Bottled gas price rises

[poppycamper]

Refillable bottles are not ideal for us as nowhere around Toadifact Towers has filling points.

You don't need to have a filling point near home... fill up on route when you pass a place. Big benefit of refillable.. you don't need to be empty to fill it up... get into habit of topping up when you see somewhere.!

 

[The Wino]

You don't need to have a filling point near home... fill up on route when you pass a place. Big benefit of refillable.. you don't need to be empty to fill it up... get into habit of topping up when you see somewhere.!

That's the big advantage for us. Before we had refillable if we were going to France it was either risk it with what was left or swap it with some still left. We only carry one bottle

 

[U.Toadifact]

I much prefer the certainty of having gas with me when I set out. I carry two bottles so plenty of warning when I need a new one.

 

[Stealaway]

We've never actually run out the gague shows empty when we still have about,1/3 to 1/4 left. Then again the heating is diesel so it's just hot water and the fridge.

I have two 20 litre Safefill bottles
I've just switched over to the second bottle. They last us about 2 weeks. Plenty of time?


Just found a Super U nearby at 0.74 cents per litre

 

[The Wino]

I much prefer the certainty of having gas with me when I set out.

I look on it like diesel. Yes I like to set off full but if I have half a tank I don't go and fill before setting off as I know I can buy some more. Our single cylinder lasts about 4 weeks if we're totally off grid so if I fill when the gague says empty ( there's actually then about 1/4 of a tank ) I've got a week to find a gas pump. It's a lot easier than trying to guess if you need to swap the bottle and how much you're going to waste if you swap early. As we only have one bottle it's a big advantage

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[The Wino]

I have two 20 litre Safefill bottles
I've just switched over to the second bottle. They last us about 2 weeks. Plenty of time?


Just found a Super U nearby at 0.74 cents per litre

That's the equivalent of about £7.50 for a 6kg bottle so way cheaper

 

[poppycamper]

I much prefer the certainty of having gas with me when I set out. I carry two bottles so plenty of warning when I need a new one.

So fill up on way home on trip before, then you will set out with full tank.

 

[DavidCamping]

Yeah, it's getting ridiculous recently. Fortunately we had a few bottles around from last year but they've just run out so we'll see how we fare

 

[Dorwyn]

I had a Safefill once, thought it was good. Isn't there a rule that if using refillables you have to have an external filler point? If so why? Or am I confusing issues?

 

[Two on Tour]

Just found a Super U nearby at 0.74 cents per litre

Just paid 0.64 cent at Auchan near the tunnel this morning.

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[Lenny HB]

I had a Safefill once, thought it was good. Isn't there a rule that if using refillables you have to have an external filler point? If so why? Or am I confusing issues?

No rule but some garages will not allow you to fill.

 

[Otter Spotter]

Agree 100% However 6kg in 18months.
Does not seem very much.

Obviously only has a sniff once a month

 

[Dorwyn]

No rule but some garages will not allow you to fill.

Oh, yes I do recall I'd start filling before anyone could object! From the kiosk they couldn't see anyway so if it looked like you knew what you're doing they'd take no notice!

 

[The Wino]

No rule but some garages will not allow you to fill.

We've had an in the locker one for 8 years and still have to find anywhere that queries it. I can't see the fill point being in the locker as any significant disadvantage. I put it in the locker as we didn't expect to have the van this long and if I take the refillable out all it leaves is a couple of small screw holes.

 

[gus-lopez]

So much easier to use than the bayonet ones in the uk

Best one is the euroconnecter which was supposed to be adopted by everyone. It is the spanish one where you just pull collar back& the ballss lock in to the groove.

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[Lenny HB]

We've had an in the locker one for 8 years and still have to find anywhere that queries it. I can't see the fill point being in the locker as any significant disadvantage. I put it in the locker as we didn't expect to have the van this long and if I take the refillable out all it leaves is a couple of small screw holes.

I've been refused, I pointed at the external filler & told them it was a tank & they let me fill.

 

[The Wino]

I've been refused, I pointed at the external filler & told them it was a tank & they let me fill.

It could well be if you had a fixed fill point in the locker they may have let you fill as well I think the main concern is people using eBay adapters to refill non refillable bottles. I thought we were going to be questioned once in Spain as when I opened the locker a bloke nipped out sharpish onto the forecourt. It turned out he had spotted we were Brits and was getting out the adapters so we could refill easily.

 

[Lenny HB]

It could well be if you had a fixed fill point in the locker they may have let you fill as well I think the main concern is people using eBay adapters to refill non refillable bottles. I thought we were going to be questioned once in Spain as when I opened the locker a bloke nipped out sharpish onto the forecourt. It turned out he had spotted we were Brits and was getting out the adapters so we could refill easily.

No, they said we don't fill bottles, it was in Portugal.

 

[VXman]

I just have the one Gaslow plus a calor 6kg as back up. Never used it yet as I always fill the Gaslow up when it stays empty. It says on empty a long time!

 

[SueLH]

Just to clarify some points raised above;

I use a local supplier, Rectory Gas. Always cheaper than Calor and during the great Calor bottle shortage they always had bottles.

Eighteen months does seem a long time for a 6kg bottle to last but I keep records and know it is correct. We use the gas mainly for boiling the kettle when off grid and reheating prepared food. Only in the last couple of weeks have we used the gas for heating in the evenings.

Refillable bottles are not ideal for us as nowhere around Toadifact Towers has filling points.

We discovered Rectory during the shortages too - great supply & service! Like you no point having a refillable system round here!

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[Arnside037]

Just swapped a 6kg propane for £35 in June, and was told that Calor are planning increasing their prices by approx £10 per bottle on 1st Oct. It's all getting frightening,

 

[Pausim]

OK I know we use very little gas so over the year and a half a 6kg bottle of propane has lasted us the price rise is bearable. However I have just replaced said bottle which eighteen months ago cost £20. It is now £31!

I think I will buy a cow and stuff the cooker feed hose up its arris. It must be cheaper.

The cost of my home heating propane from Calor has more than doubled in the last year. I would ask to borrow your cow for the winter but cows are natural gas not propane.

 

[U.Toadifact]

The cost of my home heating propane from Calor has more than doubled in the last year. I would ask to borrow your cow for the winter but cows are natural gas not propane.

Yes but we have Lincoln Red cows in this part of the world so if they are red they must be propane.

 

[Purrfecttune]

I recently exchanged a 6kg bottle for £27 at Morrisons (Maidstone) must be cheaper down here!

However, our Motorhome takes two bottles and was supplied with two 6kg’s, but the cabinet is very roomy. so I bought an empty 13kg locally off of Facebook for £20 which fits snugly in place of one of the 6kg’s. The cost difference per kg between the two sizes is approximately £1 per kg.

So not only do we pay about 25% less for replacement gas but we can last a lot longer on the road. (A 6kg was lasting nearly a year as we are newbies and have been booking sites with ehu a lot but are now slowly moving into more independent travel and are also looking at our first foray into Europe where it is reported that calor bottles are hard to come by)

 

[gwyntaxi]

Pleased we have refillables a 14kg bottle lasts us 15 days & we do very little cold weather camping.

Should last longer than that you must be doing a lot of cooking and using boiler a lot for showering, if not there's something wrong somewhere methinks. Just sayin.

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[Pausim]

Should last longer than that you must be doing a lot of cooking and using boiler a lot for showering, if not there's something wrong somewhere methinks. Just sayin.

I reckon to use about the same as Lenny HB when off grid. 2 showers a day, fridge on cold, cooking including oven/grill and occasional heating. The fridge is a good part of this if we want cold wine and beer.

 

[Lenny HB]

Should last longer than that you must be doing a lot of cooking and using boiler a lot for showering, if not there's something wrong somewhere methinks. Just sayin.

Same with the last van.
Heating on timer for hot water for morning showers, the big fridge/freezer uses about 10% more gas since I fitted an internal fan, small price for cold beer.
Depending on how high up we are heating sometimes comes on in the morning and occasionally in the evening.

 

[gus-lopez]

Just swapped a 6kg propane for £35 in June, and was told that Calor are planning increasing their prices by approx £10 per bottle on 1st Oct. It's all getting frightening,

View attachment 670568

Just robbery.
At those prices i did ok buying a 3,9propane complete with regulator & blow torch + half full,for £15 at a car boot. Calor dealer had no 3,9 exchanges nor was he any help whatsoever but another supplier offered a straight swop empty 3,9 for full 6kg for gas cost £31,75 & delivered to the door.
& when it is empty I will be having it refilled here before venturing to the Uk again.

 

[Pausim]

I fear Calor will always grab as much as they can. The spot price for propane is now back to the level it was last autumn but they still managed 3 price hikes for home heating since then. Right now bulk propane deliveries should be a lot cheaper than natural gas. I did a calculation to convert Calor’s new price per litre into a price per kWh, so that I could compare it with the Government’s new price cap of 10.3p per kWh. Surprise surprise Calor drops in at 10.24p per litre, just a smidgen lower. Probably a board room decision to raise the price to the limit they think the market will bear, even though the international spot price is falling.

The price of their bottled gas is probably following the same pattern, has little to do with the spot price they are paying for propane. However since the public knows that energy prices have shot up they can get away with smacking the price of a bottle up from £20 to £31 even if they don’t need to.

 

[Lenny HB]

Should last longer than that you must be doing a lot of cooking and using boiler a lot for showering, if not there's something wrong somewhere methinks. Just sayin.

Another thought you have the older 6002 combi our first Hymer had one and we use to use a lot less gass 11 kg would last 21 days compared to 14kg for 15 days.
Big problem is the hot water is unusable at 40° with the C6 the thermostat has a large hysteresis and after it's turned off at 40° it doesn't turn back on until the water drops to 27°, so have to run the water at 60°.

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