Refillable Gas Systems

If, like me, you are always on EHU, caravan in UK and use little gas I see no advantage in Safefill David. I am away 120 nights and probably use around 6kg a year at most. For me the smaller 3.9kg bottle is easier to use than the Calor lights being not much different in weight and less bulky.

In 25 years we never used as much as one full cylinder in a year except when we had two very small cylinders and would sometimes start to use the second one. I would guess this applies to a very large percentage of caravanners and Motorhome users. For the very small minority that use a lot because of winter use etc. then it makes sense to have a refillable system. 

Even though we don't use much gas, the built-in LPG tank on our Autosleeper is a great convenience. No need to worry about a cylinder running out  (LED display in the cab) and no need to isolate the supply when moving off. When we stop, the fridge switches automatically to gas. Great in hot climates.

Our nearest filling station is at an Asda station, about 4 miles away, and I go there once a year and top up. Cost about £2 last time I went which was after 4 weeks away.

2 cylinders is always a good idea David. I notice a post from Boff on the other thread that he picked up a SF cylinder off eBay for £105. Still not cheap but sooo worth it. If like hitch you don't use much gas then don't get one but you are a Cadac champion and I would imagine that you use enough gas to justify one. 

Pippah, I can't say too much but I am in contact with SF virtually on a daily basis and I can tell you that things are moving forward at a good pace. Mine and others emails seem to have jerked some of these large concerns into action regarding supplying gas to Safefill customers. If you haven't sent an email to Shell or Morrisons or anyone else you can think of, send one!! Safefill have been trying for two years and they are the makers but now that customers are asking why they haven't pulled their finger out, it's a different ball game. I have just had a call from Morrisons customer services. Suddenly, they are listening! We will be able to fill our Safefills anywhere soon- I'm convinced of it, The battle has been won, now the war has to be won too- we need the troops- get those emails away!,

Thanks for all info and awareness re this guys and girls.  Couple more questions on my part and sorry not clued up wrt gas.....am I wrong in assuming it is the same type of gas as in calor lite ? propane thus nil difference wrt freezing point......Scottish winter caravanner -14 our record.

Also anybody got experience obtaining refill point in Scotland Central and Highlands?

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Our nearest filling station is at an Asda station, about 4 miles away, and I go there once a year and top up. Cost about £2 last time I went which was after 4 weeks away.

That is my great concern and perhaps Merve can reassure us....!!

I cannot justify the cost of a Safefill cylinder based on my current useage. However if when the new lightweight cylinder is announced and rolled out by Calor it is not swapped like for like with empty Calorlites, I am not prepared to pay a new cylinder rental agreement on principle and would prefer to put the money towards a Safefill cylinder.

However I have two concerns and Hitches post highlights one of them perfectly....

My local Asda has only one LPG pump and I think it is about two years since I last saw anyone filling a vehicle up at the pump. I understand sales of new LPG cars have stopped and even conversions have dried up. On that basis how long will petrol station forecourts continue to have an LPG pump (Hitches £2 a year is not going to make that viable...). I read on here BP have removed LPG pumps from their forecourts, how long before the other big retailers do as well?  If I've got to go poking around farmers markets and the like for a few quids worth of gas, especially up in Scotland, thats not very appealing....

My second concern is that a Safefill bottle requires some sort of maintenance or recertification at 10 years old. So I can factor that into my calculations/plans, does anyone know whats involved with that and crucially, how much it costs...??

If I were running a petrol station with LPG pumps no way would I permit the filling of any bottles after doing an assessment of risk and profitability.

Safefill may be perfectly safe indeed but how can my cashier behind the desk be certain that it is a safefill being filled and not a diy lashup? 

Unless there were a large number wanting to take significant amounts of gas why should I put the responsibility on my cashier in order to add a pittance to the stations income? 

These are points I have raised time and again that refillable are only viable if you use enough gas and there are places to fill them conveniently and enough people use LPG to warrant a garage stocking it.  

I suspect many main road service area type stockists are forced to hold LPG but the likes of ASDA et al are not.

I wonder if Calor will make a foray into refillable when they replace the calor lite, then they would just have to install large tanks at their stockists to allow people to refill now that would be a revolution.

I doubt that Calor will bring out a refillable simply because they have millions tied up in rental cylinders and the revenue is immense . There already is a revolution going on- it's called Safefill and it's revolutionised the LPG industry by giving people a choice between  hugely expensive rental or filling your own cylinder for 25% of the cost

Yes Ally you are correct it's propane for Safefill  same as calor and others red bottles and the same as cars that have LPG fuelling them.  The only change I made was to a stainless steel pigtail to make sure no bits of rubber mess up the system.  When I changed over I had had three if not four faulty pigtails in a very short space of time.  Added advantage is it has a no spanner fitting too at the cylinder end so easier than ever to undo to go for a refill.