A few months ago, with a bunch of friends over for dinner and Linda busy in the galley, we ran out of propane. Timing is everything in life.

As we had just come back from Alaska, and had been using propane to cook for the previous 20 weeks, this was an excellent benchmark for consumption. We have three aluminum tanks on board which nominally hold 20 US gallons (21 liters is marked on the tanks). One of the tanks was empty, and the other had a bit left in it.

At the local propane refilling station the tanks took 8.5 US gallons (33 liters) to fill (our experience is we rarely get the tanks filled to the top). This works out to about 0.425 US gallons (1.65 liters) per week. We were cooking a bit more than in the tropics (one look at our waistlines will tell you that). In warmer climates the stove is used less and the microwave more and we generally get just under three months from a single tank.

If you are working through how long your own cylinders will last, here are some things to consider. Consumption will be affected by how much baking you do (that really takes a lot of gas), the use of electric appliances as opposed to gas (we have a microwave, toaster, and George Foreman grill, which see occasional duty) and the quantity of food being prepared. Another factor is the type of gas being used. Propane has more BTUs of heat than does butane – the latter being the only thing available in certain parts of the world.

If you are trying to fill your tanks to the top, make sure there is a steady stream of liquid propane venting from the top before turning off the filling pump.