Which gas is best?

If you can only get in small bottles then going for refillable system makes even more financial sense - assuming you use a fair bit of gas of course.
Pay back always based on individual consumption but calor 6-7 kg cost is getting on for 5x autogas.
Whereas 13-15 is 'only' 3x - so almost good value😀😀
FWIW, I can't get anything bigger than 6kg propane in my gas locker. I probably use only a couple of cylinders a year (so £48 at today's prices) whereas a Gaslow system costs over £600 and even a Gasit system costs around £300. Also, I have nowhere to fit the fill point other than inside the gas locker and I've seen motorhomes refused service at autogas stations because they had to open the gas locker to refill. So, I'd probably be looking at a break-even point of six to seven years on a twenty-year-old van -- and I can get Calor cylinders all over UK. To be honest, the only way that a refillable system would make sense for me would be if I planned an extended trip overseas -- but then I spent best part of six weeks in France and the Netherlands a couple of years ago and still had half a cylinder of propane when I got back.
 
Horses for courses 😀
Having said that people seem to install 2 refillable cylinders rather than one whichever never quite understood.
 
Refillable isn't really a viable option if the gas locker is midships, like mine. I used to use Calorlite but have to get normal Calor now and it's a real struggle getting them in and out. It's only tall enough for 6KG bottles. I usually go to the same place where the very nice man does the swap for me.
 
It being a struggle to get bottles in and out strikes me as an argument for getting refillable system but having a good supplier to do the leg (arm!l) work helps 😀
 
Horses for courses 😀
Having said that people seem to install 2 refillable cylinders rather than one whichever never quite understood.
I initially had a single 11kg Gaslow bottle fitted thinking I would keep second space free for emergency Calor or foreign bottles in places where they are cheaper than lpg.

Worked well until a GasIt Plus bottle came available at a price it would have been rude to refuse 👍
 
Refillable isn't really a viable option if the gas locker is midships, like mine. I used to use Calorlite but have to get normal Calor now and it's a real struggle getting them in and out. It's only tall enough for 6KG bottles. I usually go to the same place where the very nice man does the swap for me.
If it is that difficult, consider an underslung LPG tank instead. Then you can have more capacity and can use the gas locker for something else. Muddy wellies or something?
 
Having said that people seem to install 2 refillable cylinders rather than one whichever never quite understood.
And even more bizarrely, they only turn one on at a time, so it runs out regularly.
I guess that they want more capacity than a single bottle gives, and like to know when half is gone. Easier to have a gauge, but perhaps the cost puts people off.
 
Installing an under slung tank does start running the cost of conversion up of course.
Once a refillable bottle is in the locker then one doesn't have to worry much about access.
It's possible that 11kg will fit a smaller locker that won't take 13-15 kg - especially as handles are lower or removable.
I suppose if one has 2 bottles connected and a switch over valve then changing isn't a big deal.
I have one 11kg refillable which I back up with a Calorlite
However I never use it because I top up the refillable regularly when I stop for diesel.
It may only be a few litres but that doesn't matter as there's no fixed charge.
More often than not we can do both fuels with one van position - I do gas at back and her ladyship does the diesel.
I always warn anyone thinking of queuing behind that we may be a little longer but normal.
 
We only use gas for our cooker, which will work with Butane or Propane. Which type should we use?


In our first MH I swapped from butane to propane at the start of the first winter and then back in spring. I did this only once!

After that I stayed with propane. I appreciate that butane gives you 'more bang for your buck' but we only use it for BBQ's and space/water heating when off grid or on sites that charge for the EHU.

I managed to swap the 6kg ones for 13kg ones at my local, friendly CG place when I lived in Cirencester...and only paid for the gas rather than new cylinders. I changed one in Dec 2018 and then replaced it on Nov 2019...so 1 cylinder per year which is normally around 35 quid from memory (but the site I was on where I changed it only charged 23 quid which was an absolute steal!).

As you would guess, we will be using a great deal less this year so if/when we go to Spain in January I'll not bother to replace it prior to the trip...
 
If it is that difficult, consider an underslung LPG tank instead. Then you can have more capacity and can use the gas locker for something else. Muddy wellies or something?

Thanks but it would cost too much plus I can't be bothered driving miles to fill it up. I had to change my car last year because loose LPG is becoming increasingly difficult to get hold of. There may not be room anyway.
 
We have 11kg and 6 Kg Gaslow bottles - with auto-changeover. We used all year round and have no issues with LPG. The cost of fitting does take a fair while to recover. A 6Kg bottle is £26.50 from my nearest supplier. The equivalent LPG fill is about £6 at Morrisons. We use for fridge, cooking and heating. In cooler months 6Kg lasts a "long weekend". In summer months (no heating) it lasts 3 times as long.
I believe that LPG contains a mix of Propane and Butane. From what I have read LPG has an energy density less than pure Butane and this means that you "burn more" to achieve the same result when boiling a kettle or heating your van. (as mentioned by previous post)
We like this set-up as I have a bad back and lifting full cylinders not desirable. However we are becoming increasingly concerned that LPG availability in UK is shrinking.
 
Not decided yet to go with Gasit or not, but a single 6kg is about £170, no need to get two, you can also get a fitting that allows you to have a 6kg Calor attached and leave as a spare to keep the cost down.
 
You can pick up bottles secondhand on Ebay etc but at the moment with the Calor 'shortage' everything is at a premium.
A few years ago I got an unused 11kg R67 Gaslowr for £100. It was 200 miles away bt en-route to my daughter!
You only need one refillable with emergency Calor backup permanently plumbed but not turned on.
FWIW I have 11kg Gaslow and 6kg Calorlite.
 
I got a 6kg Calor yesterday and I asked about the shortage, it seems it only lasted about a week the rest was rumour.
 
I did a very basic very shaky video ages ago when I did my first change to refillable, I did another at the same time where you had a Calor next to it but it seems to have got lost on YouTube somehow, but it is very simple to do as well.

 
I got a 6kg Calor yesterday and I asked about the shortage, it seems it only lasted about a week the rest was rumour.
No rumour. I had trouble getting hold of a 6kg propane Calor last autumn and I had even more trouble tracking one down a couple of weeks ago. When I finally did, it was £29.99 = £5 more than last year's and nearly ten pounds more than it was two years ago.
 
Just repeating what they said, I bought last year with no problems. Maybe our location doesn't use so many, they had plenty of stock, it's a big outfit.
 
We have 11kg and 6 Kg Gaslow bottles - with auto-changeover. We used all year round and have no issues with LPG. The cost of fitting does take a fair while to recover. A 6Kg bottle is £26.50 from my nearest supplier. The equivalent LPG fill is about £6 at Morrisons. We use for fridge, cooking and heating. In cooler months 6Kg lasts a "long weekend". In summer months (no heating) it lasts 3 times as long.
I believe that LPG contains a mix of Propane and Butane. From what I have read LPG has an energy density less than pure Butane and this means that you "burn more" to achieve the same result when boiling a kettle or heating your van. (as mentioned by previous post)
We like this set-up as I have a bad back and lifting full cylinders not desirable. However we are becoming increasingly concerned that LPG availability in UK is shrinking.
Our gas locker is sized for 11 and 6 kg however we found 2x12kg Alugas fit just fine and weigh a lot less.
 
Our gas locker is sized for 11 and 6 kg however we found 2x12kg Alugas fit just fine and weigh a lot less.
Unless you are very tight on payload though it’s hard to justify the extra cost per bottle for something like 6kg. Personal opinion though so others will think differently 👍
 

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