Refillable Gas - 1 bottle or 2? (1 Viewer)

Candapack

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Oct 16, 2014
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Will be changing to this, and was thinking one 11kg bottle would do. It should last a week off hookup, we'll always be moving on by then, even if not it's not a huge faff to go to a filling station.
Keen to have just one so I can also use the gas locker for ramps and EHU leads.
But I bet someone can tell me why that's a silly idea.
 

gozomike

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I have been topping up after around 10 nights with the tank (fitted) taking 7 to 8 litres. That is with the water heater on for around 30mins and the heating around the same, plus cooking. I believe 8 litres is around 4kg, so you should be OK. Most panel van conversions with a fitted tank seem to have one of around 21 litres.

I forgot the fridge, that was on most of the time. This was in the Mosel area in Sept.
 
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JeanLuc

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Nov 17, 2008
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It all depends on your usage pattern and time of year. We have just returned from 6 1/2 weeks in Italy and France. We use the gas for cooking, heating (water and space - but not in summer obviously) and the fridge. Rarely hook-up - in fact just one night during our trip. we stayed on camperstops so no campsite showers - we used our own with the consequent water heating requirement. We have 2 x 11 kg Gaslow bottles and set off full. During the time away we used one and a half bottles so did not need to refill at all.
In contrast, during January with temperatures below freezing, we have used a full bottle in a weekend - three nights.
I would not want to be without the flexibility of switching to a full bottle when one runs out. It is also important if you get a fault on one of the bottles and have to isolate it - hopefully not a common problem.

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Chockswahay

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Refillable gas is about convenience............. if you only have one bottle you have NO choice but to find a gas station before it runs out. If you have two bottles you have no worries:) Either you can double your duration or buy gas when a gas station is on route/closer/cheaper.

We have two, when one runs out I simply refill within a period of time equal to half the time the first one lasted(y)
 
Dec 10, 2013
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We have 2 11kg bottles and I just wait till one is empty, I know then I have got 2 or 3 weeks to top up again. If you only have one bottle and it runs out your stuffed especially if you are running a fridge and freezer on gas like us.

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GJH

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Our gas locker is large enough to take two 13Kg Calor bottles which meant there was plenty of room for Alugas. As we already had two 6Kg Calor bottles we decided to have just a single Alugas bottle fitted initially and carry a 6Kg Calor just in case. Some months later we gave our Calor bottle to our son as he needed it in a hurry, which meant that we needed a second Alugas bottle before we next went away so we had a second bottle fitted. We went for the manual changeover system as it is possible to have both bottles or either open and the filling system is such that both bottles are topped up as necessary.
 

Mousy

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You could go for a tank fitted under your van thereby freeing the locker space completely.

This is the most expensive option, depends how much you need the space and how long you are keeping your van for etc.

I know of a Funster who bought a system second hand for the same price as new gas low.

We have 2x 6 bottles, second hand bargin and are very happy with them.

We tend to try and keep both full.
 

Minxy

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We have a single 11kg bottle and have only had that for the past 5 years without a problem. We wild camp all the time, doing trips for our summer holidays or 5-7 weeks at a time and just keep an eye on the gauge so that when it starts to move we think about topping it up, usually we have at least a week's gas left! What you could try is just having one refillable and a small Calor cylinder too as a backup until you are confident that just the refillable is sufficient, however if you do want to store stuff in the locker too make sure that any escaping gas can easily drop down to the bottom of the compartment and out through the vent holes ... don't block them or the 'route'!

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Candapack

Candapack

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Thanks all, food for thought.
If using van in cold weather for any more than 2/3 nights, we would go onto EHU. So I think I'll stick to one 11kg bottle, and as Mel suggests also carry a smaller Calor bottle until I get to know the new system.
Cheers,
 

Judge Mental

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Sep 2, 2009
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have always had 2 in the past but in a panel van, with our usage we find it overkill. Now have 1 x 11kg and one lightweight 6kg Calor as a back up
 

dave newell

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Oct 31, 2008
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From the description of your camping style one cylinder will do you adequately. We only have 1 11KG cylinder and so far it has done over 30 nights away this year with only one topup in August. We have a compressor fridge so that obviously doesn't use gas but all cooking and heating is on gas. Just be careful about how you store other "stuff" in the gas locker so that it doesn't block the floor vent.

D.

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brynric

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Sep 5, 2009
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We have an 11kg and a 6 kg. We use the 11 till its empty then we know we have a fixed amount left. It means that we don't have to refill immediately but we're on the lookout for LPG?
 
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Candapack

Candapack

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These extra replies have changed my decision, I'm not going to bother with the spare Calor bottle.
Yup, that's me, livin' life on the edge. :D
 
Jun 1, 2009
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one refillable one local bottle happy days no problems,works for me no matter how long i am touring.

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Badknee

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Great replies as usual, like the large to use and the little as backup.
 

kglblue

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Nov 7, 2010
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Will be changing to this, and was thinking one 11kg bottle would do. It should last a week off hookup, we'll always be moving on by then, even if not it's not a huge faff to go to a filling station.
Keen to have just one so I can also use the gas locker for ramps and EHU leads.
But I bet someone can tell me why that's a silly idea.

Just back from a 6 week tour of Germany, France, Belgium and Netherlands, I have 2 x 6kg gaslow bottles, used for cooking, fridge and heating. I used one in the 6 weeks, as we arrived back in the UK it switched to the second bottle. Didn't use the gas heater very much so it was mostly cooking and fridge.
 
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Chockswahay

Deleted User
Just a word of caution................ we have emptied an 11kg bottle in 5 days in winter.

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Chockswahay

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and I should have had cold food and drank water too............ thats's where I went wrongo_O

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GJH

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When we have just filled up I open one bottle valve. When that bottle is getting down I open both valves and then we make sure we fill up again when we spot somewhere convenient, as close to in passing as possible. The reason I open the second valve when the first bottle still has some in is that there is no point in having gas but running out through not doing so :)
 
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Chockswahay

Deleted User
Ahhh........... the beauty of the automatic change over valve :cool: (yes, yes, I know it cost me more but hey, it's spent now:))
 
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Chockswahay

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Of course........... while we are all having this banter............. the OP can not join in coz he has probably not coughed up a tenner yet:rolleyes:

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Jul 1, 2010
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We have 2 x 13kg Alugas cylinders with a Gaslow auto changeover which I only use when the in service cylinder is getting very low. Sod's law dictates the gas will run out at the most inconvenient moment ie late at night in poor weather. Mind you did manage to blag our dealer into selling me the auto changeover for just a couple of quid more than the manual. :)
 
Feb 16, 2013
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In our van we had two 6kg calor, swopped one for a gasit and kept the other calor in case we ran out , anyway on our trip this last month , we used the gasit for 17 days and it then said empty so filled it up when we filled fuel but found it was only just over half empty, so next time we just left it after it said empty and waited for it to empty but it didn't before we came back ,so filled it just before we got on the tunnel home and found it was nearly done, but now we know we can go at least a fortnight before filling it's quite easy to fill it when we stop for diesel even though it's not empty.
So on return home the calor has come out, and the space used for hoses and hookup cables that used to live under the front seats(y)

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GJH

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Aug 20, 2007
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We filled out 2 x 11Kg bottles before going away in mid September for 8 nights during which we used gas for fridge, cooking, water heating and space heating. I initially opened the valve on one bottle. After 6 nights the gauge had dropped to a quarter so I opened the valve on the second bottle. We've just got back from a 3 night weekend during which we had similar usage, with both valves open.

We stopped off at our local Autogas garage to top up as it was convenient and 20.66 litres went in. So, that is a little less than one bottle assuming that both contained the full 11Kg after the last fill. If I hadn't opened both valves there is a possibility that the gas might have run out last night - perhaps more of a probability than a possibility seeing as I should have had to go out in a strong, cold wind :)
 
Sep 16, 2010
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Only one 11 kg bottle and wild camped all over France and Spain no problem.. When the gauge STARTS to move you still have half a bottle left, so plenty of time to keep an eye out for a fillup spot.. We use the other half of the gas locker to put the CADAC in and the pair of chocks..
Good luck and fit "Gas it" because its a lot cheaper than others.. Mitch..

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