter than air
- Low probability of explosion, hence chance to grab extinguisher before fire gets too big
- requires manual transfer of fuel, hence more chance of spills
- flames nearly invisible, so burning spills can spread without being noticed immediately
Propane safety "pros":
- Use of well maintained safe installation with sensors, along with regular safe practices makes for very small chance of dangerous leaks. (Check ABYC standards.)
- No pouring of flamable substances. Tank replacement connections are done in gravity vented space with no chance of draining into boat.
- If a leak is ignited, it doesn't just burn, it explodes. No chance to run topside if you're below.
Feel free to add to this.
I've taken the propane tank off my boat, and don't plan on returning it until I upgrade the whole system, including building a propane locker if necessary. (The boat's vintage '65, and I'm not sure about the current propane system. Same reason I've yet to connect to shore power.) But I definitely plan on going with propane. Until then, it's cooking in the cockpit on my portable butane camp stove.
That is exactly how I lost the lid of my first propane grill - reveling in the joy of grilling without the fuss of charcoal, I crouched and placed a lit match to the vent holes below the burner with gas flowing...the resulting ignition launched the lid with the solid thwack of an 81mm mortar. Had to climb onto my neighbor's roof to retrieve the damn thing.
Boom
Your neighbor's roof was close enough to your boat?
We bought a long butane lighter which we use in the galley as well as the BBQ on deck. I never tried lighting it from below and always have the lid chocked off to the side on the circular Magma.
We've had most of 'em. Pressurized alcohol stove on our C22. We learned how to use it. Had one on our C25 but it was DOA when we bought the boat, replaced it with a two burner Origo, which we liked over the pressurized one 'cuz it was quiet and great for making coffee when only one person was awake at dawn. :dance: We now have CNG but we have a very close-by supplier. If we didn't, we'd either make up the refill adapter (http://www.c34.org/wiki/index.php?title=CNG_Refill_Adapter) or switch to propane (available more widely outside the US, CNG simply is not) and build the requisite box or have the bottles in a holder abovedecks with sealed hoses to the inside.
Your neighbor's roof was close enough to your boat?
We bought a long butane lighter which we use in the galley as well as the BBQ on deck. I never tried lighting it from below and always have the lid chocked off to the side on the circular Magma.
We've had most of 'em. Pressurized alcohol stove on our C22. We learned how to use it. Had one on our C25 but it was DOA when we bought the boat, replaced it with a two burner Origo, which we liked over the pressurized one 'cuz it was quiet and great for making coffee when only one person was awake at dawn. :dance: We now have CNG but we have a very close-by supplier. If we didn't, we'd either make up the refill adapter (http://www.c34.org/wiki/index.php?title=CNG_Refill_Adapter) or switch to propane (available more widely outside the US, CNG simply is not) and build the requisite box or have the bottles in a holder abovedecks with sealed hoses to the inside.
I'm a fan of (and have a cheap sourse for) CNG. They don't call it "safe gas" for nothing. All the benefits of propane and lighter than air so you don't have to worry about fumes in the bilge.
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