Picking up 2012 AS Nuevo EK on 22nd Nov

K

davey wrote:I have 2 refillables for extra long  continental trips,Melcragg maybe planning the same!

We now have 2x11 kg refillable ( Gasit) bottles in our new van. Both tanks are connected together so bothfill at the same time from an external filler point. We also have an auto changeover switch and a crash protection unit fitted.
We started out in France when we bought the van in October, with one 13kg propane bottle and a half empty Gasit bottle. The Gasit bottle fitted straight onto the vans pigtails and as I couldn’t fill it yet, was to be my reserve supply. My intention was to buy a second Gasit bottle with the necessary pipework and fittings.

 So, I needed a full propane bottle to get me started. The propane cost me €33 for a new full bottle. ( with €5 refundable when I return the bottle.) 
The bottle ran out in the U.K after 2 weeks of very cold weather and I had to buy a new full propane bottle, plus a pigtail. (Different fittings on U.K. and Euro propane bottles.) 
The 13kg bottle and pigtail cost me £85.
We ran out of gas again a couple of weeks later and I had to get a refill, for £37.99.
Total cost of 3 bottles of gas was over £152!

Anyway, I bought the second Gasit bottle in the U.K. and fitted it with my original bottle when we got home. 
I put in about 42 litres of gas at a cost of around £26. 
The equivalent amount of gas if I bought 2 calor refills would be about £70 and I would have to undo and take the old one out and carry it to the shop ( assuming I can park close by) and carry out and fit the new new one.

The first Gasit bottle I had fitted to my old van and has paid for itself many times over. I will break even on the second bottle with about 4 complete fills, which we will do in 6 months. 
After that, I save about £25 every time I fill just one bottle up.

It’s all down to personal choice and how you use your van, but it suits me as we use the van all the time and don’t scrimp on heating or use campsites regularly ( when we do we heat on gas as our heater only works on gas)so I cannot personally see the attraction of non refillable bottles unless you use less than one or two a year.

ajrm wrote:K

davey wrote:I have 2 refillables for extra long  continental trips,Melcragg maybe planning the same!

We now have 2x11 kg refillable ( Gasit) bottles in our new van. Both tanks are connected together so bothfill at the same time from an external filler point. We also have an auto changeover switch and a crash protection unit fitted.
We started out in France when we bought the van in October, with one 13kg propane bottle and a half empty Gasit bottle. The Gasit bottle fitted straight onto the vans pigtails and as I couldn’t fill it yet, was to be my reserve supply. My intention was to buy a second Gasit bottle with the necessary pipework and fittings.

 So, I needed a full propane bottle to get me started. The propane cost me €33 for a new full bottle. ( with €5 refundable when I return the bottle.) 
The bottle ran out in the U.K after 2 weeks of very cold weather and I had to buy a new full propane bottle, plus a pigtail. (Different fittings on U.K. and Euro propane bottles.) 
The 13kg bottle and pigtail cost me £85.
We ran out of gas again a couple of weeks later and I had to get a refill, for £37.99.
Total cost of 3 bottles of gas was over £152!

Anyway, I bought the second Gasit bottle in the U.K. and fitted it with my original bottle when we got home. 
I put in about 42 litres of gas at a cost of around £26. 
The equivalent amount of gas if I bought 2 calor refills would be about £70 and I would have to undo and take the old one out and carry it to the shop ( assuming I can park close by) and carry out and fit the new new one.

The first Gasit bottle I had fitted to my old van and has paid for itself many times over. I will break even on the second bottle with about 4 complete fills, which we will do in 6 months. 
After that, I save about £25 every time I fill just one bottle up.

It’s all down to personal choice and how you use your van, but it suits me as we use the van all the time and don’t scrimp on heating or use campsites regularly ( when we do we heat on gas as our heater only works on gas)so I cannot personally see the attraction of non refillable bottles unless you use less than one or two a year.

Was your new van already fitted with a filler?  Is your filler now in the gas locker or in the skirt and did you fit it?
I use only one 13kg Calor bottle a year (at least 8 weeks use) as we don't normally do cold weather motorhoming - your usage at 6kg (or 12 litres) a week is clearly more signigficant.  Having said that £38 for a refill is significantly more than the £34.50 current recommended price. Forgeting the difference between 11kg Gasit and 13kg Calor you save and even allowing for paying over the odds for Calor the saving on a bottle of gas is £25 per refill.  The two Gasit bottle kit including a free in the locker fill point and easyfill is £367.52 and it appears that in the locker filling point is now OK following a red book amendment.  So after 15 bottle fills you are in profit.  For me that is 15 years so it does not seem worhwhile.  However, If I only buy one cylinder and keep my Calor as a spare then the cost drops to £141 for a cylinder plus £32 for the on bottle fill bayonet - say 7 fills - your 3 fills was for 2 bottles each fill and did not include the fill bayonet adaptor  And if you do a lot of staying at sites with a 4KwH limit on "free" electricity in spring and autumn that helps the Gasit economics by using cheap gas instead of very expensive electricity for heating.
Food for thought!
As you say - at more than two bottles a year it is worth changing over to refillables - And if you are buying new cylinders anyway as you did then there is no contest.

Our van came set up for two normal 13 kg bottles, but no bottles were supplied. I fitted the filler on the skirt as I prefer it outside and have never been questioned about filling up. 
The £37.99 bottle came from a garage near Dover on a Sunday evening and as we had nearly run out, and temperatures were at or near to freezing, I paid whatever price they asked
I can understand with your use of gas, there would be a long wait before you were benefitting from refillables, for me it’s essential, and so much more convenient, especially living in France where it it easy to find anywhere. It’s just the UK that we need to plan and research more to ensure we can get gas.
We are setting off the the UK next week with 22 kg of gas and an empty Calor bottle to return.

I hope that I was agreeing with your reasoning. I was thinking aloud and working out the economics in my scenario as I am sorely tempted by refillables. However, at age 77 the sums don't work and convenience is the only relevant criterion. But there has been discussion here that gas at pumps might be disappearing rather than getting easier.

I think we were both agreeing with each other, I guess we do what suits us and in both circumstances, we are doing the best financially.

Apart from the savings on gas (after the set up costs have been amortised) it's really the convenience that's seals it for us...
we tour extensively abroad and can get gas without much trouble and no switching bottles between France and Spain...

oh....and there is a good residual value in refillables should the user ever change their mind..