genny or hook up calor or refillable

[freespirits]

hi, newbies here about to go fulltime m/h, off to france dec heading south to portugal to slowly overwinter through to spain then back up through enjoying france, any help appreciated on following aspects. internet regularily and tv a must to check financial movements ie footsie.. gas.. whats the best way to go regarding gas and whether to go for a genny or hookup, we are wildcampers full time and usually manage ok but neither of us has done france portugal or spain. maybe back in uk next summer, maybe not.. any suggestions appreciated. thanks.

 

[John H]

hi, newbies here about to go fulltime m/h, off to france dec heading south to portugal to slowly overwinter through to spain then back up through enjoying france, any help appreciated on following aspects. internet regularily and tv a must to check financial movements ie footsie.. gas.. whats the best way to go regarding gas and whether to go for a genny or hookup, we are wildcampers full time and usually manage ok but neither of us has done france portugal or spain. maybe back in uk next summer, maybe not.. any suggestions appreciated. thanks.

Good morning and welcome

You will find as many opinions as there are members on those questions but as someone who spends over half the year most years in Europe I can tell you how we survive:

1. Solar panel fixed on the roof - removes the need for hook-up. We have an 80 amp panel and just the one leisure battery and it meets our needs - but others will recommend a couple of both (or more!).

2. We call in at (cheap) campsites when we fancy a lingering shower - although for a small fee I can tell you where you can get good free showers in France (on the other hand, see my final comment!) or when we want to do the laundry. Then we use hook-up.

3. We don't have a genny - having camped in remote quiet spots and had a van+genny turn up next to me it is one of those rare times that I briefly want the return of capital punishment for idiots! - but this is an aspect of your request that will probably lead to war among the various pro and anti factions.

4. Internet - there are various wi-fi hotspots (especially the car parks of MacDonalds) and libraries have internet (often free).

5. Gas - DON'T take Calor because it cannot be found in Europe and you will just be carrying around a hunk of useless metal. Again, there will be lots of conflicting advice about which cylinders/regulators to get - so take your choice. CampingGaz is almost universal across Western Europe but very very expensive. If you are going to do this a lot then I recommend an LPG system (such as Gaslow, which we have, or Alugas). LPG is widespread across all of Europe but ironically most difficult to find in the most visited country - Spain. But even in Spain it is not a problem if you plan ahead. LPG systems are expensive initially (ours cost £400 to supply and fit) but rapidly pay for themselves in cheaper gas (ours paid for itself inside 18 months).

Finally - don't forget that most of Europe actually welcomes motorhomes (unlike this miserable country!) and if you look up the website CAMPINGCAR-INFOS you will find free or cheap aires not only in France (some with showers!) but Spain, Portugal and the rest of Europe too. There are other websites - look at the country forums on this website.

Happy travels
John

 

[Tbear]

Hi Freespirits

Sounds like you need a couple of large solar panels and leisure batteries. Then a good sized sat dish.

Gas is freely available in France.

Give us more details of your present setup and you may get more replies.

Richard

 

[John H]

Hi again - I forgot about the sat dish!

Ours is a wind-up Maxview fitted by Snellyvision (£500 inc fitting). It is a 66 cm dish which will get full reception down to around Barcelona - but any further south it only gets tv news and BBC radio. In the extreme south of Spain you will need one at least a metre across (probably bigger) which may not be practical on a motorhome! I know that many people on here use freestanding dishes which are a whole lot cheaper. Again - pay money; make choice.

Good luck

 

[David & Ann]

hi, newbies here about to go fulltime m/h, off to france dec heading south to portugal to slowly overwinter through to spain then back up through enjoying france, any help appreciated on following aspects. internet regularily and tv a must to check financial movements ie footsie.. gas.. whats the best way to go regarding gas and whether to go for a genny or hookup, we are wildcampers full time and usually manage ok but neither of us has done france portugal or spain. maybe back in uk next summer, maybe not.. any suggestions appreciated. thanks.

Regards TV and Internet, I leave that to others more able to explain than myself. Gas bottles: You have your GB bottle I presume. Get an identical spare gas pipe you have at the moment for your gas bottle. When in Spain, Get a gas Spanish gas bottle from a restaurant or anywhere availabe (do not sign a contract with any Spanish company, get it for free, should be quite easy) Then go into any FERETERIA (Ironmonger, General store) and buy the Adapator that goes onto the Spanish gas bottle and a couple of Jubilee ring clips, the size to fit the around the gas hose pipe. Cut of the end of your spare pipe that goes into the of your GB bottle. Put a jubilee clip on the pipe first, then fit the Adaptor onto that end by heating up the rubber hose to make it easier to fit the Adaptor. Tighten the jubilee clip around the pipe. If you have a single bottle system, remove the the GB pipe to your GB bottle and screw in the GB end into the feed pipe, lock in the other end, Spanish Adaptor into the Spanish bottle. There you have it. You are running on Spanish gas. If the Spanish bottle is empty, reverse the operation to GB gas until you exchange your empty Spanish bottle for a full one. Do the same again to go back to Spanish gas.Spanish gas is available at most gas stations and shouldn't be a problem. Some Members might say you need a Regulator for the Spanish bottle (which is absolutely correct) I have regulators for my system but not for the Spanish bottle. I don't have a problem, but it would be wise to listen to what other Members say and suggest. Make sure you have gas in your GB bottle for the interchange when your Spanish bottle runs out. You can do the same for your French or whatever Country bottle you have.
Hookup: If you go for hookup, you need to go into campsites for this, which can make you dip into your pockets for fees and can be expensive.
Generator: Ideal, if you don't go into camp sites, saving fees. Plug in your hookup into your genny, this should charge up your batteries. Caution: make sure you use your Genny in places that do not disturb other Campers and local surroundings. I hope this helps.

 

[n brown]

take 2 calor bottles,when first is empty,dump it by a bin and find a local bottle and regulator,keeping the other calor for back up. 2 batteries and a panel are good but worth having a small genny for times you may need it.these are big spaces and i rarely found myself near enough to anyone to worry about the noise.

 

[vwalan]

hi. if you get a spanish bottle you can get a straight through adaptor that will take the old uk butane screw on regulator that is commonly used in france ,germany morocco etc. it will fit most portugese bottles as well. i use one and then i can fit moroccan or french bottles etc . i also adapt clip on uk butane bottles to this type of regulator.
you can fill bottles with an adaptor filla available off ebay . bit expensive in spain .but works well in portugal and france. and here.
solar best get a few big panels .i use 80wt panels a banjk of 3 fits nicely across the roof of the truck. .use 240v fridge ,washing machines ,spindryers . saves going on prison --sorry campsites.
dont have sat. just use a uk digi telly with ariel gets foreign tv . interesting .
have fun we try to. cheers alan.

 

[Deleted member 9237]

Its getting a bit hard to wildcamp here now on the coast but inland is ok just make sure that there is no campsite near you must be 4km away and your be ok. If you are going into Portugal make sure you get your gas in Spain as Portugal it is much more a bottle Spain 13.60. last year 27 euro i think in Portugal we paid. :wave:

 

[vindiboy]

DO NOT RUN A GENNY when wild camping especially if on a beach in Spain or Portugal, it will cause the Police to chuck you off quicker than Jack Robinson, we wild camp extensively in all Countries , we have a 75 watt Solar Panel three 80 amp hr. batteries and a 2000 watt inverter and always have enough power, I have a Genny, Honda i100 which I invariably leave at home as I rarely use it GAS, we take two Calor 13 kg bottles with us and I have a Spanish Repsol bottle 13 kg which is easily, cheaply changeable in Spain and Portugal, France too I am told but not tried it there, Calor bottles CAN be refilled in some places in Spain and Portugal ,{ Blue Elephant is a place I have had my Calors refilled in Portugal at Villa Real/ Monte Gordo }I have BOTTLE Regulators on my bottles in my van, this way it is so SIMPLE to fit a bottle from ANY Country using their regulators which are easily obtained.We seldom go on Campsites so hookups are rarely used ,we did a 130 night trip away from last September, France ,Germany ,France to Spain and then Portugal, wild camped , Aires , Stelplatz all the time No Campsites at all and had no problems with Gas or Power. We don't bother with Telly, I have a DVD player and we sometimes watch a film if we feel like it, we find that we can get Radio 4 most of the time if we want to listen to the Doom and Gloom on the news but can happily live with out that and we don't read Newspapers as we prefer to forget the World once away, Internet is available wirelessly in lots of places and also go in to Libraries if you must it is usually free to use their Computers or your own Lappy. Spanish gas bottles are best obtained at Car Boot Sales in Spain or any other Country for that matter, Best wishes have lots of fun, see you on a Beach somewhere Malc.

 

[John H]

On our trip last winter we stayed at the following free aires, all of which supplied free electic hook-up:

Rugles, Nieulle-Pont-Pierre and Ouzouere-sur-Trezee (all in France and the latter with free showers too!)
Caceres in Spain
Miranda de Corvo in Portugal

There are many others (see the CAMPINGCAR-INFOS website) and even more where the electric supply costs a few euros (3 - 5 euros seems to be common, the more expensive ones being on the coast)

Another plus point - the network of free aires in Spain and Portugal is growing (but at the same time they are cracking down on the vast motorhome "cities" in many popular beach areas).

All in all, once you cross the Channel it is a motorhomer's dream!

 

[freespirits]

many thanks John, all info invaluable and most helpful, thank you.

Good morning and welcome

You will find as many opinions as there are members on those questions but as someone who spends over half the year most years in Europe I can tell you how we survive:

1. Solar panel fixed on the roof - removes the need for hook-up. We have an 80 amp panel and just the one leisure battery and it meets our needs - but others will recommend a couple of both (or more!).

2. We call in at (cheap) campsites when we fancy a lingering shower - although for a small fee I can tell you where you can get good free showers in France (on the other hand, see my final comment!) or when we want to do the laundry. Then we use hook-up.

3. We don't have a genny - having camped in remote quiet spots and had a van+genny turn up next to me it is one of those rare times that I briefly want the return of capital punishment for idiots! - but this is an aspect of your request that will probably lead to war among the various pro and anti factions.

4. Internet - there are various wi-fi hotspots (especially the car parks of MacDonalds) and libraries have internet (often free).

5. Gas - DON'T take Calor because it cannot be found in Europe and you will just be carrying around a hunk of useless metal. Again, there will be lots of conflicting advice about which cylinders/regulators to get - so take your choice. CampingGaz is almost universal across Western Europe but very very expensive. If you are going to do this a lot then I recommend an LPG system (such as Gaslow, which we have, or Alugas). LPG is widespread across all of Europe but ironically most difficult to find in the most visited country - Spain. But even in Spain it is not a problem if you plan ahead. LPG systems are expensive initially (ours cost £400 to supply and fit) but rapidly pay for themselves in cheaper gas (ours paid for itself inside 18 months).

Finally - don't forget that most of Europe actually welcomes motorhomes (unlike this miserable country!) and if you look up the website CAMPINGCAR-INFOS you will find free or cheap aires not only in France (some with showers!) but Spain, Portugal and the rest of Europe too. There are other websites - look at the country forums on this website.

Happy travels
John

thank you John

 

[lebesset]

well , as a french resident I can assure you that you will be passing through france pretty rapidly in december !!!

so basically base your gas bottles on what is required in spain/portugal

question is , how many bottles can you fit in your locker , what size ,what do you have at the moment , and do you have regulators on the bottles or one fixed to the vehicle ?
without knowing that it is impossible to give accurate advice


incidentally , in spain gas in bottles is available on every corner , gas pumps much more rare and the gas is more expensive than in bottles ...so gaslow , or similar , actually costs you money even if they were free [ which they are not ]

 

[vwalan]

:help: ... Shift+R improves the quality of this image. CTRL+F5 reloads the whole page.hi john h .
that must be some panel on your roof if it produces 80amp. have you been stealing the solar banks from spanish fields.
they grow them in spain ,fields full of them .amazing.

 

[John H]

:help: ... Shift+R improves the quality of this image. CTRL+F5 reloads the whole page.hi john h .
that must be some panel on your roof if it produces 80amp. have you been stealing the solar banks from spanish fields.
they grow them in spain ,fields full of them .amazing.

Sorry but you know I'm technically illiterate - I think I meant to say 80 watt! But yes, I have seen those banks - pretty amazing, aren't they?

 

[vwalan]

we park by one near polmones near gib. thousands of them . we do wonder if we could break in and take a few . never worth the punishment . getrs more every year they must plant seeds for them. and those big eared towers they get more as well . must be something in the soil.
if you ever need a park up its by the big fuel and gas plant just gib side of polmones. hard standing .its an industrial site thats slow to get going, ideal . can smell abit of gas sometimes but we dont mind . ideal place for brake checking etc.

 

[John H]

incidentally , in spain gas in bottles is available on every corner , gas pumps much more rare and the gas is more expensive than in bottles ...so gaslow , or similar , actually costs you money even if they were free [ which they are not ]

I'm not sure this is true. Acording to the Cepsa site the current cost of a refill for an 11kg cylinder is 13 euros. The last time I filled an 11 kg Gaslow cylinder in Spain (in March) it cost me a little less than that. Plus, with Gaslow (or similar) you don't need to have a different cylinder or regulator for each country that you visit. You win on the availabilty point, though - but lpg outlets are increasing in number.

 

[vwalan]

gas at pumps is definately dearer . if it wasnt i would use my gas bottle filling adaptor . handy if needed but not in spain.
look on ebay . much cheaper than gaslow or alugas. no need to change regulators . mind i can fill most bottles with my kit . even some clip ons .
cepsa are now doing see through fibre bottles as well as the stainless shiny ones . maroc is best £4,50 used to be 3quid before the pound fell. tip them into other bottles .cant leave with empty bottles.

 

[John H]

gas at pumps is definately dearer . if it wasnt i would use my gas bottle filling adaptor . handy if needed but not in spain.

Have pump prices gone up a lot recently then? In March there was certainly no difference.

 

[lebesset]

in april when I was last in spain it was about 20% dearer at the pump [ because of the road tax they now charge I presume ] , about the same in portugal and france ; of course , having the bottles delivered by the truck instead of having to go and fetch it saves money as well !

like alan I carry the equipment to fill any bottle but now rarely use it ; wouldn't touch gaslow at any price having run lpg powered vehicles for 20 years and had failures on the so called 'safety' cut outs ; I will only fill bottles that are 100% empty , and then only with the exact quantity as specified by the manufacturers ....safety first is my motto ...as an industrial chemist I soon learned that mistakes can be dangerous ; of course , as I always empty bottles completely I don't get any problems with accumulated heavy ends either

as a recent example , I just bought an Energas bottle from the supermarket here in france , cost me €1 deposit + €17 for 10Kgs butane ...at my local filling station lpg is €0.86/litre so exactly the same cost

no guarantee prices haven't changed in spain since april of course

 

[Tbear]

wouldn't touch gaslow at any price having run lpg powered vehicles for 20 years and had failures on the so called 'safety' cut outs


Hi Lebesset.

Surly a vehicle would run off liquid LPG so its tank can be 100% full so a safety cut off would not be needed unless it was duel purpose.

Richard