Gas Bottles. This is the question, should one install a refillable system, or not?

[Claris]

I am about to take delivery of my first motorhome, in which I hope to spend extended time touring in Europe. I think I. Have convinced myself that a refillable gas bottle system is the way to go. I have the following queries. Are the refillable bottles/ fittings interchangeable? Can you have a large refillable bottle i.e 11/13 kg and a standard calor bottle? Which system is best? gas it is cheaper than gaslow, and Alugas is lighter in weight. Thoughts advice please. The list of things I think I need/want is growing by the hour! Any other advice gratefully received. TIA

 

[irnbru]

You need a few adapters for the refillable bottles in Europe but refillable save you a fortune rather than exchanging bottles. Welcome to fun.

 

[Stonemags76]

We have a tank that was standard fit, but if I were you, I would go for one refillable, & one Calor. LPG is plentiful in Europe, & once you have your adapters, it is cheap & easy! However, LPG in the UK is becoming less easy to get, so having a Calor bottle to exchange, whilst much more expensive, may help you out on occasions. Best of both worlds! Oh, & welcome!

 

[Solwaybuggier]

Can you have a large refillable bottle i.e 11/13 kg and a standard calor bottle?

Yes - we have had this set up for years. The only thing to watch if, like us, you run on the refillable bottle with the calories just as a back up for if you run out on the gaslow, is to make sure you don't run the calor out eventually, or maybe too old.

 

[Geistguy]

We had one Gasit 11kg bottle fitted in tandem with 13kg Calor plus auto change over. We live in northern Scotland but with planning and top ups whenever possible we've never used the Calor. A range of adaptors for all European countries is readily available.

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[cmcardle75]

I am about to take delivery of my first motorhome, in which I hope to spend extended time touring in Europe. I think I. Have convinced myself that a refillable gas bottle system is the way to go. I have the following queries. Are the refillable bottles/ fittings interchangeable? Can you have a large refillable bottle i.e 11/13 kg and a standard calor bottle? Which system is best? gas it is cheaper than gaslow, and Alugas is lighter in weight. Thoughts advice please. The list of things I think I need/want is growing by the hour! Any other advice gratefully received. TIA

You might also consider an underslung tank. It would be slightly more expensive (and options will vary according to your chassis design). However, it means your gas locker can be used as a handy storage unit for your outside gear.

 

[Otter Spotter]

Or you could forget gas and buy a Wallas XCduo runs off your diesel tank, warms van and 2 burner hob, saves space and weight and you don’t have to chase about looking for gas

 

[Sapper520]

We picked up our first Motor home in September. After a lot of research we got the dealer to fit 2 x 11kgs Gaslow refillable system, with auto change and exterior filler.

Not had too much use, but very pleased and easy to refill from a garage pump.

 

[Brains]

Our very first trip, straight from the dealers forecourt with our 'new' M/H was to VanBitz in Taunton (no, they were not anywhere near us either, but the best place in southern England)

We had Four priorities to get fitted before we even took it home
Get an alarm fitted
Get a tracker fitted
Get a solar panel fitted
Get refillable gas fitted

All were done in a single day by eddievanbitz

On Gas we went belt and braces, we kept one of the Calor Gas bottles and replaced the other with a refillable GasLow bottle and external filler point.
I figured in the UK we can use Calor and swap it over once a year or so, and when in the EU we use the gaslow and keep the Calor as backup

At any point if we want I can simply swap the Calor for another GasLow bottle (So I'll be keeping my eyes on the Classified for a cheap 2nd hand GasLow bottle at some point that can live at the back of the shed until we need it.
GasLow bottles have a 10 year 'life'

 

[Stealaway]

Have a look at Safefill --

Safefill | Safe and easy to refill LPG Gas Cylinders

Safefill LPG Gas

www.safefill.co.uk

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[kevenh]

How often are you travelling in the motorhome & using gas?
Is your Gas for hot water, cooking and heating?
Are you UK or EU travelling (or further )

refillable {may soon} save you a fortune rather than exchanging bottles.

^^ over time and based on usage.
Our MH is Calor only and we avoided the Calor Gas Rental charge by using Facebook to find someone's unwanted 7kg butane bottle that we could exchange for a full 6kg propane Calor bottle locally too.

If you do want refillable for how you're using your MH and the initial ££ outlay suits, then refillable is simpler to manage.

For e.g. I took a 1/5th empty gas bottle around the UK all summer waiting for it to run out so I could switch to a spare bottle I had ready.
It didn't run out until the last day before coming home.
But if that was winter we'd of run out much earlier (we are gas heating/HW/Cooking).
With refillable you can keep bottles topped up when you see a supplier.

 

[the1andonly]

In your opening post you already have the answers. What you buy is dependent on your priorities. My view was 1 gaslow 1 calor bottles gasit fill system pipes (cheapest method).
If payload is an issue go with alugas (start with 1) dont pay a calor rental.. I use manual switch over not auto. I also use mopeka level system to monotor usage. For belt and braces fit a bbq point and then an additional bottle with regulator can be fitted (calor or foreign). A pipe is also available from gaslow gasit to use a "calor" connected to the refillable connection point.

 

[Sixty-nine Chevy]

We had a Gaslow system fitted before we collected out PVC and it has been brilliant. In addition to the considerable savings on running costs, a major benefit is really being able to forget about the gas for weeks at a time. Our gauge is not much good, but as we can run for well more than a month between refilling this isn't a problem.

 

[tonyidle]

An advantage of refillable that's not often considered is that it removes the need to handle heavy bottles.

 

[Spriddler]

I am about to take delivery of my first motorhome, ...........The list of things I think I need/want is growing by the hour! Any other advice gratefully received. TIA

Don't rush. Get the basics first and discover what you actually need. There are sheds all over Europe filled with essential stuff that folk have found they never needed.

I only tour abroad and installed one 6kg Gaslow refillable and one Calor exchangeable, both permanently connected but with manual changeover (I simply shut the refillable's tap and open the Calor's tap) because I want to know if the refillable has emptied. I have not yet had to change to the Calor as abroad I'm on the road every two or three days and can top up the refillable with as little or as much as is needed to fill it, and at so many places.

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[Peppadog]

Or you could forget gas and buy a Wallas XCduo runs off your diesel tank, warms van and 2 burner hob, saves space and weight and you don’t have to chase about looking for gas

Sorry. I would not recommend this unit as hob and heater as a replacement to a gas hob/oven plus Truma, or similar air/water heater.
I fitted one in my boat a few years back. They are good quality units and very well made. Plus the unit is an insulated glass hob which, when you lower the lid, becomes a fan assisted air blower heater. Exhaust is routed to an external vent. So no gas or flame inside the boat/van. The down side is, it takes a while for the hob to get up to temperature. So not ideal for a quick cuppa! The heater is powerful, but is a single point of heat at waist height. So the floor area never really gets warm.
I would fit one in a camper van that is primarily for summer use, but only to save space.

When I replaced the boat with a bigger one, I had a gas hob and oven fitted. Together with a multi-vent Eberspacher diesel blown air heater.

 

[Spriddler]

Or you could forget gas and buy a Wallas XCduo runs off your diesel tank, warms van and 2 burner hob, saves space and weight and you don’t have to chase about looking for gas

Except to run the fridge if not on hook-up?

 

[seamus62]

Anyone able to give a ball park cost for adding a refillable setup?

 

[Spriddler]

Anyone able to give a ball park cost for adding a refillable setup?

The Gaslow website will give you a price for complete kits, without installation of course. I fitted my system in under an hour. Apart from drilling the hole for the filler it was no more difficult than changing a Calor cylinder.

<Broken link removed>

 

[Otter Spotter]

Peppadog
Sorry I beg to differ, I have one fitted in my 6m PVC and I have timed it from cold to increase room temp by 15 degrees, 16 minutes and if your van is insulated properly then the warm air does circulate and you do not get cold feet. Ref. Fridge, I have Electric only fridge which works off battery or EHU and my solar panel more than keeps on top of the fridge consumption.
not sure if boats are insulated to the same level as a 4 season PVC so maybe not the best example. Anyway each to their own.

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[AndyPK]

No info about gas, but welcome from Ciren!

 

[two]

Welcome!

You can mix bottles.

Refillable systems are not cheap. Their cost could buy a lot of gas, so you may not make a saving (if that was your reason for going that way). If you only go to Europe in Summer, you should not need to refill whilst away. The main benefit of refillable is that you don’t need to empty before refilling and you can refill almost anywhere (whereas you cannot exchange Calor abroad). All systems, except underslung, are easy to transfer to another van but they do have finite life (10-15 yrs).

So only get one refillable cylinder, if at all. You may prefer to get a light one (SafeFill or AluGas) to save on payload (and gain another benefit).

 

[New Street]

The maker of my soon to be delivered German moho don't offer refillable as an option. Their point being - keep it simple.

 

[Lenny HB]

The maker of my soon to be delivered German moho don't offer refillable as an option. Their point being - keep it simple.

Very few manufacturers fit refillable even as an option.

 

[two]

As far as I'm aware, manufacturers don't provide anything. Dealers may, however.

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[TerryL]

I use two 6kg Gaslows, only because anything bigger won't fit the locker and at the time I'd only heard about Gaslow. I don't have an autochanger as there's too much chance of me emptying BOTH bottles before realising I'm out of gas. Use one until it's empty, change over and look for a refill over the next few days at leisure. As most of our touring is abroad I don't see the point of carrying something I can't fully use and it's too much fuss changing over to "local" bottles. Never had problems finding refills anywhere (except Morocco but that's another story) and I've calculated that the savings against bottled gas have paid for the system many times over. Plus of course the convenience.

Only downside to my method is it usually runs out in the middle of the night in a rainstorm.....................

Refillable, every time but I'd avoid Safefill as a lot of places won't let you refill that type, or so I've read about.

 

[Stealaway]

Refillable, every time but I'd avoid Safefill as a lot of places won't let you refill that type, or so I've read about.

It took me a while to choose Safefill but I love the super light weight cylinders
There is no problem in the UK as Morrisons have adopted them as the only bottle you can fill with them.
On our last trip to Germany we had no problem at the garages. We also found self service filling stations that are just a LPG tank and dispenser with a credit card reader, so no problem there.
I am still worried a bit about France and them being picky but we will have 40 litres to use up before it becomes a problem.

 

[gpat]

Welcome!

You can mix bottles.

Refillable systems are not cheap. Their cost could buy a lot of gas, so you may not make a saving (if that was your reason for going that way). If you only go to Europe in Summer, you should not need to refill whilst away. The main benefit of refillable is that you don’t need to empty before refilling and you can refill almost anywhere (whereas you cannot exchange Calor abroad). All systems, except underslung, are easy to transfer to another van but they do have finite life (10-15 yrs).

So only get one refillable cylinder, if at all. You may prefer to get a light one (SafeFill or AluGas) to save on payload (and gain another benefit).

Yeah I agree. Get one refillable and use one refillable with a changeover regulator. Best of both worlds.

 

[two]

... avoid Safefill as a lot of places won't let you refill that type, or so I've read about.

I keep hearing that, too, but it's not the case in my experience.
Unless you've left it to the last moment and have become desperate, you should have time to move on to another location at leisure if you're unlucky enough find somewhere that doesn't like them.

A lot of information gets passed about by hearsay, rather than true experience.
The more it's repeated, the more it becomes accepted.
There's a big difference between fact and opinion.

 

[Minxy]

I keep hearing that, too, but it's not the case in my experience.
Unless you've left it to the last moment and have become desperate, you should have time to move on to another location at leisure if you're unlucky enough find somewhere that doesn't like them.

A lot of information gets passed about by hearsay, rather than true experience.
The more it's repeated, the more it becomes accepted.
There's a big difference between fact and opinion.

We've been refused filling of our Gaslow twice, this was when we had an internal filler, having an external filler means we have only once been asked whether it was for 'propulsion' or 'cooking' as that particular garage was extremely picky so when we answered honestly we weren't allowed to fill it. This is one of the reasons why for the last two Globe cars and our current Carthago that I fitted external fillers, I don't think that's possible with Safefill.

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