LPG being phased out?

[TerryL]

In and amongst all this there must be business opportunities in here for some, for example caravan and motorhome retailers and servicing places could instal tanks and start selling it, ditto camp sites, the caravan and motorhome club could have a number of sites with tanks on. Some servicing places could start selling conversion kits, i.e to fit diesel heaters, replace gas ovens with induction hobs and inverters to remove the need to gas altogether. I wonder if any have the imagine to spot this potential gap in the market and to exploit it.

You would think so wouldn't you? But in reality there is a capital cost for installation then the ongoing maintenance, testing and licencing to take into account which all has a not inconsiderable cost. That's of course you can get planning permission................ No matter how much folk would like to do it, it's likely economically non-viable, which is the reason of course that some retailers are closing LPG for charging stations which I bet will be much more profitable.

Just an afterthought though, it seems to be the larger retailers removing LPG pumps, likely those who are already working on very fine profit margins for petrol/diesel and need to cut costs wherever they can.

 

[Ejaydee]

I was interested to note that when I took my car to have its first annual service this morning, there was a large sign in the dealership (Renault and Dacia) that said all new Dacia models were now available with a petrol/LPG option. The blurb highlighted the benefits of LPG (i.e. price and emissions), so is it possible that more LPG cars on the road may slow down or halt the reduction of LPG pumps on the forecourt.......or is that being overly optimistic?

Apparently, Dacia have offered LPG vehicles on the continent for years and uptake is quite high, but until recently it was only a special order item in the UK, where now it will be a standard option.

Incidentally, my car is a Renault, not a Dacia, and it is an EV, so LPG would never be an option on that model even if Renault starts to copy Dacia, but as I use LPG for the Gaslow system in the MH I have an interest from that perspective!!

 

[Jaws]

The Harvester garage in Thetford has good stock at the moment ( its on the A134 heading out of Thetford towards Bury St Edmunds )

 

[OutTheOffice]

You would think so wouldn't you? But in reality there is a capital cost for installation then the ongoing maintenance, testing and licencing to take into account which all has a not inconsiderable cost. That's of course you can get planning permission................ No matter how much folk would like to do it, it's likely economically non-viable, which is the reason of course that some retailers are closing LPG for charging stations which I bet will be much more profitable.

Just an afterthought though, it seems to be the larger retailers removing LPG pumps, likely those who are already working on very fine profit margins for petrol/diesel and need to cut costs wherever they can.

Sadly Im sure you are right, we dont go out of our way to make life easy in the UK, especially for small businesses.

 

[Jev88]

Don't foget Flogas, Calor and a few others supply DOMESTIC tanks all over the country and they have no alternative generally.

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[TerryL]

Don't foget Flogas, Calor and a few others supply DOMESTIC tanks all over the country and they have no alternative generally.

Now that would be interesting - get one of their tankers to come round and refill your m/h!

 

[68c]

No LPG at the Ower Esso service station this evening. (A36 M27)

LPG now back on, had a delivery today. RH side of pump not working at present but LH hose is long enough to pull across.

 

[n8ess]

Having a diesel heater fitted as we speak, I wanted to limit my reliance on LPG especially when off grid.

 

[helzie2020]

I was told that Germany is buying up all the LPG it can get its hands on because Germany is trying to reduce its purchase of gas from Russia. If that's correct, that would have a big impact on supply...

 

[Lenny HB]

I was told that Germany is buying up all the LPG it can get its hands on because Germany is trying to reduce its purchase of gas from Russia. If that's correct, that would have a big impact on supply...

I can't see that LPG & LNG need different jets in the burners, different regulators, you can't just swap from one to the other.

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[helzie2020]

I can't see that LPG & LNG need different jets in the burners, different regulators, you can't just swap from one to the other.

That's good to know.

 

[Steve-N]

Now that would be interesting - get one of their tankers to come round and refill your m/h!

You could always have a tank installed and then fill your moho from it

 

[MitchandJenny]

Our 2x 6kg Gaslow bottles reach their expiry date next year. There has been much discussion regarding options when this happens. I rang Gaslow and they said you could exchange them for tested ones which have a further 15 year life for £90 per bottle or get new ones which are more expensive. However, there has been recent press on LPG being phased out. I think a couple of companies have already stated that they are phasing out LPG at garages. I rang our local garage where we fill up and he said he has had trouble getting his LPG tank refilled and is aware that with declining use it may no longer be viable for companies to sell it.

With this in mind you have to question whether it is a good idea to reinvest in a Gaslow system or whether to go back to Calor gas refillables. However, Calor gas 6kg propane bottles are also now hard to get. You can get them at around £100 each on ebay (which is what we did to get a butane bottle for an indoor fire). The man at the garage also said even if we turned up with empty ones he would not be able to replace them as he has not been able to get 6kg propane for 6 months.

So I suppose as we only use our motorhome in the summer one option is we could swap to refillable butane which apparently is more available.

Anyway, these are all considerations next year when the Gaslow bottles reach the end of their 15 year life.

Anyone have any thoughts on this?

Just back from Morocco, saw gas bottles
there that looked 30 years old. They get thrown and kicked about, full of dents etc
I don’t recommend that , but, a touch of common sense, I will ignore the date on mine, because I have never seen a bottle policeman and have never heard of a bottle splitting etc. Yes they go bang but from leaks and lack of common sense.
Don’t worry, be happy.
Mitch

 

[Viennese]

I think at the moment it is just MRG and Shell who have said they are phasing out autogas sales. The chap we spoke to at the garage said that he knows a company in Morecambe is still converting some vehicles to LPG so there is a small demand still but LPG only accounts for 0.2% of fuel sales. We will have to see.

There is a company near Oxford which converts vehicles to LPG. One of the places I fill up the van...

 

[olley]

Local caravan dealer told me that calor have discontinued the small bottles, so uses have had to switch to larger 6kg size, and this has caused the shortage.

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[Stretto Boy]

Flogas in Leicester is a depot for the bulk supply of LPG but they also have two pumps for filling LPG vehicles. I would expect this sort of place, rather than a garage, to be the best for having supplies both now and into the future.

I used it when filling the underslung tank on our previous motorhome. I have however heard that they won’t let you fill bottles, even of the refillable type.

 

[Pausim]

I can't see that LPG & LNG need different jets in the burners, different regulators, you can't just swap from one to the other.

We bought a new central heating boiler and a new hob for our kitchen a year ago. They are both specifically for use with propane not natural gas. The calorific value of both propane and butane is higher than natural gas and therefore needs smaller jet sizes.

I was told that Germany is buying up all the LPG it can get its hands on because Germany is trying to reduce its purchase of gas from Russia. If that's correct, that would have a big impact on supply...

The international price of propane peaked about a year ago but is now back to about the same level as it was at the beginning of 2021, which is before Germany got cold feet about Russian gas. I am sure Calor and Flogas will find lots of excuses for not dropping the consumer prices back to earlier levels.

 

[olley]

I can't see that LPG & LNG need different jets in the burners, different regulators, you can't just swap from one to the other.

On domestic cookers you need different jets if using LPG.