Refillable gas bottle

[Trigger]

hi Just about to have a 6 kg refillable gas bottle and all the gear plus a manual change over valve for fitting a 6 kg Calor gas bottle in emergency ,to our new to us Van , bit concerned about the dwindling refill places though hearing it is getting much harder to find the gas outlets now due to them closing down, I know the benefits of refillables as I had them in my previous van and they were great especially in our travels around Europe but read a post today from someone in Italy saying they ran out of gas there and was refused filling up their bottles at a fuel station the attendant stated it was no longer allowed even though they had the correct installation in their van , so a bit concerned about wasting money on an installation that may become obsolete soon any ideas any one please ? my now van has an internal gas locker that holds 2 x 7 kg ? Calor bottles , that is not a problem here in the UK but we want to spend time in Portugal Spain etc again and it would be a problem if we ran out of gas there ??

 

[Andy n Mandy Travel]

We had no issues in spain, france or portugal.

I bought all the adapters but some garages even came out and offered one incase I didnt have it.

Most garages have a rule that you can only fill up If its gas for the engine but none said anything when I filled up our gas-lo system

 

[Drew]

There are several apps you can use, I use myLPG.eu in Europe and AutogasApp mostly. There are plenty of places you can fill up but the price varies a lot. Around 80p a litre is good but some are over £1 in the UK. About 90 cents in France.

 

[Andy n Mandy Travel]

I think the further south the cheaper

We were filling a 6kg bottle for €2.50 in Lanzarote

 

[Pudsey Bear]

We had no problems in Belgium, Luxembourg, Switzerland, France, and Spain earlier this year, search for the LPG/PLG apps.

 

[Andy n Mandy Travel]

Don't forget GLP

 

[Trigger]

Yes getting gas in Europe has always been easy but it is UK that worries me more ?

 

[Andy n Mandy Travel]

There's plenty, I wouldn't worry too much, you will get your money back in no time compared to exchange bottles

 

[Pudsey Bear]

As we know, it's a little sparse here, and you're carrying a spare Calor 6kg (we do the same) then a little forward planning will mean you don't run out.

 

[RoaminRog]

Just go for it.
At the end of the day it will either add value to your van can be removed when you sell.
We’ve never looked back since having two 11kg fitted.

 

[Rumour]

I have never "got" this one refillable and one non refillable!

If you have refillable cylinders, you can top them up wherever and wherever you are. Calor cylinders cannot be refilled, so when it is part used, do you exchange before going, or chance it?

 

[Pudsey Bear]

Cheaper, as you rarely need the Calor, had my 6kg Gaslow over two years, haven't needed to use the Calor yet, but it's there if I need it, and it'll last 3-4 days if I do.

 

[Geek]

When you have a refillable, the cost and hassle of swappable gas seems horrendous. You'll soon not want to use it.

With a refillable, there is no point in having two bottles. Get one big one instead. If there isn't room in the gas locker, get an underslung tank. A big one.

You should never ever run out: top up whenever you pass lpg at a good price.

 

[Pudsey Bear]

Not everyone has deep pockets though, and a cylinder is easily swappable to a new van.

 

[Geek]

Swappable bottles empty pockets fast.
But not as fast as changing vans.

 

[Pudsey Bear]

Not if you don't use them

 

[wildebus]

I have never "got" this one refillable and one non refillable!

If you have refillable cylinders, you can top them up wherever and wherever you are. Calor cylinders cannot be refilled, so when it is part used, do you exchange before going, or chance it?

I have one of each, both plumbed in. 1 x 11Kg Gaslow and 1 x 6Kg Calor.
The Calor is there for a backup should I run out of the Gaslow - which I never have.
If I did, then use the Calor and switch back to Gaslow once refilled, BUT ... if I had to make extensive use of the Calor before I was able to refill the Gaslow, rather than just swapping the Calor out, I would just use the remainder of the Calor Gas until it was empty before replacing it, in the knowledge that I can switch BACK to the Gaslow when I needed to.
I did it this way once when I happened to have a part-full bottle of Calor, so used that instead of the Gaslow and then put in a full Calor (or Flogas - can't recall which) back in.

As far as "If you have refillable cylinders, you can top them up wherever and wherever you are", it depends where you are. sometimes there is no handy place to top them up.

 

[Pudsey Bear]

I have to physically swap the cylinders, but it's no biggie, unless it's to make the morning brew and it's persisting down.

 

[wildebus]

I have to physically swap the cylinders, but it's no biggie, unless it's to make the morning brew and it's persisting down.

I've have an advantage there as I have both in the gas locker, both plumbed in and all I have to do is turn the knobs on the tanks I want to use and not use, so no hassle at all really.

One major benefit of having refillable like Gaslow (as opposed to safe fill bottles) is no need to ever have to get the spanner out to undo connections and to lug bottles around. The advantage of that over exchange cylinders cannot be ignored regardless of cost savings.

 

[Geek]

As far as "If you have refillable cylinders, you can top them up wherever and wherever you are", it depends where you are. sometimes there is no handy place to top them up.

15 years experience of having an underslung lpg tank tells me that there is never 'no handy place to top up'. Our tank holds a good month's supply, even in winter.

In some areas (mostly rural Scottish highlands) the prices are not welcome.