Gas bottles in winter: how to use and maintain them
Calor gas bottles are a wonderful invention; portable power sources ideal for barbecues, outside lighting and – well – for just about everything when you are camping. You may be tempted to suspend your gas bottle service as soon as it gets cold enough to wear a jumper all day, but you might be being a little hasty.
How to get the most out of your gas bottles in autumn and winter
Gas bottles can be used to enjoy outside activities in winter. This means that you can keep using your decking or patio for longer using gas bottles to provide light on dark winter evenings, and for heating; running a portable heater as you sip soup and watch the migrating birds fly in swarms overhead and marvel at the clarity of the stars and the moon – they seem crisper and closer in clean cold air than they do in summertime.
If you have a shed where you enjoy your hobbies, be it carpentry, writing or some kind of craft (knitting, crocheting, sewing, etc) but feel as though cold dark nights are driving you back inside to the double glazing and the central heating, try your gas bottle once again. Instead of running to the expense of running a heater from your electrical grid, you can set up your portable heater, positioning to keep you cosy while you work. You can also enhance whatever lighting system you have in your workshop, adding some clean white gaslight to make your winter den a snug and cosy one indeed.
Storage
But if you are going to have your gas bottles on hand year round, you should know how to store them properly and safely. The first tip is to always keep them upright, and ensure that the taps are tightened as far as possible to prevent any hint of leakage. Keep any spare gas bottles outside of your home, undercover, but not underground for safety reasons. Modern gas bottles are very safe, but rare accidents have happened and ‘better safe than sorry’ is a common saying for good reason! Keep the bottles cool and dry, and ensure that inquisitive fingers cannot touch them. A plastic storage locker fixed in place in your back garden is an ideal place to keep spare gas bottles, and has the advantage of being easily accessible should you need to swap out an empty one.