lennyhb Posted September 4, 2011 Share Posted September 4, 2011 pelmetman - 2011-09-03 4:54 PMlennyhb - 2011-09-01 8:08 PM Yep sure do, can't see the point of paying for something I don't need & LPG works out cheaper than a hook up.You have set of my thrift detector Lenny:D.............and got my brain cell working overtime8-).......has anyone done the maffs re pay back time if you install solar power?Not such an easy one to work out Dave as if you are using a EHU you are going to be using electric for heating and if you have a british van for hot water as well if you were to apportion it, it would never be economic.It is a case of convenience, I fitted my panel after trolling around France in September last year & one day the batteries were very low as we had not been doing many miles between stops. We had to go out of our way to get a EHU as being France most of the campsites in the area closed at the end of August.In France at the moment & not having to worry about finding an EHU or how many lights I can turn on, a bit like re-fillable gas bottle once had never be without. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bolero boy Posted September 4, 2011 Share Posted September 4, 2011 Derek Uzzell - 2011-09-04 7:58 AM bolero boy - 2011-09-03 10:17 PM As i said earlier, my thought was 'when in Rome (Malaga?) do as the Romans do' and go for a locally swappable bottle and one refillable for everywhere else. It's surely a question of what you plan to do? If you stayed on a single campsite throughout the winter and (as it might be reasonable to expect for an open-all-year campsite) there was a healthy mains electricity supply, gas usage would be minimal. And, even if you envisaged a need to use a fair amount of gas on the campsite, you wouldn't necessarily have to carry it with you, as it's simple enough to plumb into the motorhome's gas system the facility to use an external, locally-sourced bottle. Thanks, Derek. You have confirmed that a locally sourced bottle will do the job when on site for a while, which is probably going to be the case. I will be checking the ACSI book for EHU power ratings on prospective sites. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JudgeMental Posted September 4, 2011 Share Posted September 4, 2011 Remember in Spain it is quite popular to have your electric supply metered? Not a clue what sort of price this works out at though...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave225 Posted September 4, 2011 Share Posted September 4, 2011 The majority of sites will offer 10 amps on EHU's. There are some smaller sites which may only offer 6 amps but you should always ask when you check in. As you are going in winter then it is more likely to be the big sites that are open and again 10 amps is the norm. We have seen some campers, in both summer and winter who buy an oven with 2 hotplates on the top. They can use either hotplate or oven without tripping thr EHU and this of course saves gas. We use a 1300 watt oven wiothout problem. We have also used a small fan heater around 1000-1500 watts again without too much problem. The only thing that runs off the mains is my fridge/battery charger, all lights etc are 12 volt from the battery., so I have a free field for usage. As for gas whatever you decide do try to carry at least 1 Camping Gaz 907 cylinder. It will act as a back up and can be refilled virtually anywhere. NOt the cheapest but rather than spend time running round the countryside finding everywhere cannot help....! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bolero boy Posted September 4, 2011 Share Posted September 4, 2011 Brian Kirby - 2011-09-04 1:17 PM bolero boy - 2011-09-03 10:17 PMMy guess, and it is no more than that, is that those who get/have Spanish cylinders, have the larger Repsol cylinders (around 11kg if I remember) that will not fit your gas locker. It is just unfortunate that Swift install mickey-mouse gas lockers aimed at a cylinder size unobtainable outside the UK. The locker size (lack of it) is a real bugbear..........however, a single larger Calor 13kg or Gaslow 11kg will fit so I am optimistic that a Repsol 11kg or Cepsa 13kg will be OK. I haven't yet found dimensions for these despite a fair trawl around both websites. These are available at filling stations and some supermarkets fairly readily. I realise I'll need a bottle (or pay a deposit) to start with but whatever.....I am conscious that this thread has veered a little towards helping my planning rather than the OP of alternatives to refillables in general.So, thanks to all for their help. Due to other changes in circumstances, I reckon our Spring trip will be a little later (March) so I dont think the heat/gas thing will be as important. However, I do want to get the 'process' right as we will want to stay away from most of the British winter in future.Thanks again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arthur Brown Posted September 4, 2011 Share Posted September 4, 2011 Have a look at Autogas map in Spain - googlemaps. There are quite a few LPG fill ups. I have used a couple and the directions seem to be spot on. Arthur Brown Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derek pringle Posted September 9, 2011 Share Posted September 9, 2011 Hi, I have refillable Gaslow system with 2 bottles and auto changeover. The bottles have not changed over on any of our holidays up to now, being up to 5 weeks mainly France/ Germany and short breaks in the UK. I am considering changeing to an underslung tank to gain what would be a reasonable size storage cupboard. As has already been pointed out on the thread none of these systems are cheap so my thoughts are in the embryonic stage. Question is--Where will I find out info on different providers of underslung tanks,sizes,cost of fitting etc.? Other than Gaslow I dont recall seeing many ads. for this service. Probably me but any help would be appreciated. cheers derek ps I fitted the Gaslow myself but wonder if the fixed tank would be a different proposition. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebishbus Posted September 9, 2011 Share Posted September 9, 2011 Hi. Just a thought, if you are thinking of fitting a new underslung tank, what happens to LPG tanks fitted to cars etc, when the cars are scrapped. ? Are they available cheaply from dismantlers, ? may be worth checking. :-D Brian B. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pkc Posted September 9, 2011 Share Posted September 9, 2011 Not the same at all, car type have liquid take off, as opposed to vapour take off, forget it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel B Posted September 9, 2011 Share Posted September 9, 2011 Derek, if you want to free up space, why not simply remove your auto-changeover valve and one of the gas bottles? If you have never found it has changed over then it seems that one bottle is sufficient for your needs - we only have one bottle as that is all our locker will take and we manage perfectly well with that - we don't use sites so the fridge and cooking is all done using the gas and we get a lot of 'miles' out of it!! We do have a diesel heater now, but on our previous van we didn't so used it for heating as well and never had a problem, we just topped it up when we felt it needed it after a few weeks. As for fitting an underslung gas tank, Clive Mott-Gotobed (aka plain old 'Clive' on this forum), has done this previously and put his experience on his webpage at: http://www.motts.org/MOTORHOMES.htm Another option to consider if you want more storage space is getting a 'beeny-box' locker installed in the skirt of your motorhome (if there is a suitable space) as this may prove cheaper than a gas tank installation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derek pringle Posted September 10, 2011 Share Posted September 10, 2011 Thanks thebishbush and pkc for clearing up the car tank issue. Mel B, I think your idea may well be the final solution as we would still retain the second tank if ever we ventured on a journey we thought we may need to take it. We do use sites 99.9% of the time so we do have e.h.u. for elec. ring and microwave so you are right we would probably never run out of gas and could still fill if necessary. Another by product of this solution is the money saved could go towards Air Suspension. thanks for your help guys derek Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bolero boy Posted September 10, 2011 Share Posted September 10, 2011 Hi Derek, two things - firstly, I have seen CAK Tanks recommended regularly on this forum for all types of tank including underslung gas tanks.secondly, do you have 2x6kg Gaslow tanks on your Voyager or can you use the larger ones? If you do think of going fo an underslung tank I might talk to you re your Gaslow tanks.Chris from the Swift forum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derek pringle Posted September 11, 2011 Share Posted September 11, 2011 Hi Chris, we have 2 x 6kg bottles in our bessie 660 with steel hoses and auto changeover. Please feel free to private mail me and I will make enquiries about the feasability of an underslung tank. I will also give you my number if you mail me. cheers derek Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bolero boy Posted September 11, 2011 Share Posted September 11, 2011 derek pringle - 2011-09-11 12:10 PM Hi Chris, we have 2 x 6kg bottles in our bessie 660 with steel hoses and auto changeover. Please feel free to private mail me and I will make enquiries about the feasability of an underslung tank. I will also give you my number if you mail me. cheers derek Thanks Derek, have PM'd you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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