New Motorhome - Which Gas System - Refillable or Calor (1 Viewer)

JON8H

Free Member
Apr 12, 2021
40
22
Broadstairs, UK
Funster No
80,358
MH
A Class
Exp
2006
Hi - Seeking Help & Guidance

I am about to take delivery of a new Motorhome and am not sure what Gas system to use. I.e. Refillable or Calor Gas?

We do (did) go to the continent and have spent time in Spain and France but going forwards I would hope we will be able to go to other countries in Europe. Up to a maximum of 3 weeks aways though hopefully longer in the future as I have now retired. Most of our time is spent on campsites hooked up to mains electric, but we do occasionly stop on the roadside on the way to camp sites. Any gas system would need to be usable in the UK and Europe.

I have always opted for Calor Gas and traveled with at least one full bottle.

But the new Motorhome has nothing in it at the moment except a regulator. So which way to go? What are the benefits of each? Any help you can give us would be great fully appreciated, including recommendations on which refillable system to use, if that is the right way to go.

Jon
 

Derbyshire wanderer

LIFE MEMBER
Mar 30, 2014
1,269
2,366
Derbyshire
Funster No
30,753
MH
C class
Exp
15 years
I prefer to have an underslung tank with a fill connection in the side skirt.
It is the equivalent to almost 4 of the 6kg bottles so can last far longer than most bottle cupboards can hold ( mine co only fit 2 of the 6kg ones).
Top up wherever passing a station that sells it and carry adapters for European suppliers.
No hassle of lifting and swapping the cylinders
No having to change a bottle at dinner time/night time/bad weather time.
No need to swap a cylinder with some gas left or carry one almost empty knowing it will need changing soon.
Fill up at a fraction of the cost of Calor bottles
Refillable bottles have some of the above benefits but with a underslung tank you also win a storage cupboard back.
 
Jan 8, 2013
8,478
11,516
Dronfield - Derbyshire
Funster No
24,202
MH
Burstner Lyseo 690G
Exp
Happy FLT since 2011
It is a big investment to opt for refillable bottles.- £350 +
But.
A 13kg bottle will hold 22 ltr of gas at a average cost of £35. My Safefill bottles hold 19 ltr and an average cost of £10 to refill. You can easily see you will soon recoup the investment.
Refill station's are even more easily found in Europe
 

John H.

Free Member
Apr 2, 2021
181
104
Funster No
80,147
MH
Hymer 578
Exp
A long time
Safefill is the way to go.

Your van looks big enough to take two 19 litre Safefill bottles. They use the same fittings as Calor.

You can refill anywhere that sells LPG (although you need to bear in mind that many places do not like any refillable systems)

The bottles a light weight, so easy to handle even when full.
You can buy a regulator with two bottle connections for ease of changeover (or even run with two on at once)
You can refill half empty bottles.
You can see the LPG liquid in the bottles, so no need to guess how much is left.
Fill up at a fraction of the cost of Calor.

Subscribers  do not see these advertisements

 
  • Like
Reactions: f6c

Sapper520

Free Member
Jan 22, 2020
2,879
4,504
North Somerset
Funster No
68,245
MH
No longer own one
Exp
September 2020
We’ve got 2 x 11kgs exterior refillable Gaslow canisters, with auto changeover……..works well for us. (y)

CC306AFA-9508-4841-9384-5C4FED10AA51.jpeg
 
Oct 12, 2009
10,441
23,289
SW London, Poland and all Europe
Funster No
8,876
MH
A Class N+B Arto 69GL
Exp
Since 2009
Not an answer to the OP's question exactly, but we have a Gaslow 11kg re-fillable, plus a 11kg Calor we inherited with the MH, which we have kept as a reserve but never used to date.

We have had two occasions when we could not re-fill the Gaslow: firstly after some time in the Pyrenees the Gaslow was almost empty but we were going down the valley to go up the next valley so found a station.

Secondly, is this last week; the MH is on a Greek island which has no LPG and no re-filling station(all exchange bottles arrive on the island full and leave empty). The Gaslow is near empty and when we return to the island for two weeks we shall have to rely on the Calor. If we stayed longer it would be a case of dumping the Calor and buying a local cylinder which we would probably have to dump somewhere in Europe, as exchangeables are not usually accepted in other countries. One EU?

This is just information for people going to such areas, but for 12 years the Gaslow has been adequate but for these two areas and the reserve Calor not touched.

Geoff
 
Jun 24, 2020
143
183
Funster No
72,177
MH
Benimar
Exp
2013
I live in france, and have been checked several times when filling.
If I was you I would go for a fitted system to save hassle when touring abroad.

Subscribers  do not see these advertisements

 
Jul 6, 2009
1,747
2,094
Funster No
7,383
We have a underslung tank also have a fitting ‘T’ with a blanking cap on it so no open ends. If we need extra gas such as in the winter we just connect a bottle from whoever supplier is local. Also have noticed in the UK lpg stations are getting a bit thin on the ground in some areas.
 
  • Like
Reactions: f6c
Jan 27, 2018
2,650
2,087
Northampton
Funster No
52,151
MH
Rapido & Bongone
I have 1 gaslow 11kg and carry one calor 6/7kg bottle with fittings for both butane and propane. I also have a bbq point that i could attach a foreign bottle & regulator at a push. I am currently using a butane bottle that i bought for my folding camper and has been in the garage for 4 years. (Useful in this time of poor availability) i also have mopeka sensors to monitor levels in each bottle (can be used with specifing butane propane ratio as well)
 
Apr 22, 2018
6,779
12,489
Herts.
Funster No
53,503
MH
Adria Coral lowline
The big advantage to refillable bottles/system is the ability to “top up” if you go with calor then you either start your trip with less than 100% full, and hope you have enough, or, swap a calor gas whic has some gas in it for a full one, wasting, what is expensive gas. Also if you are on calor, and with to travel for long periods then you can only use what you are willing to carry, unless you start to buy local bottles, and swap around pipe work carrying around an empty bottle to bring home.

Another great advantage to use was that our van was designed to have twin 6kg btls, and so not enough room for the next size up. But refillables come in different sizes, so we could then go to twin 11kgs of gas, so practically doubled the amount of gas we can carry

Subscribers  do not see these advertisements

 
Apr 22, 2018
6,779
12,489
Herts.
Funster No
53,503
MH
Adria Coral lowline
I don’t understand why people have one refillable and one calor. When do you use which?
 

two

Aug 4, 2011
4,901
4,560
West Midlands
Funster No
17,624
MH
A-Class Fiat
The main advantage of refillable cylinders is that you can always set off with a known quantity of gas and don't need to wait for a cylinder to be empty (or almost empty) before refilling. You can also get adaptors so that you can fill in any country.
I use SafeFill because they are light and fairly cheap, and easy to re-sell. There are loads of folk who will say you cannot fill them at some stations but I think that is largely hearsay than personal experience. With good management, you should never find yourself desperate for gas so, if you are turned away, just move on and find another garage.
 
Jan 27, 2018
2,650
2,087
Northampton
Funster No
52,151
MH
Rapido & Bongone
I don’t understand why people have one refillable and one calor. When do you use which?
The primary purpose is backup/ and a dual system is a large initial outlay. In my case i had a number of unused calor to use. The prime use would be autogas and never use the backup, the idea to never run out of gas.
 

Steve and Denise

LIFE MEMBER
Sep 26, 2011
5,253
13,957
Spalding LINCS
Funster No
18,300
MH
A Class Carthago
Exp
Since 2008
Gaslow two x11kgs plus 1x 10kgs Safefill if needed best off all situations👍 I would never buy calor absolute rip off 🙂

Subscribers  do not see these advertisements

 
Jun 15, 2010
183
45
glasgow
Funster No
12,104
MH
banger autotrail
Exp
1979
you can get an adaptor for normal gas bottle £20 to refil they done it in portugal when i was 30 years old i am now nearly deed
 
Dec 10, 2013
3,420
11,960
South Staffs
Funster No
29,333
MH
Pilote P740GJ
Exp
Since 2013
Alugas, two x 11kgs. I had them fitted to our last Motorhome which had 13kgs exchangeable bottles fitted and I didn’t want to be mauling bottles about with my bad back.
Had them swapped over when we changed our Motorhome.

Subscribers  do not see these advertisements

 

Abacist

LIFE MEMBER
Oct 15, 2013
3,649
10,042
Devon
Funster No
28,581
MH
N & B Tag Axle
Exp
since 2013
We have had mains fridge problems for some time which means we rely more on gas and therefore use more. I would not be without our GASIT refillable system of 2 11 Kgs cylinders
 
OP
OP
JON8H

JON8H

Free Member
Apr 12, 2021
40
22
Broadstairs, UK
Funster No
80,358
MH
A Class
Exp
2006
I prefer to have an underslung tank with a fill connection in the side skirt.
It is the equivalent to almost 4 of the 6kg bottles so can last far longer than most bottle cupboards can hold ( mine co only fit 2 of the 6kg ones).
Top up wherever passing a station that sells it and carry adapters for European suppliers.
No hassle of lifting and swapping the cylinders
No having to change a bottle at dinner time/night time/bad weather time.
No need to swap a cylinder with some gas left or carry one almost empty knowing it will need changing soon.
Fill up at a fraction of the cost of Calor bottles
Refillable bottles have some of the above benefits but with a underslung tank you also win a storage cupboard back.
Hi - Who makes / fits this type of system?
 

DuxDeluxe

LIFE MEMBER
Jul 10, 2008
14,628
72,247
Planet Zog
Funster No
3,243
MH
A woosh bang van
Exp
since 2008

ChrisB564

Free Member
Mar 27, 2021
5
10
Funster No
80,014
MH
A Class
As above Autogas 2000 did ours.
Another thumbs up for the guys at Autogas. Very professional and lovely people. I drove to Thirsk after buying my home in Lincoln. They even have a hookup so that you can stay overnight. Nice area to visit as well. They also gave me a 5% discount for being a funster.
 
Jan 19, 2014
9,322
24,581
Derbyshire
Funster No
29,757
MH
Elddis Accordo 105
Exp
since 2014
Our van got delayed by a month so the dealer put 2 x 6kg refillable bottles in for us free 🤩
Very handy if you have a 3 way fridge, we can stay off grid for 4 weeks in Spain, probably more in the UK.

Subscribers  do not see these advertisements

 

Join us or log in to post a reply.

To join in you must be a member of MotorhomeFun

Join MotorhomeFun

Join us, it quick and easy!

Log in

Already a member? Log in here.

Latest journal entries

Funsters who are viewing this thread

Back
Top