Propane & Cottages

[Pasquinel]

I was hanging out in a kitchen of one of the cottages on Coastal Highway trying to decide what to do with this awesome Salmon I caught when it dawned on me that the stoves in these cottages are propane fueled and there a huge propane tanks outside that should have propane in them. That means a crafty survivor such as myself should be able to turn on the tank and light the stove with a match.... Thus baking my beautiful Salmon in the oven or boiling a cup of coffee on the stove top.

It would be cool if each cottage had a random chance of there being enough propane to run a stove for a few days. After all this is something that would probably be the case in TRW and I would check to see if the stoves worked if it were me...

[Rusty_Old_F250]

Yeah! I've thought the same thing, except It may not be quite that easy... Here's the thing, propane doesn't like the extreme low temperatures, like what we have. The regulator and other parts tend to ice up, which is no problem if you have a hairdryer, torch or some other source of heat, but it could be a problem for us... It can also get cold enough that the liquid in the tank won't vaporize, so the tank can be full, but, the propane has to vaporize before you can burn it.

Building a campfire next to a propane tank would be interesting, to say the least, but you could blow the whole place sky high if you don't do it just right!

Sam

[Boston123]

7 hours ago, Rusty_Old_F250 said:

Yeah! I've thought the same thing, except It may not be quite that easy... Here's the thing, propane doesn't like the extreme low temperatures, like what we have. The regulator and other parts tend to ice up, which is no problem if you have a hairdryer, torch or some other source of heat, but it could be a problem for us... It can also get cold enough that the liquid in the tank won't vaporize, so the tank can be full, but, the propane has to vaporize before you can burn it.

Building a campfire next to a propane tank would be interesting, to say the least, but you could blow the whole place sky high if you don't do it just right!

Sam

.... which brings to question ," if it gets "that cold" regularly, why do those houses have propane?"

[Rusty_Old_F250]

You can make a propane system work fine in the cold, but like anything, it works best when it's used regularly. One thing they'll do to combat the low temps is put the tank right next to the house, so the lines get run right into the building and get thawed out by the heat in the house. They also make electric blankets for the tank.

And in theory, the propane in the tank should keep vaporizing down to -44* F, but the catch is, most "propane" is really propane mixed with butane, and butane vaporizes at a much higher temp, so depending on the blend of fuel in the tank, we could be fine, or we could have issues,

Not saying it can't work or can't be done, but it may not be quite as easy as turning it on and lighting it.

Personally, I think simply turning it on and lighting it would be a bit too "easy" for the game, having to thaw out the regulator, etc etc would be an interesting way to combat this.

Sam

[Pasquinel]

In VT many of us have Propane tanks outside our homes and deer camps. It gets very cold especially at night and in the mountains, average daytime winter temp is 22 degrees F. But stretches of much colder weather occur, with nights dipping well below zero and days not much warmer. The regulator is on the tank outdoors and I have never had to thaw one out either at my house or at deer camp and the deer camp one sits unused for long periods of time.

[common]

Lets remember, the weather became much colder with the geo. disaster ... it used to be a little warmer

[Boston123]

9 hours ago, common said:

Lets remember, the weather became much colder with the geo. disaster ... it used to be a little warmer

Where, exactly, is that stated?

Because that isn't how a geomagnetic event works.

[Hotzn]

On 23.4.2016 at 3:26 AM, Pasquinel said:

I was hanging out in a kitchen of one of the cottages on Coastal Highway trying to decide what to do with this awesome Salmon I caught when it dawned on me that the stoves in these cottages are propane fueled and there a huge propane tanks outside that should have propane in them. That means a crafty survivor such as myself should be able to turn on the tank and light the stove with a match.... Thus baking my beautiful Salmon in the oven or boiling a cup of coffee on the stove top.

It would be cool if each cottage had a random chance of there being enough propane to run a stove for a few days. After all this is something that would probably be the case in TRW and I would check to see if the stoves worked if it were me...

+1

It would add to the atmosphere of the game if we could get an oven working. If we had to overcome a little difficulty before, it would be even more satisfying.

[common]

@Boston123 they did mention that the disaster is not what we might normaly have in the real world, from time to time when people complain about things not being realistic the Devs do keep reminding us this is not a sim game,  hence the reason wolves act like crazy zombies, and i can't go back and find  these posts but yes the disaster did mess up the weather patterns, and temperatures

[Nervous Pete]

I guess the geo-magnetic storm could be an offshoot of something bigger. A shift in solar activity. If the sun diminishes its output a tiny, tiny fraction after a major solar coronal mass ejection, then that would account for the harsher climate. There was a mini-ice age for example when the Thames froze over occasionally between 1600 and 1800. (See the excellent Sally Potter and Tilda Swinton film Orlando for an atmospheric depiction of this.)

I have been enjoying reading this thread with the voice of Hank Hill used in my head for each response. Thang ye.