Calor propane retailers/prices?

[Kev888]

Theres a 'Go Outdoors' opened in Derby; I was looking at their price of Calor gas propane. Seems they want ~£38 for a 19kg refill, which at about £2/kg is actually a tad more per kg than their rather smaller 13kg refills
A bit of poking about shows places doing 19kg refills for ~£28, though sadly too far away to be economical.

Just wondered if there are any national stockists/chains that people have found to be good value, or if in fact the popularity of 13kg makes it a better bet?

Cheers
Kev

[jaroporter]

in my experience the 19kg is more expensive than the 13kg most places. perhaps it's the base price calor set.. ?

stockists? i live pretty much in the countryside so every village shop/garden centre/hardware store/fuel station sells it, so prices never vary more than a pound. not looked in a go outdoors though so can't compare.

[Kev888]

Ah, interesting, many thanks. I was going to go for a 19kg and maybe a weeny one as backup.. but perhaps two 13kg ones would be a better bet for cheaper gas, as well as not exceeding the recommended offtake of the small backup cylinder.

Cheers
Kev

[boff]

It all depends on how much gas you use but if it's a lot then maybe the murky world of filling your own maybe an option LPG auto gas costs about £0.7 per litre or about £1.40 per kg. it is possible to buy refillable bottles google Gasit, gaslow, or safefill these bottles are all fitted with a cutoff device so you can't overfill them. I have also heard of people buying devices off eBay so you can refill calor type bottles. However this cannot be recommended as it contravenes the hire regulations and is potentially dangerous if you don't know what you are doing.

[Kev888]

Interesting stuff, I'd never even heard of that! Many thanks, I'll look into it.

Cheers
Kev

[spanspoon]

I didn't really compare 13 to 19 kg prices but luckily dropped on a full 19kg calor propane cylinder for 30 squid from eBay. The seller was based in Walsall and they had two. Might be worth a search on there to see if they have the other one left, beats paying the hire charge!

[Kev888]

Thats not bad! They may be one of the sellers I found on ebay actually. Sadly its a bit too far for me; if I burn too much petrol getting refills on the round trip, it would only save a few quid over just popping out to the garage across the road. though I am on freecycle asking for any empty cylinders to avoid hire charges.

Cheers
kev

[themadhippy]

It may have changed in recent years but when i lived in a mobile home around 15 years ago there was no/less vat if you were using the gas for domestic heating/cooking rather than if you were using it in your holiday caravan.

[Kev888]

Interesting, thanks -another thing to research. I too may be living in a van of some kind before very long.

Cheers
kev

[boingy]

Go Outdoor are comedy prices on most things, plus they have a daft membership thing.
I've found Calor prices to be pretty stable at normal outlets. Some garages stock it and also some builders merchants.
I use 13KG. 19 KG is a bit of a beast to lug around and always seemed a bit too big to fit anywhere.

And avoid Flo-Gas. I've dealt with them in Cambs, Northants and Gloucs and they were all idiots. One dumbass at one branch is acceptable but they seem to specialise in providing a rubbish, unfriendly service nationwide.

[Kev888]

Ah, thats useful to know, thanks!

Looks like the Calor 13kg ones are the optimum on price, convenience and obtain-ability then. They seem quite big enough for a ~9kw burner too, so I'll target my search for free/cheap empties towards those

Your Flo-gas experiences are interesting; I called in a place locally to enquire and failed to get served! Another plus for Calor really - loads of their stockists around here are normal, everyday retailers.

Cheers,
Kev

[jaroporter]

Looks like the Calor 13kg ones are the optimum on price, convenience and obtain-ability then. ..so I'll target my search for free/cheap empties towards those

just as a note, all the places i've used have been happy to exchange different weight cylinders. eg, empty 19kg can be exchanged for full 13kg

[GrowlingDogBeer]

I use 19kg cylinders at the moment. I think I might switch to the 13kg ones. I always assumed they would work out more expensive.

[boingy]

There is a weird Calor rule about changing sizes. There are "bands" that you cannot change across so you can change a 19 for a 13 but you can't change a 13 for a 6 (I think). No idea why they'd have such a daft rule. You are also not allowed to swap a butane for a propane although I have done this once with my local garage chap. Technically he's not allowed to do it but he said "they have no way of knowing unless they inspect every cylinder in the cage".

Incidentally, if you need a cylinder you can "buy" empty ones at car boots, typically for a fiver. It breaches several of the Calor "licensing" rules but, once again, they have no way of knowing.

[Fil]

these people seem to offer good prices?
http://www.gasdeal.co.uk/
tho i have not bought from em.