At Last a BBQ Propane Gauge That Actively Warns in Time
Los Angeles, CA (PRWEB) August 13, 2013 -- Running out of propane in the middle of grilling is a problem experienced by most of the 43 million regular gas barbecue users in the US. Product Innovation Ltd has recently reviewed the most popular products on offer and found that the results are far from obvious.
Customers’ first reaction after running out of gas in the middle of grilling is to look for a gauge that will indicate when the gas is getting low enough to consider replacing or refilling the tank. But Product Innovation discovered that the most popular solution is, in this case, not the best.
Peter Frank, director of Product Innovation Ltd (a UK electronic sensor development Company), says "We checked the market and found that there was no product that actively warned the user that the gas was getting low. Using micro electronics and temperature sensors gave us the chance to detect the low gas condition and to audibly warn the user in plenty of time to finish grilling. No other device can do this."
Up until now the most popular device has been the pressure gauge: The general public assume that the more gas you push into a tank the higher the pressure will be. So they buy one only to find that they still run out of gas. Initially they assume that they did not notice the gauge reducing in time. But when they try again the same thing tends to happen.
The reason for this is that liquid propane does not vary its pressure according to the volume of liquid in the tank. A full tank and a nearly empty one will show the same pressure. It will only start to significantly decline once the liquid is all gone. It is then a matter of minutes before the tank is completely empty.
Of the other methods weight is potentially the most accurate. The scales measure the combined weight of gas and the metal tank so the accuracy depends on knowing the empty weight of the tank. But when you swap out the tank it is not certain that the new tank will have the same empty weight as the old one. The user also has to remember to weigh the tank regularly.
Temperature strips can also work, although they are prone to interference from direct sunlight. And again you need to remember to check some minutes after the grilling has commenced. Before that they cannot give a reading.
The only product that actively warns the user in time to finish grilling is the Propane GasGenie. It uses a patented time/temperature ‘signature’ to recognize both when the grill is switched on and when the gas is getting low. And then it flashes LED lights and plays a short tune to attract attention. It typically starts to warn when the tank gets down to around 20% of its capacity: So in plenty of time to finish grilling and choose when to get the tank refilled. "It acts rather like the low fuel warning light in your car," says Peter Frank.
The Propane GasGenie is available from Amazon.
About Product Innovation Limited
Product Innovation Ltd is an established New Product Development consultancy specialising in inventing and developing new products, mostly electronic sensors, for manufacturing companies. The company has been in business for more than 25 years and in that time has been involved in a wide range of new products many of which have worldwide patents. Visit http://www.productinnovation.com for additional information about Product Innovation Limited. More information about Propane GasGenie can be found at the following site: http://www.propanegasgenie.com.
Peter Frank, Product Innovation Limited, http://www.productinnovation.com/, (44) (0) 20 8452 3968, [email protected]
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