The BIG Calor Gas Rip Off (1 Viewer)

[Zigisla]

you did invite it

I think there are more litres than kg's or vice versa, seem to think 6kg is 12 litres

Not sure whether that makes your sums better or worse, just wrong

edit - and your garage is ripping folk off, Calor say £20.25



stick with the convenience benefit, it always works

But Calor Charge £5:00 delivery making £24:99 cheaper

 

[bigtree]

Swapped my Cepsa butane bottle for 16.5€ somewhere before Burgos.And got my Alugas topped up at a Repsol garage by the attendant that didn't bat an eyelid about it being an internal fill point

 

[Poohbear]

Liquid propane has a specific gravity of 0.495 at 25 degC so therefore 1 litre weighs 0.495kg. Therefore a 6kg = 12.1 litres and an 11kg = 22.2 litres

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[magicsurfbus]

The main Calor rip off in my opinion is the non-refundable deposit that you pay on the gas bottle.

The only way to get some of it back is flog the empty bottle online, which is technically a breach of Calor's T&Cs. Sod that - if I can get a tenner back on it I will.

 

[stevec]

I was quoted £360 by the gasit guy at Peterborough show ,for two 11kg bottles

But you probably only need one bottle, so installation cost is cheaper. I'm only going for one. But like others I'll have a Calorlite 6kg as backup until I'm confident of being able to fill up when I need to.

 

[Bobby22]

you did invite it

I think there are more litres than kg's or vice versa, seem to think 6kg is 12 litres

Not sure whether that makes your sums better or worse, just wrong

edit - and your garage is ripping folk off, Calor say £20.25



stick with the convenience benefit, it always works

Don't forget refillable systems only fill to 80%.....mind and put that in your calculations

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[vwalan]

but a refillable filled is already allowing for the 80% you put in 11kg or what ever bottle size it is .

 

[Emmit]

Do you have a "Rental Charge" to pay on your first bottle?

We got our Flogas bottle delivered to the door last year and they only charged for the gas.
Got it on a deal from these people;
https://www.facebook.com/Alfresco-Gas-Direct-191253821031517/

And, although they're in Cheshire, they deliver countrywide.

 

[mitzimad]

we went for a tank under the van as it freed up space in the van and no strugling with bottles

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[PeteH]

Flogas used to retail at Domestic rates. at one time I was getting it a 27p/litre. for my R-V tank. They stopped doing it though. BTW. I heard a rumour that some Jewson branches have a deal with Calor? and if you know the Caravan Club`s code. It come out at a discount alleged to be of the order of 20%.? Anyone confirm or otherwise?

Pete

 

[movan]

Have you any idea if go outdoors sell calorlite refills please ? .Roy

Always phone up before going. They always seem to run out of the calorlite round here.

Also as i am always cold and have the heaters on I think my system will pay for itself in two years maximum.

 

[Autowbars]

Calor LITES been in short supply for over a year after a cylinder recall.
The deposit has a sliding scale of refund, up to 70% but you need your original paperwork
Our 13kg propane is £27 exchange if any folk around nearby wants one

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[Minxy]

We originally installed a single 11kg Gaslow refillable system in July 2009; we got it purely for ease and convenience and, as we were going abroad for longer periods, to reduce the worry of running out, however it was worth every penny when in 2010 we bought a Chausson MH that could only take one cylinder in the gas locker (!) so then it was a necessity anyway!

I've had a shuftie at our usage figures to 'payback' point - from 1 July 2009 to October 2014 our total gas usage/costs were as stated below compared to the cost for 2 x Calor cylinders (we'd have needed 2 to avoid running out):

Gaslow:
£240 = Cost our our Gaslow 11kg cylinder including pipes etc
£177 = Cost of refilling cylinder (approx 250 litres)
£417

Calor:
£ 70 = Cost of 13 kg & 7kg Calor cylinder rentals, pipes, regulators etc
£350 = Cost of exchange cylinders (assuming they were totally empty at the time)
£420
​

So by October 2014 we were already in the 'black' being £3 in credit.

Since 2009 to date the total figures are:

Gaslow:
£240 = Cost our our Gaslow 11kg cylinder including pipes etc
£235 = Cost of refilling cylinder (approx 349 litres)
£475

Calor:
£ 70 = Cost of 13 kg & 7kg Calor cylinder rentals, pipes, regulators etc
£478 = Cost of exchange cylinders (assuming they were totally empty at the time)
£548​

= £73 'in credit'

However, as we do a lot of wild camping and also went to Spain and Portugal for the first time last year where LPG was not quite as widely available (we do everything on gas: cooker, fridge, hab heating & water heating so use a fair bit), we wanted to have a bit of 'back-up' to the 11kg cylinder just in case, so bought a new 6kg Gaslow cylinder (very cheap ) & pipes to increase our gas supply. This addition cost £77 making a total outlay to date of £552 so we're now £4 in deficit in real terms. If we find we don't need/use the second cylinder we can always sell it but even allowing for it, when we next top up by approx 8 litres we'll be back in credit again!

 

[busby]

Possibly but I always thought that the whole metric system was 1kg of gas equals one liter ????

Anyhow I've made my mind up to go refill

Of water...i think..BUSBY,,

 

[ianandkath]

going to refill my tank on friday, £0.38p /litre from preston

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[Jo662]

The only reason we had Gaslow fitted was the convienience to fill while abroad,and not
to be worried we would run out.The only worry now is if we cant fill them in the UK
because garages stop selling LPG!

 

[Jaws]

We use 11kg bottle in 2 weeks near as dammit.. ( Woman does like the heating up ! )

We refill about 18 rimes a year.. Price fluctuates but lets average it as 60p..
A fill is usually around the 17 litre mark
18 x £0.60 x 17 = £183.60
I fitted the system myself ( Alugas ) in the Miller some 7 years ago at a cost of £180
When we swapped vans I removed it and fitted it in the new one..
So lets times that £183.60 by 7 years which comes out at £1285.20
Add the original cost gives a total of £1465.20

If I had used bottled gas ( taking an average over the years of say £21 ? ) the gas would have set us back £2646

That works out to an average yearly saving of £168 and change..

If you use your van a reasonable amount of time then refillable really does make sense..
Of course if you spend countless thousands to admire a motorhome sitting on a drive then a bottle or two a year is just fine !

 

[PeteH]

Has Anyone fitted an underfloor tank under a Fiat / Alko chassis. and if so any piccies?.

Pete

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[vin0114]

Do you have a "Rental Charge" to pay on your first bottle?

Yes. I got a calor 6k propane refill there yesterday for £16.80 and asked about getting another bottle from them and they wanted £30 plus £16.80 for the fill. Things have changed there since refills were £12 and additional filled bottles were also £12. next time I go I will be swapping a 6k for an 11k bottle.

 

[Mikeco]

I have an empty Calor 13kg bottle behind the garage somewhere free to anyone who will collect it from near Market Rasen

 

[XRN]

going to refill my tank on friday, £0.38p /litre from preston

Where in Preston are you filling up?

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[Huwmari]

Just refilled one of my 13kg Gaslow bottles at a motorway services in France - Total cost £12

To buy a similar size refill in UK £38

That's a saving £26 on one bottle !!!

Has anyone worked out the break even point for a refillable system?

I reckon about 10 refills would cover the cost of a Gasit system

Convenience alone makes it worth using a refillable system but the fact that it pays for itself many times over just adds to the pleasure.

 

[Antonio]

When I got the van it had a gaslow bottle and an 11kg flowgas bottle. I wanted to keep this system as I hope to get to Spain in winter for a few months and where I plan to go there is no LPG near. I have the adapters and can pick up a Repsol bottle cheap. The flogas ran out in the lakes and the nearest place to get one was Barrow. After a 20 mile detour they didn,t have one. I decided to get a 13kg calor as you can get it any where. The guy at the shop in west Yorkshire just charged me for the bottle deposit and gave me the gas! Bless him.

 

[wizzer59]

I wonder what percentage of bottles get exchanged when they're still partially full?

Not from me, I don't change till stuff stops heating or cooling

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[Theonlysue]

Everybodies gas usage is different. At a weekend meet in the coldest UK weather, with heating on especially, I could use an 11 kg bottle.
Having refillable means I can have the van as hot as I like. Was 24 inside when minus 11 outside lol

 

[Emmit]

When I got the van it had a gaslow bottle and an 11kg flowgas bottle. I wanted to keep this system as I hope to get to Spain in winter for a few months and where I plan to go there is no LPG near. I have the adapters and can pick up a Repsol bottle cheap. The flogas ran out in the lakes and the nearest place to get one was Barrow. After a 20 mile detour they didn,t have one. I decided to get a 13kg calor as you can get it any where. The guy at the shop in west Yorkshire just charged me for the bottle deposit and gave me the gas! Bless him.

Just for people who don't know what Antonio is talking about when he talks of 'Adaptors', this piece of kit will screw onto the end of a Propane pigtail and what you then have is a threaded 'female' that will fit onto a Jumbo Regulator or adaptor that fits on a Spanish Butane or propane bottle.
It's essential if you don't want to be changing pigtails to accommodate the foreign bottles.
The same adaptor will also work on Intermarche Butane/Propane bottles from France.

 

[colmorangie]

Thanks to you all, we have just changed our 6kg bottle at Go Outdoors and we think we have saved money

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