lPG getting harder to find

guerdeval

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I’ve noticed a number of motorway service stations are giving up selling LPG, is this a trend anyone else has noticed?. There is a place to list them on the POI,s but there aren’t many on there, the Co-op garage at Alnwick is still serving it btw.
 
Yes it is. At least three stations I used to use in N E Scotland have got rid of their lpg pumps and travelling down to Newcastle for the ferry a few months back I had quite a problem finding lpg. Even in France this past few months I have not found it as easy to find as it used to be and at least 2 French filling stations told me that they didn’t allow filling gas for habitation use.
For flexibility I now have 1 refillable and 1 exchangeable cylinder.
Tony
 
Chainsaw Charlie said:
Yes it is .
The refillable fans will say different but our personal experience has been that relying on lpg only is a mistake. refillable cylinders seem ok if you live near several suppliers.
BP are scrapping all lpg pumps .
Many small suppliers have removed them as they aren't profitable.
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that's exactly what it is if I have 5 pumps 2 petrol 2 diesel and one LPG if it isn't proeducing x revenue a day you get shut that's what operators are doing offering a service doesn't mean you can make a living from it so need to de commission or find something else

Lpg in someways is before its time

Channa
 
Chainsaw Charlie said:
Yes it is .
The refillable fans will say different but our personal experience has been that relying on lpg only is a mistake. refillable cylinders seem ok if you live near several suppliers.
BP are scrapping all lpg pumps .
Many small suppliers have removed them as they aren't profitable.
Click to expand...

Agreed with above, when I was running the family business in Uk before moving to Pt. we ran most of our commercial and private vehicles on Lpg so decided to have an pump installed at the depot. When they installed it around 1998 advised us Lpg would be the "Bee all & end all" and should think about vending to public. So we did,had a meter put on and advertised locally and on web.sold a bit to start with but in the end had it taken out as was no profit and more trouble than it was worth. Also agree with Channa that it's ahead of its time, too many sceptical people. Having said that, I've had many vehicles all running on Lpg over the past 20 years and would definitely recommend.
 
If the cost of petrol is increasing and Diesel vehicles are polluters then maybe LPG might make a comeback with the move away from diesel. If the car makers offered it as an alternative, it would bring the conversion costs down and attract customers.

Just to add, I passed a small independant Service Station today that has a Red Diesel pump. It was 68.5p a Litre.
 
I agree that finding an LPG refill point is getting harder,
It’s just going to encourage people to buy a BIG bottle & use it to refill their onboard Refillable system themselves using all manner of Hoses, NOT a Brilliant idea, & Dangerous, But I will bet that will be the next trend to put strain on the Ambulance, Hospitals & Fire Service.
 
Lpg is a by product of producing petrol or refining oil so when they decide to kill the petrol Diesel engine guess what no more lpg as it stands if it cost oil companies to make lpg petrol and diesel become the by product it’s a conspiracy I tell you
 
maingate said:
If the cost of petrol is increasing and Diesel vehicles are polluters then maybe LPG might make a comeback with the move away from diesel. If the car makers offered it as an alternative, it would bring the conversion costs down and attract customers.

Just to add, I passed a small independant Service Station today that has a Red Diesel pump. It was 68.5p a Litre.
Click to expand...

hi
thats cheap at our local in denton burn its 84.9p a litre.
 
I sympathise with those folks who have purchased a petrol American RV with LPG conversion.

I've met several such folks who were talked into buying a petrol/LPG vehicle, by traders who subsequently discovered that the maths might look good in terms of LPG vs Petrol vs Diesel mpg, , but the practicalities of finding a refill negates the mpg benefits.

All of their intended routes have to be planned ahead to include refills and when stations are hard to find, they have to fall back to petrol which gives them 8-10 mpg, if they are lucky.

Not much opportunity for spontaneity or meandering when you are locked into having to constantly find a suitable fuel stop or pay the price of petrol for the thirsty engines.

james
 
guerdeval said:
I’ve noticed a number of motorway service stations are giving up selling LPG, is this a trend anyone else has noticed?. There is a place to list them on the POI,s but there aren’t many on there, the Co-op garage at Alnwick is still serving it btw.
Click to expand...

hi
i have noticed that amble and eyemouth still have it. but eyemouth
does not have a sign up.
 
My onboard system is just for habitation use and filled for .55p a litre. I know it is cheaper elsewhere (my lowest is Nigg, Scotland at .29p a litre but that was an exception.

I have a 30 litre underslung tank and normally refill at the approximatly 10 litre remaining point, so with my onboard buffer, it is not really an issue. Much more of an issue if i was reliant on it for the engine too.

20 litres last currently about 5 to 6 weeks but that might increase a little with this nice weather.

Ahead of its time, I am not sure, I think research will be more focussed on the likes of Electric and Hybrid. Maybe an LPG/Electric hybrid is the way?
 
I,ve been able to fill up both here recently n weston s mare,and at the asda at cribbs causeway off junc 18 m5.
On our recent trip around scandinavia lpg was found ok in sweden and norway.I've still got 3/4 tank after topping up in trondheim.
A bit more over there but everything is.
lpg trondheim.jpg
 
Chainsaw Charlie said:
Yes it is .
The refillable fans will say different but our personal experience has been that relying on lpg only is a mistake. refillable cylinders seem ok if you live near several suppliers.
BP are scrapping all lpg pumps .
Many small suppliers have removed them as they aren't profitable.
Click to expand...

I have had trouble buying 15kg calor gas butane bottles once it starts getting cold and I think the suppliers look down on me for buying bottled gas.

And of course the police are now advising people to watch out for people buying gas containers as they are possible terrorists !

:wave:
 
The number of outlets has certainly decreased markedly over the last few years. In this area the bigger chains seem to have a policy of not replacing the LPG pumps when they re-furbish the forecourt.

I often find I'm having to switch to petrol in my car, or go out of my way to get LPG. There is one about 4 miles away, my next nearest are nearly 20 miles, north, south and east. IF I go west then it's about 40 miles.
 
hairydog said:
There are huge variations in price, which suggests that there is a profit to be made.
I topped up a week or so ago. It was 52p per litre. Presumably they can buy it cheaper than that (it's 49p direct from some Calor depots.)
With margins of over 35p a litre, I doubt they'll stop selling lpg any time soon.
Click to expand...

hi
when i answered maingate we were talking about red diesel.
 
Plenty of Taxis and Tuk Tuks in Bangkok running on lpg - should have made Taxis and buses over here switch.
 
sparrks said:
Plenty of Taxis and Tuk Tuks in Bangkok running on lpg - should have made Taxis and buses over here switch.
Click to expand...

Most of the vehicles in the local Community Transport fleet that I drive for are LPG/petrol hybrids. We are probably the only reason that the local garage still stocks LPG.
 
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