Refillable gas cylinders - with it for us?

Grianan

Grianan

Joined
Feb 18, 2018
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MH
Globecar Campscout
Exp
Since 2018
I keep wondering ...
We have a Globecar Campscout with 2 x 6kg Calor cylinders.
Unless working patterns change dramatically, for the medium term we are likely to be constrained to 2 x 2 week holidays in Europe plus half a dozen weekends and the odd week away in UK most probably Scotland. We’re unlikely to retire (unless redundancy happens) for another 7 years by which time we will probably have changed or be thinking of changing the van.
What is the ideal set up for this pattern? Not necessarily monetary terms, also convenience.
I think 11kg refillable might also fit ... Blue Knight ?
Options are
- leave as is
- fit 1x11kg (or 6kg if it doesn’t fit) refillable and 1 x 6kg Calor
- fit 2 x 11kg refillable
Any thoughts welcome ..
 
We had 2x11kg Alugas bottles in our Roadcruiser which is the same as yours, I think it’s a no brainier especially if you wild camp or camp without EHU.
As for cost the more you use the more you’ll save.
 
If you are away in Europe just in the summer you may well only need gas for your fridge and boiling a kettle for a brew. So you won't use a lot of gas. I bank on 1litre per day. Worse case scenario is you need a refill towards the end of your second week, therefore 1 refillable bottle should suffice along with 1 calor.
At home or abroad you can then use the refillable first, then switch to the calor when refillable empty and refill that at leisure. At home you can empty the calor, and switch bottles but at circa £22 an exchange bottle compared to £12 or so for same sized refillable, it's a no brainer to go with refillables, it's more convenient also as you can partially refill when the opportunity arises, not when you have to.
 
lorger ... did that work ok if you were touring north of Scotland?

and who fitted your Alugas for you?

thanks
 
We toured Scotland for 3 weeks and ended on a fun meet at one of Irnbru meets using 2x 6kg gaslow refiilables. Found places to refill on Skye and around the N500, had no issues. Plus have swapped them to our next van. Travelled to Germany, France and Spain over 5 to 6 weeks filling as and when. Again no issues.

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You'll definitely get 2 x 11kg refillables in with room to spare, that's what we had in ours. You might get 14kg ones in but the trouble is that in future if you change your camper the new one might not take the taller cylinders so I'd stick with 11kg.

I assume you have a compressor fridge and won't need gas for that so one refillable will probably do with one of your existing 11kg Calor ones as a back-up.

You can see our previous set-up here:

 
lorger said:
Should be the 3 way model in that van
Click to expand...

we definitely have compressor so gas is only for kettle And cooking in the summer/autumn (I do like my brew) but in winter I like to be toasty warm too ...
 
Grianan said:
we definitely have compressor so gas is only for kettle And cooking in the summer/autumn (I do like my brew) but in winter I like to be toasty warm too ...
Click to expand...

Oh I thought the compressor was in the shorter vans due to the door opening, we had the 3 way in ours.
 
If fiscally the saving is 10 per fill?. Then the Cost benefit would be ( at say, £250 to set up) 25 "fills" to break even, after which you are in front. The Convenience factor only really comes in IF you are abroad, at which point exchanging anything but a "local" cylinder is an issue. Eg; in Spain most people with non refillable`s where using Repsol Bottles. Some folk get a bit paranoid about running out of gas, but if you have 2 cylinders it should never happen.

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Grianan said:
lorger ... did that work ok if you were touring north of Scotland?

and who fitted your Alugas for you?

thanks
Click to expand...

Yes was great for winter touring and no need to worry about running out.

I fitted it myself as it’s not to complicated, just measure a few times then drill ??
 
Grianan said:
I keep wondering ...

Options are
- leave as is
- fit 1x11kg (or 6kg if it doesn’t fit) refillable and 1 x 6kg Calor
- fit 2 x 11kg refillable
Any thoughts welcome ..
Click to expand...
We had 1 x 11kg refillable Gas-it bottle fitted in our Rapido V68 van with an external filler point. Professionally installed (on our drive) by the local stockist was circa £270 plus about £20 odd for all the different country connectors.

And we've kept a 6kg Calorlite as an emergency back-up.

Use the van all over the continent for extended periods and the fridge freezer is a 3-way, so can be run on gas. Space heating is also gas. No longer any need to lug gas bottles around, change gas bottles, or having to discard part-full bottles in order to have 2 full Calors for going abroad.

Has worked perfectly for us so far. (y)
 
Minxy Girl said:
You'll definitely get 2 x 11kg refillables in with room to spare, that's what we had in ours. You might get 14kg ones in but the trouble is that in future if you change your camper the new one might not take the taller cylinders so I'd stick with 11kg.

I assume you have a compressor fridge and won't need gas for that so one refillable will probably do with one of your existing 11kg Calor ones as a back-up.

You can see our previous set-up here:

Click to expand...
Listen to Minxy Girl re 11kgs and further possible van changes, sound advice?
 
There were 2 reasons why I fitted refillables. Firstly because we go away to Europe for 5 or 6 weeks at a time. And secondly convenience. Filling up on our journey is so much easier than disconnecting, humping the bottle to the shop, getting another bottle and humping it back, lifting it into our tight gas locker and then reconnecting. I am getting to old for all that bother.
 
lorger said:
Should be the 3 way model in that van
Click to expand...
lorger said:
Oh I thought the compressor was in the shorter vans due to the door opening, we had the 3 way in ours.
Click to expand...
I believe they changed them in 2018 models onward to compressor fridges in all of their PVCs ... IMV a big mistake as we detested the one we had. Obviously they are cheaper to buy and install than a 3-way so I assume that was a big part of their decision to do this.

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You should find the savings are a lot more than £10 per fill, on an 11kg anyway

I recently fitted an 11kg and it cost me £11.94 from empty for 21.5ltrs. Similar size propane bottle from calor is £37.50 or butane is over £40. So we are saving more like £25-30 per fill

Even on a 6kg I think a Calor lite was £26.50, to fill a 6kg would of only cost £5-6 with LPG

We have an 11kg Gasit Plus, and a 6kg calor lite as backup. Worth adding a filter for the sake of £40 to.protect the regulator.

The plus bottle was back on offer last time I looked. And MHFun get 5% off

Do it, you won't look back.
 
My first R-V had 2 x 120litre underslung tanks. 1 domestic 1 Generator. It came empty having been evacuated for shipping. (1995). I remember filling them both up @ 15 pence a litre!. cost? £36. (y)
I think I filled them about twice a year?.

I also had what is known as an "extendastay" Which allowed connection of a standard 40L bottle. Useful if on site for long periods, as when I was doing the self build, at one point I was surrounded by Building materials and could not move it!.
 
When we changed to a motorhome we had Calorlite bottles ,but when they were recalled we decided that refillables were going to be more convenient. Our usage then worked out at 6kg cylinder for 4 weeks.

So we got a 2 x 11kg Gasit system and I fitted the system myself then had a Gas Fitter qualified for motorhomes and caravans do the gas check. I also fitted the External filler near the top of the gas locker door as I find bending difficult being a Spinal Injury Sufferer.

We have last year been away from home on one trip for 108 nights we went with two full tanks 11kg (22L each) We filled up twice 1st time in Luxembourg ( well who wouldn't at 45c a litre) and we put in 23L - which bearing in mind we had travelled from UK to Holland To Germany before getting to Luxembourg over 7 weeks.
We next topped up in France when we found gas at 66c/L so who wouldn't that fill was 10L - yes 6€60 forthe fill up.
We carried on using the gas until the middle of November when we finally filled up with 42L her in the UK at 75p/L
 
Hi Liz, as others have said you'll have no problems in fitting the 2 x 11kg bottles.

We wouldn't be without them now. Not only do we save a fortune on refills but I don't have to break my back on wrestling with heavy cylinders or wondering if I've connected everything properly.

FYI: 2 x 11kg lasts about 32-days in cold weather (heating, showering etc only).

....and you can always take the kit when you when/if you change the van.

Good luck,

Andrew

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If you fit re-fillable gas cylinders yourself, what does that do for your insurance?

Do you/should you inform the insurance company, as you have made a modification to the vehicle, or do you just let it go?

I have fitted a gas-it system myself and, without any gas fitting qualifications, have wondered if I have invalidated my insurance!!!
 
Ok thanks guys ... now we are BOTH convinced that refillable is the way to go ??.

We’re erring towards 2 x 11kg. So a couple more questions ...

- what would the advantage be of 1x11kg plus a spare 6kg Calor over 2x11kg refillable (more interested in functionality over cost tbh)
- from the responses I gather Alugas, Gasit/Gasit Plus and Gaslow are the main options?

thanks for helping our thinking ...
 
Grianan said:
- what would the advantage be of 1x11kg plus a spare 6kg Calor over 2x11kg refillable (more interested in functionality over cost tbh)
Click to expand...
Cost of initial purchase as you'll save the expense of a second cylinder and pipe and if your usage is such that you are unlikely to use all of the refillable's contents then the Calor will simply be a back-up in case of issues or if you do happen to run short. It will, however, mean that you'd need to ensure you regularly top-up your refillable to ensure you use your Calor as little as possible - if you DO end up having to use the Calor then you need to keep a check of how much is likely to be left in it so you don't end up with both running out! Oh, and of course you'll need to attach the Calor* when you want to use it whereas with a twin refillable system you can simply turn off one cylinder and turn on the other, or use an auto or manual changeover etc. (*you may be able to leave it connected too but I've never done it so can't say for sure).

- from the responses I gather Alugas, Gasit/Gasit Plus and Gaslow are the main options?
Click to expand...
Yup - Gas-it and Gaslow tend to be cheaper so if you don't need the lightweight Alugas cylinders you can save a fair bit. You can pick and mix the pipes, connections, fillers etc from different systems to get the best price or type of fittings you want (eg thick rubber or stainless steel pipes, round or square filler).[/QUOTE]
 
JFD said:
If you fit re-fillable gas cylinders yourself, what does that do for your insurance?
Click to expand...

I understand where you’re coming from but surely you don’t inform them every time you change a gas bottle, technically you’re just doing the same thing when fitting new refillable bottles. Just tighten a few pipes and if you fit the filler inside the locker then no alterations to van.
 
JFD said:
If you fit re-fillable gas cylinders yourself, what does that do for your insurance?

Do you/should you inform the insurance company, as you have made a modification to the vehicle, or do you just let it go?

I have fitted a gas-it system myself and, without any gas fitting qualifications, have wondered if I have invalidated my insurance!!!
Click to expand...
did you tell your insurer every time you fitted a new calor cylinder? in principle the same action

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Ok ... from what I’m understanding from info supplied I can’t see us needing 2 x 11kg. I think we’re unlikely to ever move onto the 2nd tank.
So if I just get 1 x 11kg and find I need more capacity can I get another one fitted or is it much cheaper to do it in one go?
 
Grianan said:
Ok ... from what I’m understanding from info supplied I can’t see us needing 2 x 11kg. I think we’re unlikely to ever move onto the 2nd tank.
So if I just get 1 x 11kg and find I need more capacity can I get another one fitted or is it much cheaper to do it in one go?
Click to expand...
Yes you can, there's nothing difficult about fitting the whole lot yourself anyway if you can handle a spanner, drill and screwdriver.
 
Fitting the bottle is just the same as swapping a normal gas bottle

Refillables have a different connector to a calor bottle. But if you get a POL adaptor (£6 from gasit) you don't even need a new pigtail, you can then use the same pipe on your normal spare if you take one.

I went for a stainless pigtail with hand nut on it to make it even easier and pipe lasts longer

The only tricky bit is deciding where and how you are going to place the filler for it. Mine is just inside the locker door, many prefer it mounted externally, either in the side of the van or side skirt.

IMAG1129.jpg
 
Nixdorfer said:
Fitting the bottle is just the same as swapping a normal gas bottle

Refillables have a different connector to a calor bottle. But if you get a POL adaptor (£6 from gasit) you don't even need a new pigtail, you can then use the same pipe on your normal spare if you take one.

I went for a stainless pigtail with hand nut on it to make it even easier and pipe lasts longer

The only tricky bit is deciding where and how you are going to place the filler for it. Mine is just inside the locker door, many prefer it mounted externally, either in the side of the van or side skirt.

View attachment 362778
Click to expand...
That looks a neat installation and Not exposed either. If I was going to make use of mine more (hopefully I will) I would consider Refillable too. As it stands it would probably take 5 years to break even.
 
We mamage four weeks in south of france on one 11 kg alugas without having to fill up removed the second bottle for weight and to fit my blow up canoe in its place

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