Type of gas bottle

Astro76 replied on 31/08/2016 22:17

Posted on 31/08/2016 22:17

HI all.

I've just bought my first caravan and will be taking delivery in a couple of weeks.  At the end of october my first holiday (week long) is already booked.

That said, I know that the caravan will need a couple of gas bottles.   Having done a little bit of research (and using knowledge gained over years)   I'm rulling out Butane, as I don't like that it doesn't work well when it's cold.  As I'm interesting in getting away in the winter, I need to have something that will cope with low temperatures.

 

This leaves me with a few options.  I'm looking for large bottles of gas for my caravan, and there is a couple of options that I know about....

Calor lite or Safe fill.

I don't know how much these bottles will cost, or if I'll need to have two bottles straight away (if they're expensive, one bottle might be enough for now with me getting the second later on, the site does have electric hookup, so I'm only likley to use the gas for cooking)

 

I"m not sure what the best way to go would be, both options are my first thoughts.

What I'm looking for here is what other people think about these and maybe other options that I've not thought about.     My thoughts are initial costs for the bottles, and on going runnning costs.   For example, I know that a Safefill bottle is something like £150 ish when I looked, but if the Calor lite are much cheaper it might be a much better solution.   Also what about the weight, is the safefill lighter than the calor lite?    What about other bottle types?     (btw, I'm thinking about the big bottles 6Kg I think)

birderbilly replied on 01/09/2016 11:17

Posted on 01/09/2016 11:17

Cost is not the only factor here, at least not for us.  The fact that with our 10kg Safefill we can can always go away with a full bottle is a major convenience factor for us.

Astro76 replied on 01/09/2016 12:06

Posted on 01/09/2016 12:06

The factors that I'm thinking about are

cost - (including total cost of ownership)

weight

convenience

 

Cost - calor lite is more expensive than safefill to refil, but safefill bottles are expensive.  How long will a safefill bottle last?  I know that Calor lite are rented bottles so and are swapped out every refil, so effectively for me, they last forever (hence the higher price)


On the weight front, safefil and calor lite are in the lead.  Calor lite looks to be only a 6KG bottle, where are safefill have a 10Kg bottle.  It looks to me like the Safefill bottles are lighter than the Calor lite bottle, so 2 7.5Kg or 10Kg bottles might be the best approach in the long run.  idea is is to fille one bottle, then when it gets to about 1/2 capacity, fill the other bottle, then switch when needed.  For my MPTLM, I'll be making sure to leave capacity for both bottles to be completely full.

Convenience. For me, there is no difference which bottle type I go for.  The local place for filling a Safefill bottle is the same place that I'd go to replace any other kind of bottle.   Plus, being able to fill a safefill on a garage forecourt (when policies are updated from the sounds of other discussions) is a bonus.

 

I don't see any downsides here at all.   This is why I'm leaning towards spending more money on a safefill bottle to get me started.  Just need to find out the size of the locker now to know which bottle to go for. (I hope it's the biggest as that looks like the best for keeping costs down)

JayEss replied on 01/09/2016 12:14

Posted on 01/09/2016 12:14

We have a 10kg gaslight - the same bottle as the biggest safefill but a different colour.  It last us ages , even though we go off grid several times a year.

I would buy a single 10kg safefill and see how you get on with that.  You can always buy a second if you need to but with the ability to refill easily there should be no need for two. It has the added advantage of keeping weight down as well

dennisps replied on 01/09/2016 12:31

Posted on 01/09/2016 12:31

I would buy a single 10kg safefill and see how you get on with that.  You can always buy a second if you need to but with the ability to refill easily there should be no need for two. It has the added advantage of keeping weight down as well

Single safefill for me too. We are mainly off EHU (even on sites where it is a charged option... anything more then £1/night it is cheaper to be on gas). We reckon about 0.7KG gas per night during the summer (fridge, hot water, cooking). A 10KG safefill would last about 2 weeks during the summer.

Fysherman replied on 01/09/2016 12:40

Posted on 01/09/2016 12:40

Most do seem to have just one Safefill and an empty calor or camping gas.

A 10kg lasts us just over 2 weeks when off grid. Two of us having showers every day. Great to fill it up again for just buttons.

Pippah45 replied on 01/09/2016 16:13

Posted on 01/09/2016 16:13

The other club charges £4.20 per night extra for electrics so quite a saving If you use your own Cheap gas, still a saving on Calor I would guess.

Fysherman replied on 01/09/2016 16:16

Posted on 01/09/2016 16:16

I had not realised it was that much. That's crazy.

Can you actually use £4.20 worth of electric in a caravan in 24 hours?

KenofKent replied on 01/09/2016 17:14

Posted on 01/09/2016 17:14

Astro76 does not say what type of heating system his van will have. Some of the newer models can be very energy hungry. If so, refillable bottles give greater options both here on sites and CL's with low amperage, and abroad.

replied on 01/09/2016 17:14

Posted on 01/09/2016 17:14

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