Refillable gas bottle

[Geek]

Before you next fill up, check what the gauge says. Ideally, weigh the bottle using bathroom scales or a digital luggage scale.
Then when it is full, read the gauge and ideally weigh the bottle again.
It would be interesting to know how the gauge readings, weights and weight of LPG added correlate to one another.
A litre of LPG weighs half a kilogram.

 

[Molly 3]

The dash gauge on my underslung tank is incredibly useless ,

 

[HurricaneSmith]

Some time ago I thought my dash guage might be faulty, and so I clambered underneath and removed the underslung tank's protective red cover. Inside was a previously hidden factory guage, and it showed an identical reading.

So I stopped worrying, and moved onto the next problem I'd invented.

 

[Geek]

The dash gauge on my underslung tank is incredibly useless ,

The one in my van has four green lights when full.

In winter, with the heating on 24/7 the fourth goes out after about five days.
The remaining three go out, one at a time, at about eight or nine day intervals.
Then when the last one goes out, a red light comes on. That means you need to refill within a week or so.

I'm not sure about that, because I've never actually run out of gas yet.

 

[Rumour]

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.

But why? You have never used the Calor, so you must fill the Gaslow before it runs out. The Calor is just extra weight. But we are all different.

 

[Rumour]

The one in my van has four green lights when full.

In winter, with the heating on 24/7 the fourth goes out after about five days.
The remaining three go out, one at a time, at about eight or nine day intervals.
Then when the last one goes out, a red light comes on. That means you need to refill within a week or so.

I'm not sure about that, because I've never actually run out of gas yet.

Ours has the same light system and works the same. We are currently in France sitting on three green lights. We last filled in April and since then have done three five day steam fairs, ten days in France in early June and 11 days so far in France. We have three greens.

But we use diesel heating which we have found to be very economical. As an average over the miles since we had in installed, we have dropped under 1 mpg over 9000 miles. Someone posted back there somewhere that it was more expensive than gas, not my experience at all. But I guess it is a hidden cost.

 

[wildebus]

But why? You have never used the Calor, so you must fill the Gaslow before it runs out. The Calor is just extra weight. But we are all different.

There are few places where I go that I can fill with LPG. I am not bothered about the weight and like the peace of mind, same as I will fill the water tank before I set off rather than doing so when I arrive.
Hassle free touring.

 

[Geek]

Yes, one fill generally lasts us several months in summer, unless we have to run the LPG-powered generator to power the aircon (which is very rare).

I can't see the point of a diesel heater if you have a tank. They are less efficient than a gas heater, noisier and use quite a lot of 12v power. And although they tun up and down to keep a temperature, they don't turn off.

They are slightly more expensive to run as well
Diesel is around 14p per KWh at £1.40/l
LPG is 10.3p per KWh at 80p/l

 

[wildebus]

Some time ago I thought my dash guage might be faulty, and so I clambered underneath and removed the underslung tank's protective red cover. Inside was a previously hidden factory guage, and it showed an identical reading.

That's bad luck ... two gauges with the same fault

So I stopped worrying, and moved onto the next problem I'd invented.

 

[Rumour]

They are slightly more expensive to run as well
Diesel is around 14p per KWh at £1.40/l
LPG is 10.3p per KWh at 80p/l

That may be true, but I fill the tank with fuel and have no worries about the heater. The Auto term heater we have now, that replaced our Ebespacher it very warm. Out Truma gas system didn't come close in the winter.

And of course, the difference in running costs is minimal if at all. I wonder why some are so hung up on pennies when they own a money pit. But as I said, each to their own.

 

[wildebus]

Yes, one fill generally lasts us several months in summer, unless we have to run the LPG-powered generator to power the aircon (which is very rare).

I can't see the point of a diesel heater if you have a tank. They are less efficient than a gas heater, noisier and use quite a lot of 12v power. And although they tun up and down to keep a temperature, they don't turn off.

They are slightly more expensive to run as well
Diesel is around 14p per KWh at £1.40/l
LPG is 10.3p per KWh at 80p/l

You assume users of Gas heaters have 1) refillable systems and 2) can refill at 80p/L at those pence/kWh.

I have refillable, but the LPG is typically 25% more than that cost I find.

 

[wildebus]

That may be true, but I fill the tank with fuel and have no worries about the heater. The Auto term heater we have now, that replaced our Ebespacher it very warm. Out Truma gas system didn't come close in the winter.

Are you saying that you couldn't keep your van warm enough in the winter with the Truma gas heater? Just curious as I can't ever run mine (A Truma Ultraheat) at full output as would be too hot pretty quickly.

And of course, the difference in running costs is minimal if at all. I wonder why some are so hung up on pennies when they own a money pit. But as I said, each to their own.

 

[Pudsey Bear]

We might put ours on high for 30 minutes at most, then onto the lowest setting. Typically, it goes off after two hours, even on the coldest nights.

 

[Geek]

I wonder why some are so hung up on pennies when they own a money pit. But as I said, each to their own.

I, on the other hand, wonder why people have motorhomes that are money pits.

Mine costs around £750 per year, plus fuel.

It does use more fuel than the car, but that's more than compensated for by lower utility bills when I'm away.

Well worth £62 per month. Not what I'd call a money pit.

 

[Geek]

You assume users of Gas heaters have 1) refillable systems and 2) can refill at 80p/L at those pence/kWh.

I have refillable, but the LPG is typically 25% more than that cost I find.

Yes, those two assumptions are the basis. If you can get LPG it make sense to have refillables.
80p is about the going rate for LPG in a lot of England, though Scotland is more in the grip of rip-off merchants who don't want to undermine big bottle sales profits.
Birmingham is the opposite. Because taxis were incentivised to go green, there is a lot of LPG business and far lower prices are the result.

 

[Geek]

We might put ours on high for 30 minutes at most, then onto the lowest setting. Typically, it goes off after two hours, even on the coldest nights.

If your van is cold, better to put the heater on low for longer than boost then turn down or off. Heating a cold van quickly will form condensation at the back of the cupboards, which you tend not to get if you heat more slowly.

 

[Geek]

That may be true, but I fill the tank with fuel and have no worries about the heater.

That approach makes a lot of sense to me, though considering how much attention my diesel heater in the shed needs, it would increase worries.
The diesel heater needs something doing to it every year. The Truma just works, year in, year out.

 

[Molly 3]

I, on the other hand, wonder why people have motorhomes that are money pits.

Mine costs around £750 per year, plus fuel.

It does use more fuel than the car, but that's more than compensated for by lower utility bills when I'm away.

Well worth £62 per month. Not what I'd call a money pit.

I think the money pit starts when the repair bills come in .

 

[Geek]

I think the money pit starts when the repair bills come in .

Had this one sixteen years and that figure includes the repairs, averaged over the years.

[Later] though on reflection, there are quite a few non-garage repairs I didn't include. Perhaps £1k per year might be nearer the mark.

Nothing as much as like the loss of interest on the capital tied up.

 

[Trigger]

Well I have now had a refillable gas low bottle fitted to my new van [to us ] it is a 6 kg bottle with change over valve to my original 7 kg calor propane bottle which stands side by side to each other , my van is an ADRIA twin so on the small side to what we have been used too but loving it the fitting job came with three adaptors for filling foreign so I now have 6 of these as I had refillables in my previous van which I fitted myself , I let my original GASIT bottles go with the van when I sold it , the bottles were approaching the 10 year limit so no big loss there , After the fitting I drove to OWER services Hampshire where they have a gas pump and filled the refillable it took 10 ,8 litres to fill at £1.13 per litre so cheap enough another garage in Southampton has a pump for gas and they charge £1,02 pence a litre so even cheaper but not as close to where I live , My gas locker on my van is small and can only get 2 x 7 kg bottles in it , so I will run the van from the refillable which I will top up wherever I see it on sale and keep the Calor 7 propane on standby in case I cannot get a refill at any time i'd have liked 2 refillables but thought I would hedge my bets there , at first I thought about a underslung tank but it meant I would have to lose my spare wheel and cradle to have a tank fitted so that was a no no for sure , so an expensive job done £666 in total but hey ho that is what it cost to get done prices have really gone up since I fitted my first refillables but now I feel that I am covered both ways and it will be much more convenient on our travels foreign next year .