Gas bottles or Gas Low? (1 Viewer)

[SKI Mobile]

Advice for a beginner please - should we get Gas bottles or opt for a Gas Low/Gas It?

 

[androidGB]

Ask yourself the following questions.

1. Do you intend to use your motorhome abroad
2. Do you intend to use your van a lot, particularly in winter
3. Do you have a physical need to avoid changing cylinders

A positive to any of the above indicates that refillables may be the way to go

Andrew

 

[Minxy]

Hi 'Ski' ... welcome to the fun house!

Difficult to say without knowing how you intend to use your MH ... UK, Europe, short/long trips etc ...

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[Spriddler]

I've fitted one 6kg refillable Gaslow (Yellow) cylinder and one 6kg Calor propane (Red) exchangeable cylinder. I use the refillable as a main supply and keep the Calor as standby. A simple changeover valve enables selection of whichever I want to use.
My reasoning is a). Calor bottles cannot be exchanged abroad but LPG vehicle filling stations are plentiful so I would run only briefly on the Calor before topping up the refillable. And b). LPG vehicle filling stations are less common in U.K. so if I ran out on the refillable I can run on the exchangeable Calor until I find an LPG filling station.
Here's the installation which took me less than an hour to install. (I hadn't yet fitted the Gaslow bottle filler pipe. It is now connected to the red blanking cap - 5 min job).

 

[Camping Gaza]

re fillable.... no brainer, lpg is everywhere

 

[Badknee]

We put an underslung Gasit system on and we got the locker space back.

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[vwalan]

be far better if folk buying new m,homes made the converters fit gas bottle lockers big enough to take two 19kg bottles . https://gasdeal.co.uk/product/19kg-propane-gas-cylinder/
even with the deposit gotta be a bargain .

 

[Alistair33]

Also consider alugas, very light weight, fitted by autogas 200

 

[Just smiffy]

Welcome.....

I think the ladies avatar speak volumes on what the Motorhome is going to be used for....

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[Just smiffy]

Ohh,.... and refillables....

 

[Ivory55]

If the van you buy has a gas bottle with it , use them first and see how it goes. Some use lots of gas other use less.

 

[Jo662]

I would go for refillables everytime.Saves taking out heavy bottles,then taking them to calor stockist to exchange for full
bottles.So much easier just to fill at lpg garage.
We have Gaslow,but all refillable manufacturers are good.
Depends which company has the best deal at the time!

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[Stewart J]

Refillable probably the best things we have bought for any van. They are now in their third one having been transferred every time we changed.

 

[Stewart J]

Should add they are Alugas (Aluminium) as payload was an issue with our first van

 

[MattR]

I like having ours - we can top up whenever we need to and don't worry about trying to find compatible bottles when we are in Europe. However, we are planning to keep our mh for many more years so the payback is likely to be worthwhile for convenience but it will take longer for the price of bottled vs fill up gas to cover the cost of our setup (approx £230 for 2 second hand bottles, automatic switchover valve, hoses and fill up point plus European adaptors) plus my labour.

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[vwalan]

I like having ours - we can top up whenever we need to and don't worry about trying to find compatible bottles when we are in Europe. However, we are planning to keep our mh for many more years so the payback is likely to be worthwhile for convenience but it will take longer for the price of bottled vs fill up gas to cover the cost of our setup (approx £230 for 2 second hand bottles, automatic switchover valve, hoses and fill up point plus European adaptors) plus my labour.

remember if going abroad many countries its cheaper to swap their bottles than use autogas. some filling with autogas isnt available . morocco is one of them . but bottles are so cheap.
really it does depend on your m,home use.
i say avoid calor bottles thats a saving . i can make a 19 kg bottle last about 6 weeksor more if i want to . but normally its a spare . 12kg spanish i use 4 bottles in six months and about half my flogas 19 kg . could strech the flogas further but i really only use it as back up. . leave spain with a full bottle that lasts the summer weekend use . i do use the flogas in the house with a caravan fire just to use it up before going away. . with bigger bottles changing to the so called refillables would take a lifetime .

 

[EX51SSS]

be far better if folk buying new m,homes made the converters fit gas bottle lockers big enough to take two 19kg bottles .

The problem is there is that it's not just the locker size that's the issue. The bigger space made available in a locker, you have to lose in that area above the locker. If the cylinder space available is increased by say 6", then 6" of habitation space is forfeited.
You're not just able increase locker space without losing space elsewhere.
In our case, it did take a few years to justify the cost of refillable cylinders but without a doubt it is the best addition we've ever made to the Moho.

 

[SKI Mobile]

Thanks guys! A lot to consider there. We will investigate Alugas as we live very near Autogas 2000. Thanks for the suggestion.

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[vwalan]

The problem is there is that it's not just the locker size that's the issue. The bigger space made available in a locker, you have to lose in that area above the locker. If the cylinder space available is increased by say 6", then 6" of habitation space is forfeited.
You're not just able increase locker space without losing space elsewhere.
In our case, it did take a few years to justify the cost of refillable cylinders but without a doubt it is the best addition we've ever made to the Moho.

i know i used to build vw campers for a living .
but many of the larger m,homes could have larger gas lockers .
i have been with many that only can fit the silly german bottles .
its really upto the customer . if they keep buying the converters keep making . even 15kg are a far better buy than the little bottles .
we have choices . make the choice a little less room and less room in your wallet or more room and an empty wallet?
every year just lately i meet uk folk having trouble with the refillable bottles . one friend is on his third set of a well known make they just keep playing up. he does fulltime so uses them alot .
but back to choices . your happy with yours thats ok.

 

[Chris Laing]

Just in case you haven't made up your mind yet. We asked all the same questions about gas tanks as well.

In the end when we picked up our motorhome we had 2 x 6kg lightweight calor tanks fitted.
Since April we have had 4 weekends away and also a 2 week trip to Germany.

We are only half way through our first 6kg calor bottle. Im beginning to wonder when it will run out so i can change it over

 

[sdc77]

Being thrifty with gas is fair enough when it's warm. But when you need plenty of gas for heating and drying then you need gas and plenty of it. In such places .. ski resorts and the like ... autogas is readily available.

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[musson]

Fitted 11kg gasit external filler 175 del with adaptor for standard hose,did this to give bit more room in the locker and save a bit on gas cost

 

[EX51SSS]

i know i used to build vw campers for a living .
but many of the larger m,homes could have larger gas lockers .
i have been with many that only can fit the silly german bottles .
its really upto the customer . if they keep buying the converters keep making . even 15kg are a far better buy than the little bottles .
we have choices . make the choice a little less room and less room in your wallet or more room and an empty wallet?
every year just lately i meet uk folk having trouble with the refillable bottles . one friend is on his third set of a well known make they just keep playing up. he does fulltime so uses them alot .
but back to choices . your happy with yours thats ok.

Well I've never had a problem with refillable cylinders and never met anyone that's had a problem with refillable cylinders, in fact more people get gassed than have refillable cylinder problems and actually, and you'll no doubt prove me wrong, but except for the guages, I've never seen a thread on here concerning problems with refillable cylinders but hey, perhaps you on on a planet that does have problems with refillable cylinders but here on earth, we don't

 

[Easyliving]

We have twin 6kg Gaslow cylinders fitted and find they are much better than having to lug Calor cylinders about.

When it comes to cost, Funsters Adam and Sophie created a spreadsheet a while ago you can download from this page, using it you can work out when you are liable to break even and start saving money by having refillable cylinders.

Paul

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[vwalan]

Well I've never had a problem with refillable cylinders and never met anyone that's had a problem with refillable cylinders, in fact more people get gassed than have refillable cylinder problems and actually, and you'll no doubt prove me wrong, but except for the guages, I've never seen a thread on here concerning problems with refillable cylinders but hey, perhaps you on on a planet that does have problems with refillable cylinders but here on earth, we don't

strangely enough read the threads today or yesterday.
over the years there as been several problems with them discussed on here . and jims other sites .
but never mind . your happy with yours so thats ok.

 

[EX51SSS]

strangely enough read the threads today or yesterday.
over the years there as been several problems with them discussed on here . and jims other sites .
but never mind . your happy with yours so thats ok.

To be absolutely honest, the refillable cylinders (ours is Gaslow and other systems are available) are, without a doubt the best addition to our Moho that we've ever had. It's give us more freedom and ability to refill in any country we travel in.
Just before our last excursion, SWMBO thought she could smell gas so I got over to Phil at Rhino Installs and he pressure tested and leak detection and it was perfect. (think it was the grey waste pong after dumping). He does our habitation check annually but this was between checks and no leaks or no loss in pressure and, thank you Phil, no charge.

 

[TerryL]

Refillable (Gaslow) was the first extra we fitted to our van and, like many others have said, was probably the best thing we've ever done (apart from buying the van itself of course). Never had a problem and even in Morocco, where you cannot refill, the use of an adapter and an external bottle got us through - we've only got room for 2x6kg bottles. Initial cost has more than been recovered, although that wasn't a factor when we installed it.

If ever we decided to change our van I would seriously consider an underslung tank, basically to give us extra capacity, but the spare locker space would come in handy too.

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[Lenny HB]

2 x 14kg refillables in ours would never even consider using exchange bottles far too much hassle. It's not about cost all about convienance and not putting your back out.

 

[Raybreck]

2 x 14kg refillables in ours would never even consider using exchange bottles far too much hassle. It's not about cost all about convienance and not putting your back out.

As Lenny has said,it's not necessarily about money. We have just had gaslow installed and it's the convenience. In my case the saving bit is saving my back from lifting 11kg bottle in and out.
Ray

 

[Zepp]

We had gaslow on the old van we switched to Alugas on the new van both systems are very good and so easy to use