Safefill 10Kg
New to caravaning, we've not even got our caravan yet - it is on on order from Elddis. So we've been doing a lot of research, there is a lot of data out there on the internet but I was struggling to find out what size of gas bottles would fit in to the gas
locker of our van (which we haven't got yet).
So after a trip to the (not so local) Caravan Accessory shop at Webbs in Reading - (they were brilliant - so... helpful) . They helped by allowing me to take one of their 10kg Safefill bottles over to a Elddis 55x Caravan display model - that has the same
structure/footprint as ours. So I can confirm that a 10kg Safefill cylinder will fit in to the gas locker of a Elddis 55x. (And being refillable then I just need the one cylinder).
Doubtless everyone has there own preferances on Calorlite vs BP GasLight vs Safefill etc etc. For me, I was persuaded by the quantity of LPG fill suppliers listed and the cost-of-ownership. For ease of maths, I simply calculated what the total spend would
be once 30kg of gas has been consumed (initial rental + swaps for 2 cyclinder for BP or Calor)
30kg of Gas:
BPGaslight £238 (two initial rentals + 4 swaps) - (however you can get a refund if your no longer need the cylinders, so reducing the cost of ownership to reflect their residual value then 30kg would cost £213).
Calorlite £172 (two initial rentals + 3 swaps - I assume Calorlite's can also be refunded - but couldn't find how much?)
Purchase of a Single 10kg Safefill cylinder + 30kg of gas = £177
Redoing the math for 60kg; then Gaslight £375; Calorlite £310; Safefill £194
I pondered the 2 Rental Cylinders; 1 runs out; swap to the spare and exchange the empty (at our leisure (i.e. non urgent)) scenario - but a fair comparison for Safefill is: top-up the part full 10kg Safefill before departing; occasionaly check the gauge
or look at the visible level and take it for another refill before it runs out (when we happen to be passing somewhere that does LPG refills).
Hope this info helps others in their research/decision making
Comments
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Good choice, have had a Safefill cylinder (8.6kg/15ltrs) for a few years now using cheap gas, cost of cylinder is now paid for and as you say, just top it up and always go off will a full cylinder and with a 150w solar panal no need for EHU.
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It looks like you've calculated gaslight using the 5kg cylinders. There's also a 10kg (which has the same dimensions as the 10kg safefill) which should be a maximum of £33 to refill and generally less.
Gaslight is definitely more expensive than calorlite but I'm surprised it's so much more.
If I hadn't been given two calorlites when I bought my van I'd have bought safefill but the numbers don't stack up for us.
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To replace two 6kg (gas) steel bottles, I rented a 10kg (gas) Gaslight from Hedon hire near me recently at £51 bottle hire and gas, future refills were quoted at £24 something. so for 30kg of gas usage it will work out at £99 something. Only just fits into my front locker mind.
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You did well there Dave. Homebase shows the price of rental plus gas at £72.99 and refills at £32.99 but it's always included in their discount weekends so it can be cheaper.
30kg of gaslight in the 10kg cylinders at homebase price would be £139 and there's a refund possible. This is why safefill doesn't stack up for me as I was given an empty gaslight cylinder and don't use as much gas as others.
The situation is constantly under review
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If we used more gas we would splash out on safe fill but we use less than one calor light a year, only use gas for the cooker and hob, I think the payback for us would be over 10 years!! so unless our vanning changes we will stick with the calor lights
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I've used 2 calorlite in 10 years. They were both within the recall scheme so I have had both of them exchanged for free. Hopefully that's my gas sorted until 2026.
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If you are new to caravaning and need to buy gas cylinders then that is the ideal point at which to invest in Safefill etc. Even though I have 2 Calorlite it has still paid me to move to Safefill as I use a lot of CLs without EHUs. However if like Rangeroverman using EHUs then the gas consumption will be low and savings by switching from an existing Calor etc would be harder to justify.
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Although we are not high gas users at only 2 - 3 bottles a year, at least we can stick up a finger at Calor Gas's racketering charges. The last 6kg Calorlite we refilled cost us £28.99. For that price I can fill our 10kg bottle almost three times from
empty! Obviously if you only use one bottle of gas a year probably not worth it!1 -
Good move. I also got a safefill cylinder and after just two weekends away it's half empty. Won't be too long before it pays for itself at this rate. The fridge works a lot better on gas than on electric. As the cylinder is so cheap to refill I don't mind
using it.0 -
Yes, good move hillclimb. I went to Safefill 3 years ago and have never regretted it. Folk on here will know how much of a Safefill evangelist I am. I could never go back to rip off Calor. I think Safefill will become the default choice for many in the caravan
field (no pun intended) over the next few years. I notice at the NEC shows there is always great interest around the Safefill display at the Jacksons stall. For me, it's a no brainer. For those who love that electric cable and can pay for it night after night,
I say good luck to them but there are ways to be just as comfortable and at a greatly reduced cost. yes, good choice.0 -
Good choice, have had a Safefill cylinder (8.6kg/15ltrs) for a few years now using cheap gas, cost of cylinder is now paid for and as you say, just top it up and always go off will a full cylinder and with a 150w solar panal no need for EHU.
Write your comments here...Great isnt it Chris?
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Whilst I really like the idea, I have worries on getting it filled where I live, I suppose you can fill whilst touring, shame petrol forecourts are not more forgiving and understand the safety devices fitted to the cylinder.
Write your comments here...well that's what Safe fill are trying to do NSIL. Educate these outlets!! With our help that is much easier. Ring your namesake NEIL at Safefill and ask for some leaflets to explain just how safe these cylinders are to fill up!!
With our input, the task of getting these businesses to accept Safefill will be so much easier! We, as the end users need to show that there is a growing and determined adoption of the Safefill cylinder- once we do that, market forces will take over. You
will find NEIL or JOHN very helpful and most grateful for any help offered. Thanks.0 -
I generally only use EHU now if it is included in the price of the pitch. For those places that charge, it is generally going to cost more to pay for EHU than cost of gas used.... we use about 0.6-0.8KG/day for gas for 5 of us for cooking/fridge/hot water
and heating (not very cold weather though!). 10KG safefill cost £11.33 when I filled from empty... No where very local to fill, so costs a bit to drive to place I can fill, so probably £15/10KG. Therefore < £1.50/day for gas when not on EHU.0 -
Whilst I really like the idea, I have worries on getting it filled where I live, I suppose you can fill whilst touring, shame petrol forecourts are not more forgiving and understand the safety devices fitted to the cylinder.
Write your comments here...well that's what Safe fill are trying to do NSIL. Educate these outlets!! With our help that is much easier. Ring your namesake NEIL at Safefill and ask for some leaflets to explain just how safe these cylinders are to fill up!! With our input, the task of getting these businesses to accept Safefill will be so much easier! We, as the end users need to show that there is a growing and determined adoption of the Safefill cylinder- once we do that, market forces will take over. You will find NEIL or JOHN very helpful and most grateful for any help offered. Thanks.
Like golfneil what puts me off is the mixed messages about filling up. The UKLPG Industry Information Sheet seems to indicate that self service retailers are not to refill portable cylinders (which are refillable). Fixed containers can be filled, subject to certain conditions. Whilst it has the date of 2011 it is still on their website and referenced by the Health and Safety Executive. So I'm totally confused.
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So far I have filled and topped up my big cylinder at a car conversion to LPG place at Welton near Lincoln. I fix it carefully into the back Seatbelt when done. Highly recommended serviced fill up point.
When I decided to give for Safefill I could only get the big cylinder which I am now so pleased to have as it is ages before top up is needed. But you would need to be sure it fits in the locker. If.money was no object I would get a smaller one as well
but it certainly isn't in cessary for.me yet0 -
Wow! I've just stumbled across this thread and what an eye-opener it is!
We currently use the 4.5kg butane bottles and we get through approximately 1 a year so we are not big users by any stretch of the imagination.
The large initial outlay of about £150 is a bit off-putting but given that I'm 41 and older than my wife and we have no intention of giving up caravanning then it will eventually pay for itself. I reackoin on current usage and costs it'll probably take about
8-10 years though!I've really enjoyed being educated by you on this - thanks! I guess it's what this forum is all about. :-)
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TH, if you read the thread about surviving without a 230v ehu, you'll see that the real savings are made by being able to use non-ehu sites at a large discount....some are only £6 ish...
saving £6-£10 a night (compared to many ehu CL/sites) soon racks up the savings.
Merves thread passes on loads of tips including the use of solar panels and inverters to complement the cheap gas, giving you independence from ehu cables and thus widening your choice of site/location.
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Perhaps this is something that the Caravan Club Technical Committee should be looking at? I contacted UKLPG (the trade association of the U.K. LP Gas Industry) for advice on being able to refill containers such as Safefill. They responded straight away.
I thought I would copy their reply. I know that Safefill have the 80% fill mechanism and the re-testing, but if you have a look at the UKLPG information sheet I wonder if its the
type of connection used which does not make them meet the guidance of UKLPG? As I began should the Caravan Club be pressing for changes so that caravanning can be more good value?Here is the reply from UKLPG:
"We are revising our guidance on the implications of owning and filling a freestanding LPG cylinder however, I am afraid that the guidance will not differ too much from our existing guidance information sheet 026 (August 2011).
Although we cannot give specific advice please be aware that all LPG cylinders require periodic testing and inspection and there is high potential risk during filling of the cylinder if you do not have the correct connection and safe guards in place
to prevent overfilling and therefore over-pressurisation of the cylinder.
There are a lot of legal duties imposed on a public refuelling facility such as a petroleum forecourt which is why many companies do not offer a cylinder filling service.
We cannot tell you what to do but would urge you to gain more information so that you can take account of the whole life costs of owning a LPG cylinder together with the associated risks of filling."0 -
Thanks for that dwig now I think a chat with either Niel or John at Safefill will give you a complete picture. Filling a Safefill cylinder is safer than filling a car and how many do that during a day? I have a feeling, call me suspicious, that this UKLPG
may be made up of directors etc from Calor and Flogas!!!0 -
Yes that's in the back of my mind so I had a look at the UKLPG website and sure enough they are members but to balance it so are a number of other bodies including......the Caravan Club. But strangely Safefill are not members. Rather than waiting for somebody else to contact the Caravan Club I have emailed them just now for advice.
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On issues like this the CC are as much use as chocolate fireguard
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On issues like this the CC are as much use as chocolate fireguard
Write your comments here...Couldn't have put it better myself Cyber. I would love to see the CC fighting it's corner for its members but Calor and co are massive sponsers of events etc so little can be wondered at. This is a cartel whose throttle like grip
on massive profits in cylinder exchange and the leisure industry is being slowly released by a very brave and resilient company- Safefill. They are fighting and doing the CCs job but they need our help wherever we can give it. Ive said it before and I say
it again, the pressure for these perfectly safe cylinders to become the norm is growing. Yes, they are not the answer to some but to most like me they are an absolute Godsend. Power to the people!!2 -
Cynic that I am, I do wonder how much the reluctance of forecourts to allow refilling of perfectly safe cylinders is actually to do with safety and not due to profit.
As a Safefill costs very little to refill, (under £3 for half a cylinder last weekend), there's no money in it.
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hi could anyone tell me if you need a different connecter in your caravan for the safefill bottles thinking of maybe getting one as we do about 5 weeks in summer off grid then a week in may we have the calor lite bottles they cost about £24 for refill which
works out quite expensive when your running it all off gas is there many places that will let you refill thanks0 -
Made the switch over to gas light a week ago 10 k at Homebase Christchurch, contract £66, but when you need to change keep your reciept and you get a refill for half price, mind you 10K will probs last me two years so anything can happen in that time, oh
and you can actualy see the level of gas used from looking at the cylinder..0
