Gaslow

biggirafe

Guest
I've seen this discussed in a few threads, could someone please post up the benefits / downsides and costs for having a Gaslow system fitted. It looks expensive to me but the gas is cheaper, given the cost how long does it take to get your money back?

Thanks in advance.
 
I had ours fitted about a year ago in Darlington. Cost me around £250 for a single bottle fitted with a filler cap on the side of the van. Essential for us as we were touring Europe for 3 months this summer. It really is very good. Just pull in and fill up, easy. Also because its so cheap and easy to fill up you dont feel as miserly about using the gas. We go away for say a couple of weeks, run the fridge and hot water on gas all the time, use the oven etc and heating as much as you like. Go to fill it up and its like £6 or £7.

I Think it pays to shop around though as I have heard people paying silly money. Gaslow - dealers I found my nearest dealer here. You can of course fit it yourself if your clever.

Cheers
BD
 
biggirafe said:
I've seen this discussed in a few threads, could someone please post up the benefits / downsides and costs for having a Gaslow system fitted. It looks expensive to me but the gas is cheaper, given the cost how long does it take to get your money back?

Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
I fitted a Gaslow system to our previous van, the main reason was not to save money but the fact that we were planning several long trips abroad.

Having the refillable system meant that we had no worries about getting local cylinders, adapters, regulators etc.

What I did was to just change one of our Calor bottles for a Gaslow one, we ran on the Gaslow one till it ran out, then switched to the Calor and refilled the Gaslow as soon as possible. In three years we never needed to change the Calor bottle.

AndyC
 
I have a single 11kg Gaslow bottle in my van. It was fitted by the dealer when my van was new. So he deducted the cost / rental of 2 Calor Gas bottles.
As it has a float guage in the gas cylinder it is easy to see when it is getting low. Refilling is a doddle and cheap. Also your wife doesn't have to lug the heavy Calor bottles in and out of the gas locker.:D
No problems getting gas in europe either as I have an adapter for French fittings (£8).
The only downside I can see is the cost to purchase in the first place, but if you change your van the Gaslow can be swapped into the new one.
 
Hi, the best thing about Gaslow is you can top the bottle up anytime you want, they have an 80% cut off valve. You can fill up anywhere in europe, the only place we have been where its difficult is Spain, but we fill both bottles in France ( 40lts ) and we are fine, we stay on sites so use more of the electric. When we went to Denmark we never saw LPG but taking to a Danish Couple on our last trip they said you can get it now.:D I would not say it's expensive we started with one bottle and a filler pipe and have since added another bottle. But we had it on the last van 2 years and know got it on this van for the last 6 months, it that time we have had many refills with cheap gas.:eek: And it I put them on Ebay today I would get at least half of my money back.:rolleyes::D And it's all about convenience, how many times have you been going away and took your bottle for exchange and it still has some left in it........:eek: And you don't have to lug bottles about anymore, Money well spent if you ask me.:D Bob.


And as for the Adaptors see this post: :rolleyes:



janeandbob
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Quote:
Originally Posted by vwalan
why bother with gaslow .look on ebay for red gas bottle fillers for about 30 quid. its about 50p a litre for lpg. 1kg =2litres .great bit of kit .buy the adaptors for abroad as well .with the right adaptors you can fill any gas bottle.use it twice or three times with a 19kg bottle and you are in profit already.



Hi, we have just been to Germany for 2 months, and you would not get away with an adaptor there, when you fill up, they come and check you have the proper filler on the outside ( as in Gaslow and the German ones ) before turning the pump on, or fill the lpg for you. when Germans go to fill they check the bottles are fixed with the right bracket, unlike ours with a strap around the bottles, but they never looked in our locker. Bob. :eek:

When I fill an empty 11kg bottle it takes 20.18 lts, so looking at vwalen reply he could get 22lts in a 11kg bottle. Is that 80 % then.:confused:
 
Being a bit selective in our editing dept. are we not?;)
 
all i can say is look at a calor or other type bottle it usually tells you how many litres and kg in a bottle .the pumps should turn off at about 85percent. there is no turn off valve in the bottle its in the pump. if in doubt put less in .you only pay for what you put in . i weigh the bottle if its part full .there is a tare on the bottle should be marked on bottle. usually i wait for it to be empty. then in a 13 kg bottle i pump about 24 litres just to be safe. in some countries where you cant get autogas you have to learn to tip from one bottle to another .or use an lpg pump. i have an american hand pump great in some way off village somewhere. it is possible to connect a normal calor bottle to an outside filler point,just like gaslow. i have a calor tank here it as no 80percent fill float,it as a brass bleed off .you open it while filling gas comes out when liquid comes out turn off. the same devise is fitted to a big tank in my garden supplied by calor. the smaller tank was part of a calor auto gas kit years ago. hope this is of use ,if you dont likethe idea pay for the expensive bottles your choice cheers alan.
 
My twopennorth

We were contemplating equipping our old van with Gaslow, then we changed the van...
We are lucky in having a Gas tank fitted to our chassis.
6 weeks touring and it cost £23 to refill it [not quite empty] back in the UK [on that trip we had a full 15kg cyl in gas locker as well, still never been used ]
In our old van we used 2 X 15 kg bottles in 4 weeks, also we were being more frugal as we knew we could not get gas in Spain.
Run out in a Dorchester layby making cuppa after getting off ferry in Poole :eek:
Not a lot of people know this, BUT >>>
if you get a Tank off of a LPG converted car [ which run on the LIQUID <LPG] and with much care remove the pick up plate, rotate 180 degrees so pick up is at the TOP of the tank [ collecting gas not liquid] reseal and check [cost me £20 for a proper check at local LPG convertor..which it passed without any mods whatsoever :)] and pipe in to your system..
Also passed 3 habitation checks since :)

This one would need straps and a filler, then rotate pick up and Bobs yer Mothers Brother :)

LDV Convoy 2.0 LPG TANK 70L on eBay (end time 27-Nov-09 21:27:37 GMT)

Never again will I buy a rip off priced cylinder from any of the gas retailers !!!:D
 
the gas tank i have from the lpg car as both in and out on the top all you need to do is swap them around .use the inlet as the exit .the old outlet had a pipe going to the bottom of tank to pick up liquid. easy sorted. could have cut off the pipe but may want to revert back to car use one day. as it is it sits on the garage floor as i fill the bottles and havnt got round to fitting the tank to this camper yet.
 
Yep, it's not cheap, but no more handing over not yet empty bottles so that you don't run out, top up when the opportunity arises and of course no lugging bottles around and trying to remember if they're left or right hand thread...
 
biggirafe said:
I've seen this discussed in a few threads, could someone please post up the benefits / downsides and costs for having a Gaslow system fitted. It looks expensive to me but the gas is cheaper, given the cost how long does it take to get your money back?

Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...

As already been said... it is always the thought of getting your money back to fit gaslow but when you fit it you then come to realise this is not the only gain, its all about not having to change bottles and any guessing about how much gas you have left before you park up. I have been through the times where we parked up thinking we have enough gas and then ran out. Think I'v been here before:eek: Go for it biggirafe...
 
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Hi All
Thanks for the posts. I've had a chat with my local garage, its independant so the owner knows his stuff. I asked him about topping up calor orange bottles using an adapter and he phisically blanched. His insurance to sell LPG has a requirement that it must be a purpose fitted system whether for a car or MH type system. Refilling bottles not expressly designed for the purpose will invalidate his insurance and he would expect my Motorhome insurance would be simialr. So I called my insurance company and they likewise will not cover me if I refill bottles that are not designed to be refilled by an end user. Now guys I can see why you would do it but my MH cost 17K I'm not about to risk that to save a few quid refilling bottles. The other thing is I'm after reducing the agro not increasing the stress, so thanks for the posts regards adpaters for gas bottles but its not for me :)

Withs regards to Gaslow, Are they they only suppliers of this system? Its the only one I have heard of,
And finally whats the minimum i would need, I'm thinking 1 bottle hose and a refilling point in the gas door. Is that it?

Also some may not be aware when I asked yy insurance they are ok with me fitting it but it MUST be checked and given the all clear by a registered gas fitter or my insurance will be invalidated.
 
It seems to me it depends on your use. If you go abroad a lot it makes sense to use something that is easily refillable. It also depends on your heating system.
I have a diesel system for heating/water and use very little gas for the fridge/cooker. If I was going abroad i'd make sure my 2x13kg propane cylinders were full and i'd have enough. I'm not likely to go abroad for more than 3 weeks anyhow.
If you have a gas fired heating system and go abroad often it may make more sense to have gaslow. If you are going aboad to warm places you aren't going to be using the heating and again this may make it a waste of money.
 
Like autoquest says, cost is not the same as value, gaslow sounds expensive but how much is the convenience worth? My Nature Pure water purifier was hugely expensive as are the replacement filters, but I know I could fill my water tank from a stagnant ditch if I needed to. By investing in technology you can get further from 'civilisation' for longer
 
Mastodon said:
Like autoquest says, cost is not the same as value, gaslow sounds expensive but how much is the convenience worth? My Nature Pure water purifier was hugely expensive as are the replacement filters, but I know I could fill my water tank from a stagnant ditch if I needed to. By investing in technology you can get further from 'civilisation' for longer
Click to expand...

You would take that chance before you would trust yourself to fill a gas bottle??:confused: Oh ye of little faith!! ( in yourself).:eek:
 
i use a doulton ceramic filter with silver in lay bought from brownchurch the landrover people .used by many organisations for worldwide drinking water. but come on 30 quid adaptor got to be worth it. buy the bottles go to spain ,not convenient there ,visit morocco . no point only 4 quid to exchange their bottles ,costs about 6-7 quid to get a full one there including the rent, you pay your money make your choice. only trying to help give another way forward. keep smiling .cheers alan.
 
derekfaeberwick said:
You would take that chance before you would trust yourself to fill a gas bottle??:confused: Oh ye of little faith!! ( in yourself).:eek:
Click to expand...

Mrs Mastodon is a microbiologist and she says it's alright. I'm and engineer and I'm allergic to being on fire.
 
as an engineer cant you see that fitting the adaptor is no more than fitting the regulator . then you are left with the same fitting to fill .open bottle . when at litreage required stop pumping turn off bottle disconect. pay for gas .it is the same gas . children could do it. gas low actually market an adaptor to fit normal bottles to an external filler but it costs more. gas wont burn if you keep flames etc away from it. its so simple. cheers alan.
 
I could have made my own system, but the whole point is the convenience. Having some numpty refusing to fill my system would be inconvenient. Trying to decide how much space is left in my tank so as not to overfill it and have liquid gas squirting round my van also counts as inconvenient... :D
 
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