LPG questions

1.   Yes

2.   Yes

3.  Possibly

4.  Yes

To elaborate.....

for a long stay in Europe you can either buy a refillable bottle, or buy local ones.

For local ones you may also need a different connector, generally easily available.

In some  countries EHU is metered and  very expensive, so you will often be cheaper using gas for heating and HW.  A refillable will save a lot on gas costs.

If you want to be 100% certain of being allowed to refill, fit a fixed system such as Gaslow.  This means you need to take the van to the pump, not particularly difficult as LPG is pretty widely available.  You can download maps of where garages are that have it.

We have a fixed Gaslow system, 2x6kg bottles as our locker could not take the larger   size, we fill up when travelling between sites.

You will need 2  or 3 adaptors, depending on where you go, easiest is to buy here.

A refillable is a big investment, but if you need to buy some type of bottle anyway, then the difference is less and will soon be recouped as your gas will be much cheaper.

You may always have EHU, but in many places it will not be 16 amps, so if you are caravanning through the winter you will be running heating and may well need to use gas as the EHU cannot  cope.

As you have Alde heating, if not already fitted, it is a good investment to fit the optional battery back up and the optional load monitor, these plug into the controller and are relatively simple to fit.

Battery back up will stop the controller losing the time and date settings when travelling, load monitor will help you avoid tripping the EHU when using the Alde.

I bought my safefill cylinder from Jackson's of Old Arley and they supply continental adaptors too - one for France and another for Spain (I think).  They are very friendly and efficient over the phone or internet as well as in the shop. 

It's my understanding that refillables are easier to deal with across the water but I haven't had to try that yet.  I have always filled my cylinder locally.  It's propane as far as I know - bog standard - so no difficulty finding the right mixture (if it is mixture).  (Butane "freezes" so not much good in winter anyway).

I bought mine for using abroad, but as yet never had to fill up whilst away.  If you can fit the large Safefil in then I suggest that you buy that as they last for so long.  If you have to start using for heating then obviously it will deplete quicker.  

I wouldn't fancy having to take the van to fill up but I will defer to KjellNN who sounds to speak with more authority than me.  I don't know how the garage would even realise as I just lift it out of the back, fill up and pay.  What I would suggest is to buy an extension adapter for the valve which Safefil intend to start selling from the end of February.  A lot of garages are starting to have rubber necks around the pump handle and as a result it is becoming very difficult to attachto the cylinder 

Filling LPG in the fixed cylinder in the van is no more difficult than filling fuel in the car when towing.

When we come into a fuel station where the pump is not obvious, I stop before choosing a lane, OH walks over and finds the LPG pump, and directs me to it.

I believe there can be a bit of butane in the mix in Europe, but not so much that it affects the use of the LPG.

The attitude to filling a portable cylinder varies from place to place, if one place will not let you, then the next place may.  In Italy we found that you had to call the attendant to fill for you in some places.  Whether she would have refused if it was not a fixed installation, I have no idea.

If you are spending a long time on one site and using a lot of gas, then a portable  cylinder is definately more convenient, but that is not how we tour, so we always have enough gas to allow us to just fill up en route.

We have had a lot of problems filling our Safefill bottles in the UK but we have been in Spain since November and no problems filling here at all.

Thank you all for the advice and suggestions. Very informative. We will have the load monitor on the van as it comes with it. I think I will buy 1 safe fill instead of the fixed tank option as the caravan is over 8 metres long without the tow car so I would prefer not to take the whole outfit into a garage forecourt. Thanks again.  

LPG gas from forecourts is usually a mix of both Propane and Butane Europe wide. The mix varies throughout the year depending where you are. If you are up an Alp in winter then more Propane is added to avoid freezing.