here's a tricky one! GAS (1 Viewer)

[mentaliss]

I know there can't be a precise answer to this , we want to spend at least a couple of months in European on our next tour so, its all about Gas!..... consumption that is, everybody's use of such will be different but there must be fellow posters who do this often, In our new set up we will be carrying two 13 klg gas bottles, subject to twice a week useage of the 'Cadac' and the average use of the MH's hob plus the usual Fridge switch over.
From other Funsters experience's would two bottles see us through without the panic of running out of gas?????
Yes we are looking at the GasLow refillable (one) but the initial purchase costs are expensive ie; how many refill's would balance out the costs of an normal exchange bottle system...anyone been here???

 

[Terry]

Depending on size of refill bottles you save approx £8 /10 per bottle :thumb:--prob take around 2/3 yrs to get costs back :thumb:but you can take them out and fit in your next van so ends up win win :thumb: A 13kg bottle will last aprox 2/3 weeks with heating but without you could last double even triple that time without it Sorry to be vauge but it all depends
terry

 

[Emmenay]

I know there can't be a precise answer to this , we want to spend at least a couple of months in European on our next tour so, its all about Gas!..... consumption that is, everybody's use of such will be different but there must be fellow posters who do this often, In our new set up we will be carrying two 13 klg gas bottles, subject to twice a week useage of the 'Cadac' and the average use of the MH's hob plus the usual Fridge switch over.
From other Funsters experience's would two bottles see us through without the panic of running out of gas?????
Yes we are looking at the GasLow refillable (one) [HI]but the initial purchase costs are expensive ie; how many refill's would balance out the costs of an normal exchange bottle system[/HI]...anyone been here???

Sometimes its not about the initial outlay but the convenience of getting gas virtually anywhere :thumb:

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[Xabia]

Sometimes its not about the initial outlay but the convenience of getting gas virtually anywhere :thumb:

Bite the bullet and go for Gaslow. I did a few years ago and never regretted it. You have no worries about gas running out as it is so easy to refill in France.

I started with one bottle, changing over to calor when the Gaslow ran out until I could refill, now two Gaslows, it is soooooo much easier.

Mike

 

[Mousy]

We managed to buy a set second hand, keep your eyes peeled they do come up:thumb:

 

[Wildman]

you don't actually state how long your "tour" lasts.

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[Wildman]

you don't actually state how long your "tour" lasts.

 

[pappajohn]

if you have time on your hands you could work it out.

All your appliances will have an official consumption rate, usually means scouring the internet to find it though.

Add it all up and thats your mg/hr rate.

Otherwise buy a fill adaptor and take your chance at LPG garages.

 

[mentaliss]

you don't actually state how long your "tour" lasts.

Mypost:

I know there can't be a precise answer to this , we want to spend at least a couple of months in European on our next tour :Sad:

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[JeanLuc]

Gas consumption is very temperature-dependent and you do not say when you plan to tour for at least two months.
In summer, with good weather, an 11kg Gaslow lasts us about four weeks; that includes all fridge power, cooking and water heating for showers etc. and a bit of Cadac use.
We have 2 x 11 kg Gaslow and last year (mid Sept - end Oct) travelling down through western France to the Pyrenees, then across to the Corbiere hills and back up via Cahors and the 'DooDoyn', I filled up once during six weeks, but that was for safety and because it was a bit chilly in the mountains, requiring a bit of extra water and space heating. We still had one and a half tanks full on returning. I cannot remember hooking up to 230V at all in that time.
By contrast, I have used 11 kg in three days in the UK when the temperature has been well below freezing.
The cost/benefit analysis of Gaslow (or Alugas etc.) is more to do with convenience than economics. We had Gaslow fitted when we bought the van and I have never longed for the pleasure of heaving a heavy bottle in and out of the locker!

 

[MikeandCarolyn]

Mypost:

I know there can't be a precise answer to this , we want to spend at least a couple of months in European on our next tour :Sad:

We often spend 3-4mths in Europe at varying times of year.we had all the concerns that you have before our 1st trip.
I decided to have a 40ltr underslung tank fitted. Now I find that if we top up as soon as we arrive in France or Spain ,and top up when we get down to about half a tank left, we only need to top up once before we come home. :thumb:

I think peace of mind is more important than getting back the initial costs.

Mike

 

[TheDogMan]

Oh the joy of not having to fetch then heave in heavy gas bottles, if you can afford it DO IT, I have never regretted having my tank fitted

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[Coolbeanz]

I know there can't be a precise answer to this , we want to spend at least a couple of months in European on our next tour so, its all about Gas!..... consumption that is, everybody's use of such will be different but there must be fellow posters who do this often, In our new set up we will be carrying two 13 klg gas bottles, subject to twice a week useage of the 'Cadac' and the average use of the MH's hob plus the usual Fridge switch over.
From other Funsters experience's would two bottles see us through without the panic of running out of gas?????
Yes we are looking at the GasLow refillable (one) but the initial purchase costs are expensive ie; how many refill's would balance out the costs of an normal exchange bottle system...anyone been here???

Check this link out http://www.europebycamper.com/2011/01/gaslow-payback-calculator.html :thumb:

 

[Sheddy]

It all depends on how much time you are expecting to spend on campsites and hookup.
On hookup you will probably be ok, but if you are wild camping and using aires you will probably run short, if it gets very warm your fridge will use quite a lot of gas and if it is cold your heating will use up the gas , hot water use can be carefully controlled.
We recently installed a Gasit system which is more or less the same as a Gaslow but cheaper.

 

[brynric]

As others have said the value of gaslow is not a direct comparison of refilling bottles.
We're in Spain at the moment and after the first six days we topped up with 12litres. Those 6 days included some very cold nights in a France & N Spain when we used a lot of gas. Our second top up was 11 litres for 16 days use. By this stage we were on the coast which was much warmer and we had more opportunities to eat out.
The key term in this is "topup". Our bottles were nowhere near empty but we refilled when the opportunity arose. It was just a question of pulling into a service station. When I had a caravan we swapped partially full bottles on a number of occasions to avoid being caught out.
How much is convenience worth?

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[Reallyretired]

Must agree with the preceding posts. 2 x 13kg will probably last a couple months, but for peace of mind, you can't beat refillable. We have 2x11kg Alugas and fill up as soon as convenient after one is empty.

 

[Minxy]

How much gas you will get through depends on how you use your MH, whether you use campsites and therefore EHU, if you have gas heating or diesel heating etc, etc.

I've done a rough calculation .... I THINK I've got it right .... perhaps someone can check it for me! :Blush:

If you go for a Gasit single 11kg bottle system, you could probably get it, with filler (either in-locker or external) for around £200 new, a second hand kit would cost a bit less.

• Calor 13kg cylinder exchange costs av. £27.25 for 23.7 litres @ £1.15 PL (depending on where you exchange it)
• Using a refillable bottle costs £16.59 for 23.7 litres @ av. 70p PL (taking into account the cheaper cost of LPG abroad)

So Calor costs approx 45p more per litre assuming you always exchange an empty bottle, therefore:

• £27.25 Calor cost - £16.59 Refillable cost = £10.66 more for the same amount of gas with Calor
• Cost of refillable kit approx £200 ÷ extra cost of Calor's gas £10.66 = 18.7 exchanges (442.7 total litres of gas)

So if you got through say 5 exchanges a year, with a saving of £10.66 each time, that makes an annual saving of £53.30, which means that within 4 years you'd be at 'break even', after which you will be in profit!

I THINK ......

:thumb:

 

[Starburst2]

Depends on time of year, as an illustration we usually spend the whole of June in France, take 2x6kg bottles, always come back with one still untouched. We cook all meals in van, rarily eat out, use Aires for 50% of time.When on site with electric we use the one electric hob in the van plus a Remoska for some meals, and a pressure cooker to cut down on gas usage..Water heating is by diesel,or electric when on site also heating but in June we do not need heating. When we went to Spain for 6 weeks we still came back with one bottle 3/4 full, but we were on electric for 4 weeks so water and heating were on electric.
Doug

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[Snowbird]

There are far to many possible equations to be specific on gas consumption. Its like asking how long is a piece of string.
1) Depends where you are going, cold or warm climate.
2) What time of year you are going.
3) How much eating out you will be doing.
4) How much time you will spend on campsites.
5) How well your van is insulated.
To give you some idea, we left home in November and are dug in in Benidorm on a campsite using mains water heater, mains fan heater, electric kettle, fridge on mains, slow cooker, induction hob etc.
We have a 80 litre LPG tank and 2 X 15 kg refillable gas bottles. The gas bottles are full and I have used about 20 litres of gas since leaving home. If you are thinking of changing over to refillable gas bottles, consider having an LPG tank fitted instead. This will free up a locker if you so wish and can be filled anywhere.

 

[mentaliss]

There are far to many possible equations to be specific on gas consumption. Its like asking how long is a piece of string.
1) Depends where you are going, cold or warm climate.
2) What time of year you are going.
3) How much eating out you will be doing.
4) How much time you will spend on campsites.
5) How well your van is insulated.
To give you some idea, we left home in November and are dug in in Benidorm on a campsite using mains water heater, mains fan heater, electric kettle, fridge on mains, slow cooker, induction hob etc.
We have a 80 litre LPG tank and 2 X 15 kg refillable gas bottles. The gas bottles are full and I have used about 20 litres of gas since leaving home. If you are thinking of changing over to refillable gas bottles, consider having an LPG tank fitted instead. This will free up a locker if you so wish and can be filled anywhere.

Thanks for that and I totally understand all of your comments but doesn't fitted tanks mean that if you run out on a campsite you end up having to take your MH to a filling station

 

[mentaliss]

my conclusion

is that there is a pattern from the posts that is nobody seems ever to run out of Gas? but the refillable systems rein supreme amongst the posts, however the startling fact that in most cases is the initial outlay may take several years to balance the books, one factor that is not questionable though is peace of mind that you can get gas abroad with the refillable system that in itself is a winner for me..and of course you can take the system with you

many thanks to all you funster's :Cool:

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[SomeoneElse]

Thanks for that and I totally understand all of your comments but doesn't fitted tanks mean that if you run out on a campsite you end up having to take your MH to a filling station

Well yes it would, but you need a different mind set with a fixed tank. You top it up before it runs out. Like looking at the fuel gauge on your car and seeinto and g its a quarter full before the start of a long journey, you would fill up the car. Likewise with that gas tank it a quarter full and you are going to stay on site for a couple of weeks, you fill up the tank before arriving on site. Remember you only pay for the gas used not a complete tankful each time.

Our gas story is we had two 6kg cylinders and when abroad. We didn't worry about the gas and used want we wanted. All was well and as we returned home stopped for a break between Dover and home. The kettle never boiled as we run out of gas at that stop.
This worried us so much that on our next trip I returned half a bottle of gas to Calor so that we took two full bottles. We worried so much about running out of gas while abroad that it over shadowed the whole holiday, even after we knew one bottle had lasted more than half the holiday.
When we bought our new van we immediately had a fixed tank fitted, now with the adapters for other countries we can fill up anywhere. Gas has gone from being a worry to just a mild interest in "how many blobs have we got left in the meter today?" there being eight green leds on the gauge.
We also gained a useful external locker for tools and water, toilet, electrical equipment.

Gordon

 

[keith]

I know there can't be a precise answer to this , we want to spend at least a couple of months in European on our next tour so, its all about Gas!..... consumption that is, everybody's use of such will be different but there must be fellow posters who do this often, In our new set up we will be carrying two 13 klg gas bottles, subject to twice a week useage of the 'Cadac' and the average use of the MH's hob plus the usual Fridge switch over.
From other Funsters experience's would two bottles see us through without the panic of running out of gas?????
Yes we are looking at the GasLow refillable (one) but the initial purchase costs are expensive ie; how many refill's would balance out the costs of an normal exchange bottle system...anyone been here???

If your tour is to include Portugal you can get your Calor bottles re-filled (once they are empty, you cannot do it if they contain any gas).

Once you have used one bottle you will know the answer to your question won't you?

But as said refillable gas tank is the way to have confidence in your supply.

 

[Snowbird]

Thanks for that and I totally understand all of your comments but doesn't fitted tanks mean that if you run out on a campsite you end up having to take your MH to a filling station

On the way to Spain last March I filled the LPG tank in France, we toured for 6 weeks then went home, we then toured Germany and Luxembourg in September for 4 weeks, then went home. On the way out to Spain last November the LPG tank was just above half full, so I filled up in France again. Its above half full now 3 months later and I have never switched on either of the 2 bottles I carry. I think I could perhaps manage with one fill per year, so running out on a campsite is not going to happen.

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[Don Quixote]

Well it's simple: if you use your MH in UK no need to change system or like us if we only used our MH in Spain would not need to change system, however use it outside your country of residence and it is worth every penny.
We had ours done by Dave Newell ( Nice Chap ) early 2013 whilst in the UK. Dawn ( the other half keeps a record of all our spending ) and since then we have filled it or topped it up ( which is great ) 26 times. This means we never run out of gas as you can just "top it up" when you get fuel. Dave was very kind and explained how to remove the system and refit Spanish gas bottle if we sell the MH.
Granted it will take 2/3 years of use ( we use our MH for about 5/6 months of the year on and off ), but as we can refit it to another MH it is well worth it.

We use gas for hot water and fridge and cooking ( or just hot water if on EHU )

If you can afford the cost of fitting I would say go for it and you will not look back.