Is a LPG stove in a van safe?

[poot_traveller]

I'm not familiar with using a LPG stove, and I'm wondering how safe it is to use one in a van? 

Is gas poisoning a possibility?

 

[highdesertranger]

it's as safe as you make it and as safe as any other fuel stove. actually IMO I think it's safer then the other fuels.

gas poisoning? I am not sure I follow this, do you mean CO(Carbon Monoxide) poisoning?

highdesertranger

 

[tx2sturgis]

I would not use a camping style propane stove inside a small minivan, because they put out a considerable amount of heat when cooking, and your low headliner and nearby surfaces will get hot AND splattered with cooking oils. 

If you arrange it at the back or side, so it's vented to the outside as you cook, with the hatchback or doors open, that will probably work.

In a large van with better airflow and more room, as well as wood or other smooth, cleanable surfaces, it will work out OK, as long as you have ventilation and room for the heat to dissipate.

Now, having said all that, I have seen it done, and some vanners are using the small butane stoves inside a small van and doing just fine.

 

[maki2]

It depends on the size of the stove and its output and how and where you set it up. Most of the built in stove tops and ovens in RVs are indeed fueled with LPG.

You have not given enough information for anyone to give you specific advise about your specific installation of an LPG stove. Do you have a place in your rig you want to use one? Do you have a particular LPG cooking unit in mind? Post photos or links if you can.

 

[Trebor English]

Way back, about 1990, my next door neighbor's daughter lit her kitchen on fire in a regular house with an electric stove.  The fire fighters made a big mess with a lot of water but kept the fire damage to just the kitchen.  

About 2005 my mother in law burned her wood laminate kitchen floor.  Twice.  She heated a newspaper in the microwave oven, pulled it out, then dropped it when it burst into flames.  

With propane you have all the normal issues of cooking.  Don't add wet stuff to a pot of hot oil.  Don't start cooking something and leave it home alone unattended.  Don't leave an empty pot on the stove turned on.  Keep flammable stuff away from the stove.  

With propane you have a unique issue.  Don't turn on the gas valve and then not light the burner.  Automatic igniters, common in residential stoves, are not common in camping stoves.  

I use a Walmart Ozark Trail 2 burner propane camp stove in the back of my Ford Windstar minivan.  I also use soda can alcohol stoves burning denatured alcohol.  Normal precautions lead to normal non-zero amounts of danger.

 

[Van-Tramp]

Short answer - Yes, it is unsafe to have ANY type of flame inside a vehicle

Long answer - many people still do it (I have for years) with some common sense about ventilation and giving space to other flammable materials. Propane detectors and CO2 detectors, as well as just some old fashion brain cells, can make it much safer. But, never let your guard down... no napping while cooking and such. And make sure you have an extinguisher or two within reach and easily accessible in an emergency. I carry three extinguishers in my van in the following locations; bed, stove, driver's seat.