# Putting a gas oven in a camper van.....



## delicagirl (Jun 18, 2015)

Hello...  I need the wisdom of the WC community again please...   I may have found an oven that fits my van  ....  yee  hah  !!     ..  now  -  after discussing it with chums  - and the caravan club technical support guy  (surprisingly he was most useful)  - with GASSAFE  and my local gas engineer  .... I am no wiser about how to proceed...   there are no regs  covering this.....

the question is...    should I put a vent from my cooker to the outside of the van......     

we don't generally have to do that with cookers in a kitchen...  but then I know very few kitchens which are as tiny as my van.... 

I plan to install it in a cupboard above my gas fire.  The fire has a rear concertina vent pipe about  6" across running vertically up through both cupboards to the roof.    My gas engineer said it would not be safe to have a Y shaped concertina vent to allow both appliances to vent through the same pipe.  (That was one of my bright ideas....)  Several folks have said they think there should be a hole in the cupboard floor...  well this floor would be above the gas fire... so I can't see that making any sense....

it is almost impossible to site an oven elsewhere -  unless I got rid of, or moved,  the 3-way fridge... a  major  job  if not impossible.

all experiences and opinions welcome...  thank you


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## Teutone (Jun 18, 2015)

delicagirl said:


> Hello...  I need the wisdom of the WC community again please...   I may have found an oven that fits my van  ....  yee  hah  !!     ..  now  -  after discussing it with chums  - and the caravan club technical support guy  (surprisingly he was most useful)  - with GASSAFE  and my local gas engineer  .... I am no wiser about how to proceed...   there are no regs  covering this.....
> 
> the question is...    should I put a vent from my cooker to the outside of the van......
> 
> ...




Does your oven have a flue?
Can't you download the manufacturers fitting instructions?
In our Hyme we have a gas oven fitted above the fridge and thete are no outside vents for it as far as i can see.
Same as the gas hob, they want you to open a window when using it to allow for air coming in.


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## st3v3 (Jun 18, 2015)

I would agree - you need to do whatever the manufacturer says.

What make/model?


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## hextal (Jun 18, 2015)

Kinda depends on the oven. Most don't need a flue/chimney though.

As above, try to get hold of install instructions.


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## mark61 (Jun 18, 2015)

Far from an expert, but the way I understand it is you need two or more vents.

One vent on floor to allow gas to drain away from any connection that may start to leak, and another vent at a high level to vent away fumes from gas being burnt.


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## n brown (Jun 18, 2015)

it's a ROSE 6060 and like most van ovens draws air in from the lower grill at the front, and fumes and heat come out of the top grill at the front. i would expect the gas fire to have its own drop out vent.
the reasoning behind not having flues for hobs and ovens seems to be  that not many people sleep whilst cooking,and a vent,window or door will be open. i can see no reason to vent to the outside,as it would only be for excess heat


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## delicagirl (Jun 18, 2015)

thank you everyone....  I am taking the van for assessment tomorrow  to see if we can get the oven into my cupboard...  fingers crossed.......


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## whitevanwoman (Jun 18, 2015)

Channa is the man to talk to, qualified gas engineer. He's usually on the forum at night so may appear later


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## runnach (Jun 19, 2015)

ovens and hobs are in effect open flued appliances so dont need seperate flues . This is taken in account when calculating overall ventilation requirements in a leisure vehicle ( which strangely is worked on floor  space rather than  cubic volume volume of the vehicle there are quirks for example if it is not possible for adequate lower ventilation then the upper ventilation needs  to be increased, This is a gas standard. And your LPG should know this. if he she doesnt ...change Engineer ! 

Ventilation shouldn't be confused with drop outs, the latter concerned with allowing gas to expel in the event of a leak the former providing a safe atmosphere from the combustants when using appliances.

Conformity and good practise also extends to adequate pipe sizing, sufficient sized bottle for the potential take off, adequate support of pipework and passive safety for example it is good practice that a hob/ oven are often at the final stage supplied by a neoprene pipe. if they are free standing should be secured by a chain shorter than the pipe to prevent rupture should they move.

A few weeks ago I helped one of our members with a fridge where rarely if ever you see that precaution employed. we didnt have to try too hard to remove the fridge all the retaining screws had vibrated loose and the fridge was held in place purely by the gas pipe !!! ...Thank goodness we discovered this before  a ruptured pipe and heaven knows the potential consequences.

Channa


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## delicagirl (Jun 19, 2015)

Thanks David....   i thought of an oven when seeing some vans containing one at a meet...   and I have a cupboard which is rarely used and is above the fire and thought it might be a good idea.   I only have two tiny gas rings and there is a limit as to what I can cook on those.  

Thanks Channa   those were very useful facts....   Today  I will see if the oven I have in mind will fit in easily or not.


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## runnach (Jun 19, 2015)

Calculating Ventilation requirements are as follows

V=2200 x U + 440 x F + 650 X P

V is the actual ventilation openings in mm2 never less than 4000 mm2
U is the total input ratings of all flueless appliances ( including cookers) in kW rating
F is the tota input ratings of flued appliances in KW rating 
P is the number of people for which the unit is designed for

EN721 are the latest standard, which replaces BS5282 part 2 

thats your bed time reading !!!!

Channa


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## izwozral (Jun 19, 2015)

channa said:


> Calculating Ventilation requirements are as follows
> 
> V=2200 x U + 440 x F + 650 X P
> 
> ...



Duly printed off & sellotaped to my fridge.

..............and when you explain what the ruddy hell it means I shall sellotape that to my fridge also.

I will then be well & truly VUFPed.

Thank you!:wave:


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## izwozral (Jun 19, 2015)

delicagirl said:


> Thanks David....   i thought of an oven when seeing some vans containing one at a meet...   and I have a cupboard which is rarely used and is above the fire and thought it might be a good idea.   *I only have two tiny gas rings and there is a limit as to what I can cook on those.  *
> 
> Thanks Channa   those were very useful facts....   Today  I will see if the oven I have in mind will fit in easily or not.



It isn't the two rings that are limiting, it is your cookery imagination. Forget what you cook on a conventional home cooker with oven & let your creative juices flow. I am not being flippant Delicious, we have just as many different meals as we do at home & don't miss the convenience of an all in one cooker. I bought a table top mini oven for the MH, used it only once so far to heat up a pizza, otherwise everything is cooked in a pan or on a griddle.
When the weather is nice & if permitted, we light a fire & cook on that.
I do ALL the cooking & love trying out new recipes, no complaints from Mrs P yet. {Not as far as the cooking goes anyway!]


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## runnach (Jun 19, 2015)

I have to admit I almost didn't post the equation, some of the anomalies are more confusing than the equation. in the Ops' case there is also the additional consideration of heat generated and proximity to flammable surfaces etc which is a totally different. 

I will share something Air Conditioning and refrigeration is far easier to work out in respect of regulations....albeit enthalpy charts make  interesting reading !!! I daren't lol 

Channa


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## delicagirl (Jun 19, 2015)

Hello one and all...   sad to report that my good chum and creative thinker in design matters told me today that the oven  was never going to fit into my van   -  so  -  no can do ----  ....  even with a bit of diddling about - it would not have worked .....  and having measured the actual  available space... it seems unlikely that I could find an oven small enough to fit....  so...  the cupboard has, at least temporarily, become a hanging space for clothes and possibly a  drying cupboard for almost dry laundry or wet clothes....   -  especially if I drill some holes in the cupboard door to allow some of the heat from the fire to enter the cupboard as well as heat the hab box .....    (I am going to line the cupboard with insulation materials).

Instead of an oven... my chum suggested that he fitted a new roof hatch to flood my van with more light and give me more summer ventilation -  so that's on order...   

So I hope the wonderful responses I received about gas matters have helped others in their problems......    no doubt there will be more questions in due course.....

thanks again


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