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Subject:Re: Replacing Propane Regulator Advice?
From:David Beierl
Date:Mon, 11 Jan 2010 13:07:07 -0500

At 01:38 AM 1/11/2010, Doug Noganav wrote:
>Big no no on a boat too cuz of the heavier than air issue and no way to
>escape.

Actually quite a few boats use LP gas for cooking -- I think in
Europe it's more likely to be butane or maybe compressed methane
(both lighter than air).

But there are lots of details to take care of -- bilge ventilation,
solenoid switches to open the lines, enclosed outside storage in a
space that will drain vapors over the side, bilge gas detectors and so forth.

Gasoline vapors are also heavy, so boatmen have been dealing with the
issue for getting on a hundred years, punctuated by the occasional
deflagration when someone neglects to run their bilge blower before
starting up.

Incidentally, since I've been living in RI (since '92) there have
been two for sure and I think three houses in the state that
disassembled themselves because of gas explosions.  I forget whether
city gas (light) or LP (heavy).  I'd never heard of one before while
living in Maine, New Hampshire, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York and
Florida, so I'm impressed.

Yrs,
David