Anyone on or know about domestic LPG supplies?

Box Brownie

Box Brownie

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Hi all

Just curious so wondered if any TP folk have insight on this.

I saw an LPG installation with what I think were 2 off 47KG tanks and each appeared to have a sort of simply gauge on the top. But what struck me was with two cylinders how is it handled ~ i.e. are they both drawn from together or is there some sort of auto switching that happens when cylinder 1 is depleted???

Other than eyeball monitoring the tank gauges how do you know when one of both need topping up?

TIA for the thoughts and feedback :)
 
You get an auto changeover regulator. When the pressure drops on the first bottle, it changes to the second.
You can also get 4 bottle set ups.
 
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As Bob said. I have a 2 bottle setup. There's an indicator on the valve that shows red when one bottle is empty and tells you which one. Then (well, some time later actually because one bottle lasts me about a year) I ring Calor and a few days later the empty bottle is magically replaced.
 
My late ma had a propane four bottle set up with auto changeover, very expensive way to buy gas and dependent on regular deliveries.

Latterly had a gas storage tank in the garden, worked out cheaper and only needed topping up fairly infrequently.
To make installation a lot cheaper I laid the concrete base and dug the trench for the feed pipe.
 
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tijuana taxi said:
My late ma had a propane four bottle set up with auto changeover, very expensive way to buy gas and dependent on regular deliveries.

Latterly had a gas storage tank in the garden, worked out cheaper and only needed topping up fairly infrequently.
To make installation a lot cheaper I laid the concrete base and dug the trench for the feed pipe.
Click to expand...

The best setup depends on what your usage is. I'm only running a small boiler for hot water and the hob, so for me the bottles on the changeover valve is fine. If I had gas heating I would have needed a tank, which would have been prohibitively expensive and impractical. The galling thing is that the gas main runs past, but not into the village. Years ago British Gas as they were then offered to connect us, but they needed a minimum takeup at a cost of several hundred pounds per house. Unsurprisingly we never got mains gas.
 
Bobsyeruncle said:
Calor do a scheme where you don't pay to have a tank installed.
Click to expand...

Not sure what they charge now, but it used to be 26p a day to rent the tank, still well cheaper than the bottles if you use a fair bit of gas.
Every couple of years they offered money off vouchers if you signed up for a fixed period, 75 quid or so if I recall correctly.
 
Thanks all for the user insights :)

The installation I saw provides hot water and heating. I was told that the usage is (of course) much lower in summer months but averages 1 bottle per month with each cylinder currently costing £55.

On balance I think that equates close'ish to mains gas?

They had no space for a surface or buried tank, though I have read this evening of Calor Compact 'system', so no idea if they had considered that as a viable cost effective upgrade.
 
The compact system is just 4 bottles but does seem to be monitored so presumably they change the bottles without you having to do anything. There are pretty strict rules about where you can have gas bottles in respect to the house windows, drains etc. Fine if there's a blank wall but if there isn't it's worth getting the place checked over first. I couldn't have my bottles where I actually wanted them. And although they say 'compact' 4 bottles plus the 'shed' do take a fair amount of space.
 
One other thing to bear in mind is that other companies provide LPG, easy to only think of Calor.
 
I worked for bp once upon a time and the calls I got from people who couldn't heat their houses in bad weather due to tankers not being able to access their sites were shocking. This mainly applied to rural areas right enough.
 
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