No Gas!

[barryd]

All the caravan sites in East Yorkshire Barry 8 don’t believe none of them have Calor? Nip down to Charlie at Thirsk, he has LPG

Nobody I could get hold of this morning from Bridlington to Filey had any. Thirsk is practically home from here.

 

[barryd]

Managed to get a 6kg Calor this morning from Andy Hire in Bridlington. I called them at 8am when they opened this morning and they had two left.

£33.55! Ouch. I think that's nearly three quid a litre. Going home tomorrow anyway but it will do as a backup for the next leg of the tour. Guy told me that you cant buy the 6kg now, has to be a replacement. All the bottles he says are in short supply.

 

[guerdeval]

Slightly off topic, but, if you’re heading into Wales you’ll find Texaco (and other smaller) stations to sell diesel far cheaper than you might be used to, something to do with having a refinery near Haverfordwest I’m told.

 

[Drover]

So the plot thickens. It might not be a PIA for leg two of this trip as we will be touring through Wales and Devon. I presume they have autogas stations in Wales?

Theres 3 in the forest of dean

 

[1 Cup]

Gas whats that ? , all solar gas is a winter thingy. Lol

 

[Rumour]

If you have a Gaslow bottle, why not fill wherever you see gas? On our twin Gaslow setup, we never ran out. We now have an underslung tank and no spare bottles. We just top it up as we go after a few weeks use. It seems a few people have the hybrid setup, but I can't see any benefit and still paying Calor prices. Calor are also not available in Europe, so no good to us at all. But, each to their own...

 

[barryd]

If you have a Gaslow bottle, why not fill wherever you see gas? On our twin Gaslow setup, we never ran out. We now have an underslung tank and no spare bottles. We just top it up as we go after a few weeks use. It seems a few people have the hybrid setup, but I can't see any benefit and still paying Calor prices. Calor are also not available in Europe, so no good to us at all. But, each to their own...

Because I've been in the same place for three weeks and the van doesnt move as we use a scooter. Nearest LPG if it's working is a 40 mile round trip. If we get up to the west coast and the Scottish islands like we did last summer when we spent two months on the isle of Arran underslung lpg tanks or Gaslow are useless after three to four weeks. Calor literally is your only option.

 

[Drover]

Because I've been in the same place for three weeks and the van doesnt move as we use a scooter. Nearest LPG if it's working is a 40 mile round trip. If we get up to the west coast and the Scottish islands like we did last summer when we spent two months on the isle of Arran underslung lpg tanks or Gaslow are useless after three to four weeks. Calor literally is your only option.

Bit of a trek to Kilmarnock from Arran , though you look to use more gas than us.. 3 weeks on a 11kg is easy for us. 3 months in summerand I'd be looking .....
I've a empty 15kg butane bottle if anyone is stuck for a bottle.

 

[Rumour]

Bit of a trek to Kilmarnock from Arran , though you look to use more gas than us.. 3 weeks on a 11kg is easy for us. 3 months in summerand I'd be looking .....
I've a empty 15kg butane bottle if anyone is stuck for a bottle.

Our two 6kg Gaslow bottles lasted around 8 to 10 weeks in the summer, only three in the winter. We used it for cooking, heating if necessary and heating the water. We filled when we saw it and it was no problem.

 

[Rumour]

Because I've been in the same place for three weeks and the van doesnt move as we use a scooter. Nearest LPG if it's working is a 40 mile round trip. If we get up to the west coast and the Scottish islands like we did last summer when we spent two months on the isle of Arran underslung lpg tanks or Gaslow are useless after three to four weeks. Calor literally is your only option.

Three weeks is easy on a 6kg cylinder, although heating will knock it a bit. Two 6kg would outlast a three week stay and the next and the next. But as I said, each to their own.

 

[Pudsey Bear]

If you have a Gaslow bottle, why not fill wherever you see gas? On our twin Gaslow setup, we never ran out. We now have an underslung tank and no spare bottles. We just top it up as we go after a few weeks use. It seems a few people have the hybrid setup, but I can't see any benefit and still paying Calor prices. Calor are also not available in Europe, so no good to us at all. But, each to their own...

the Calor backup is the cheapest method, it's how I ran with refillable, no point in having two unless you are a big user, as you say top up as and when but some stay put for weeks so not an option but often UK sites have Calor, and of course normally it'd only be used maybe overnight so last a long time so quite economical compared to a spare refillable.

 

[Pudsey Bear]

We were away in February, started off with a part used 6kg bottle, it lasted about 19/20 days, we carry two so I swapped over and got another a week or so later, if going to France etc I would buy a 6kg refillable.

 

[barryd]

Our two 6kg Gaslow bottles lasted around 8 to 10 weeks in the summer, only three in the winter. We used it for cooking, heating if necessary and heating the water. We filled when we saw it and it was no problem.

Thats pretty impressive. Was that off grid? For our single 11kg Gaslow we use in summer if we are not using heating about .65 to maybe .85 of a litre a day so about 3.5 to 4 weeks but we are never on hookup. Fridge is on 24/7, cooking, hot water etc. With this last trip to Flamborough we used 1 full 6kg Calor and 19 litres of the Gaslow so there were 2 litres left in it when we topped up just now on the way home at Thirsk. So 31 litres in three weeks. Just short of 1.5 litres a day. Had the heating on a fair bit though.

I can usually guess within a litre whats left in either bottle. Mrs D was spot on today at 19 litres exactly and I guessed 18.5.

 

[barryd]

Three weeks is easy on a 6kg cylinder, although heating will knock it a bit. Two 6kg would outlast a three week stay and the next and the next. But as I said, each to their own.

Three weeks on a 6kg is easy if you hardly use any gas. from my sums above Im using 1.5 litres a day so a single 6kg would be empty in 8 days. As it happened it lasted a bit longer as while it was connected it was slightly warmer on an evening and we had the heating on a bit less.

For the kind of touring we do while in the UK I dont think there is a better system than a Gaslow 11kg and a Calor backup. In theory even if there are no LPG stations you should never run out of gas. The only reason we almost did this time was that nobody had any Calor bottles. In Europe I dont even carry the Calor as LPG is much more widely available but not so much here now, or at least where we go it isnt.

 

[mistericeman]

I've been surprised how our LPG usage has dropped since swapping the 3 way fridge for 240v/inverter and the gas fire for Eberspacher ...

We tend to eat out mostly when away so only really the gas hob for the kettle in the morning now ...
One 6kg Gaslow still untouched
The other started at 80% and now down to 76% .

 

[merl]

Three weeks on a 6kg is easy if you hardly use any gas. from my sums above Im using 1.5 litres a day so a single 6kg would be empty in 8 days. As it happened it lasted a bit longer as while it was connected it was slightly warmer on an evening and we had the heating on a bit less.

For the kind of touring we do while in the UK I dont think there is a better system than a Gaslow 11kg and a Calor backup. In theory even if there are no LPG stations you should never run out of gas. The only reason we almost did this time was that nobody had any Calor bottles. In Europe I dont even carry the Calor as LPG is much more widely available but not so much here now, or at least where we go it isnt.

LPG at garages seems to be massively on the decline and bottled gas costs an arm and a leg and I don't think the gas situation is going to improve any time soon Barry, maybe a diesel heater should be on your radar?

 

[Rumour]

Thats pretty impressive. Was that off grid? For our single 11kg Gaslow we use in summer if we are not using heating about .65 to maybe .85 of a litre a day so about 3.5 to 4 weeks but we are never on hookup. Fridge is on 24/7, cooking, hot water etc. With this last trip to Flamborough we used 1 full 6kg Calor and 19 litres of the Gaslow so there were 2 litres left in it when we topped up just now on the way home at Thirsk. So 31 litres in three weeks. Just short of 1.5 litres a day. Had the heating on a fair bit though.

I can usually guess within a litre whats left in either bottle. Mrs D was spot on today at 19 litres exactly and I guessed 18.5.

Not really surprising, we are in the South of France in the summer. Our gas usage is Fridge and cooking only, with boiling a kettle at need. Our heating is Diesel, but that is not on. If you are in Scotland, I would think you would need heat at some point. An 11kg cylinder would hold around 27.2ltrs. Take off the 80% rule to be kind, 22ltrs. Divide that by your highest usage figure, .85ltr per day, it comes out at 25.8 days. Even at one litre a day it would last 22 days. Over a month with two 11kg.

But as I said, each to their own. Have a safe trip.

 

[barryd]

LPG at garages seems to be massively on the decline and bottled gas costs an arm and a leg and I don't think the gas situation is going to improve any time soon Barry, maybe a diesel heater should be on your radar?

Its not so much the cost but availability. Its fine normally. I dont think ill be retro fitting a diesel heater in this van at least, Ive been trying to change it for years. Once Calor sort themselves out I dont think it will be an issue.

 

[Trotter]

Bigger batteries, enormous solar array, victron orion, plus a bit of lpg.
That should keep you out of trouble.
Struggle if you want to. But remember, there are no pockets in a shroud.

 

[barryd]

Bigger batteries, enormous solar array, victron orion, plus a bit of lpg.
That should keep you out of trouble.
Struggle if you want to. But remember, there are no pockets in a shroud.

And how much would all that weigh in order to be able to cook and heat without LPG?

One things for sure I would probably have to lose that little beauty off the back, then I would really struggle!!