Quote:
Originally Posted by Walker
Thank you all for your suggestions. Is there any way to safely use a 5 or 20 pound propane bottle inside the van? I don't have the propane door and I often just want to cook something quickly in the van.
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Not according to US standards, anyway. The Brits and some others do it all the time...! Local standards vary by country. Your insurance company would probably frown severely on it, in any case.
There IS a definite risk -- at least in the US, propane tanks have built-in pressure relief valves that vent to atmosphere if the internal tank pressure gets too high -- which could happen if somebody overfills your tank, or it gets really hot -- van in the sun during the summer, maybe? I have a home jewelry studio, and had my 5-pound tank vent on me once after some idiot at the gas company overfilled it. I have propane detector in the studio and it went off. For me, it's a calculated risk -- I can't really do without it, and the studio is pretty well ventilated anyway. I wouldn't do it in a van without a sealed vented compartment.
You can safely **use** a portable propane bottle inside, but you can't **store** it inside.
The only way around it is a sealed compartment like they use on boats, vented to the outside. You can buy them from marine suppliers.