We are doing our first European trip traveling through Spain & Portugal in Feb for 90days, we currently have 2 calor gas propane bottles, what is the best advise for what we need on gas replacement for travelling in these countries for this duration of time, all experienced comments welcome
Use of gas in Spain & Portugal for 90 days
- Thread starter Daisy555
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- Jul 14, 2019
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As you can see so many ways people use there power I think you will soon see what way suits you our usage for 7/ 8 weeks nearly two 11kg Bottles the rest 380w solar and 2000w inverter no electric hook up Job done
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Do you just use the filling hose, or the hose with the bracketed mounting kit?You may think refillable are an expensive option. However, there is no need to have a double bottle system with autochanger like many suggest. I just have one Gaslow refillable bottle. I keep a Calor for emergency back up but haven't used it in 3 years. In Europe most garages have LPG so you can always fill up before you run out. A bit like you do with petrol/diesel for your car.
Gaslow 11KG is around £190 for the bottle. £15 for the hose. No professional fitting needed. If you want an external fill kit another £100 ish. Also possible to DIY fit if you have basic DIY skills. If you do lots of travelling you'll make that money back as it's less than half the price of Calor.
Gaslow R67 11kg Refillable Cylinder 1 with Level Gauge
The Gaslow R67 11kg Refillable Cylinder 1 is especially designed to meet the French R67 Gas Tank Standards. Gaslow have always held the view that the Gaslow Bottles are considered as "Cylinders" and therefore they are manfacturered to the cylinder standard EN1442:2006. Gaslow were not just alone...www.gasproducts.co.uk
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- Feb 14, 2021
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I use the external fill kit as it can save difficult conversations with some garages who think you are doing dodgy stuff by filling a bottle.
Gaslow White Filling Kit with 1.5m Fill Hose
The Gaslow Remote Filler Kits are supplied with all the necessary fixing screws ready for mounting to the side of your motorhome or caravan. Connection to the UK LPG pump is made via the bayonet fitting. (Also suitable for Holland). Other adapters are sold separately to enable filling throughout...
www.gasproducts.co.uk
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reading this thread with interest as we are currently in Spain (first time) & need to refill gaslow. Stopped at 5 garages the other day and none of them sold lpg. Have I just been unlucky? We are inland from Denia right now so would love to know if anyone knows where we can refill close by. Thanks in advance.
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According to the myLPG.eu app Denia Oil & Repsol have LPG available.
The app is well worth having, it shows 8 filling stations within 10 miles of Denia
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- Jul 5, 2013
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I use the myLPG.eu app on my phone to find LPG suppliers in Europe, which will show you the nearest suppliers from where you are situated. Nearest one to Denia seems to be on the CV-370 road at coordinates 38.8585253, 0.0568026. It also shows 2 suppliers outside of Benissa and another 2 in the Mirarrosa area. There are a lot more suppliers of LPG in Spain than in the UK.
Edit. In my experience most service stations on the Autoroutes have an LPG pump.
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zac
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I've just done 24 days in Spain and driving down from Santander the only LPG station i came across on my route was in Tarancon which was ok for us as not urgent but i have been using that same route for the last 4 years and there used to be loads. The next LPG station i came across was on the A30 where there were then 2 in a row so they are still about but there are certainly less of them, still nothing to be worried about it just takes a bit more planning thats all.
We only used 1.5 bottles in the time we were there and just filled up on the way home, we have 2 x 11kg gaslow bottles with external filler.
We only used 1.5 bottles in the time we were there and just filled up on the way home, we have 2 x 11kg gaslow bottles with external filler.
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- Jul 14, 2019
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Me also External filler with LPG app no problems But saying that there was certainly more garages selling LPG year ago
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Fit Gasit or Gaslow refillable, thats the way to go when in europe, good luck and enjoy your trip.
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Hello Daisy, we're in the same boat, with 2 x 11kg calor gas bottles, and a plan to tour Europe for 2 or 3 months, - it seems likely we'll run out of gas somewhere in Croatia! After a bit of reading around I think our average use of propane will be 0.5 to 0.6kg per day (that's for cooking, hot water (not a lot of showers), minimal heating, and the fridge on full tilt). That means we would use up our 22kg in 44 days, which I'm sure we could easily stretch out by being frugal, but who wants to be frugal? Not I! Anyway, I thought I'd share the sums I did at today's prices, of the gas options before us. I've included flowgas butane for info although it's not really an option; they are only selling it to existing contracts / bottle owners. You will see that if I DIY a Gaslow refillable, we would need to use 20 bottles (220 litres) before it breaks even with our current calor gas supply. That's 440 days of motorhoming, so fitting one Gaslow bottle would pay us back on July 1st 2027...
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- Jun 20, 2022
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That doesn't really work though as you would have to buy and carry two more calor bottles to last 90 days. Or buy Spanish or Croatian bottles.
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That’s right, so fitting one Gaslow bottle as others advise would be sensible, slightly worrying to hear suppliers in Europe are also reducing though
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As you are not using your heating two bottles should last you easily. I live in Spain and use gas bottles for cooking. I get six months out of one easily.
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Did you know in Europe garages sell propane in winter and butane in summer or a mix of both, depends on the level of gas in the tank when the tanker fills it up, because propane is more effective at temperatures below freezing.
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- Dec 19, 2020
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I'd be very surprised if anyone, over a prolonged period of touring, uses only around 1L a day unless you never run any space or water heating and only do minimal cooking. A refillable is, IMHO, a no-brainer.
I bought my first refillable six years ago and a second one two years ago. The savings over the cost of exchanging Calor bottles to date is £200 plus the initial outlay on the cylinders, so I am well in profit.
I bought my first refillable six years ago and a second one two years ago. The savings over the cost of exchanging Calor bottles to date is £200 plus the initial outlay on the cylinders, so I am well in profit.
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I'm amazed. We get 3 weeks water heating out of a bottle in winter temps due to it being on north side & permanently in shade & 3 months in summer. The kitchen one we cook on,& also heats the water solely for kitchen,is tops about 10 weeks in winter but does face the morning sun.
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Its so much easier nowadays, with refillable systems, than it used to be.
We live in Spain, but used to visit lots of different European countries over 5/6 months of the summer. We had many different gas systems.
In Spain, two Spanish bottles, one Repsol, one Cepsa. Then, if we knew we were going to France, one Spanish and one, already purchased, French bottle. French gas used, Spanish saved. Head out of France, exchange the bottle for a new one (even if still half full) and then hope that two full bottles (plus an expensive camping gas) would get us around, and back into France.
We always managed. We may have spent quite a bit on Camping Gas though.
Nowadays, it's definitely much easier.
We live in Spain, but used to visit lots of different European countries over 5/6 months of the summer. We had many different gas systems.
In Spain, two Spanish bottles, one Repsol, one Cepsa. Then, if we knew we were going to France, one Spanish and one, already purchased, French bottle. French gas used, Spanish saved. Head out of France, exchange the bottle for a new one (even if still half full) and then hope that two full bottles (plus an expensive camping gas) would get us around, and back into France.
We always managed. We may have spent quite a bit on Camping Gas though.
Nowadays, it's definitely much easier.
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I have installed Gasit with
one 11Kg & one
6Kg Bottle, the filler connector is on the outside wall, next to the BBQ outlet, when the 11Kg is near or is empty, we fill it up on our next fuel stop, we don't really worry about fill-ups, but we keep an eye on where we are going and where to fill if needed, also use a Truma Gas Level Checker (see photo) which I use when filling up with fuel just in case I need gas as well, also get the adaptors for Europe.
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- Jul 14, 2019
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Never had a problem when one runs out Next time we are on the road go to the nearest LPG garage and fill up
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They are both joined, each has a shut off valve, so can keep both opened, or can turn each off individually, I keep both opened. Quite a few years ago, we used to have a caravan, we to exchange the Gas bottle, when in Europe we had to carry two bottles, one being a European one, so was not always easy to find refills, but using Gasit is great, don't matter where we go.
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Hello MattWithMoho , I am looking at purchasing a Safefill bottle myself. My partner and I are going to be travelling the whole of Europe, UK-Spain-Portugal-Morocco-Italy-Eastern Europe etc etc. My understanding is you can easily refill (refillable) bottles all over using LPG pumps at stations so long as you have the correct adapter for said country. I am however hearing a lot of people claiming that Spain and Portugal do not allow for foreign bottles to be refilled this way and that you are required to purchase Spanish bottles which you 'swap out' once empty.
Did you have any issues when taking out your Safefill bottle to refill at LPG pumps? Any stations that refused you to refill etc or was it a breeze? Any tips you might have?
Thanks so much,
Luke
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- Dec 19, 2020
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I refilled my Safefill in Lorca a few weeks back. Had a bit of a fiddle with the connection but the forecourt guy was very helpful and between us with a bit of jiggling finally got the cylinder to fill.
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- Feb 14, 2021
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Personally I think a Gaslow bottle with an external fill point is a lot simpler when touring in Europe and the UK.
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- Aug 23, 2022
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Hi lukepfj
No issues at all, only comment from a petrol station guy was to leave the bottle in the garage while filling, but I don’t really have enough room, so took it out, again no issues.
You will naturally not use much gas while in sunnier climates so it lasts for weeks. It was easy to view the “fullness” of the bottle when darker and shining a torch into it.
I love how easy it is to use and refill.
Last comment is to ensure you have the country adapter kit as naturally the pumps have different connections in Europe
Any other questions, don’t hesitate.
Matt
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Thank you Matt, appreciate the helpHi lukepfj
No issues at all, only comment from a petrol station guy was to leave the bottle in the garage while filling, but I don’t really have enough room, so took it out, again no issues.
You will naturally not use much gas while in sunnier climates so it lasts for weeks. It was easy to view the “fullness” of the bottle when darker and shining a torch into it.
I love how easy it is to use and refill.
Last comment is to ensure you have the country adapter kit as naturally the pumps have different connections in Europe
Any other questions, don’t hesitate.
Matt
I have gone ahead and picked one up, I think it will be a perfect fit for me!
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