Availability of 6KG Calor gas bottles.

Gas again eh...
Living in a rural area with not much demand for small gas bottles, it's never been a problem obtaining exchange 6KG Calor, until now that is.
Yesterday I took my empty bottle to the local supplier that I've used since they opened their shop seven or eight years ago, only to be told I had to leave my empty and add my name and telephone number to a long waiting list. No promises as to when they'd get full bottles in, could be a week, maybe two. I was told that for the last six or seven deliveries they'd received about a quarter of their gas orders.
What's going on? I'm ok as I still have one full bottle, enough for the few short trips I have planned, but if I was about to go on an extended continental trip it'd be a different matter.
Al.

I had the same problem when staying in Ayr back in April.  No Calor propane supply in the size of cylinders we use anywhere.  I was told that priority had been given to the bigger cylinders used for household heating/cooking.  I was also told that Calor had a shortage of cylinders to fill.  Every place I checked had empties a plenty which had not been collected for refilling.

On return to Gloucestershire I had to take the vehicle to the company that does work on my van as the water pump had failed.  During the conversation as I was leaving I casuually said 'I don't suppose you have a 6kg cylinder?' The answer was that they had a number and expressed surprise that we had encountered problems.  So the answer seems to be that there is a problem, but not in every area.  I presume Calor have various facilities around the country and only some are experiencing problems.

To come back to another problem, LPG supplies.  I was told that as service, sales and hire fleet operators (M5 Leisure) they were thinking of installing LPG facilities on their own site to cater for motorhomes with fixed tanks.

Tony Comber

I had to swap to Flo-gas in the middle of winter, we use 7kg calor bottles, and there wasn't a single one in Caithness or Sutherland. No problem getting flogas, and still no problem... But I read this on their website this morning.

'Increased delivery timelines
Please note that due to extraordinary demand in some regions, we are currently unable to guarantee a specific delivery dates and you may experience delays to your order.

You may wish to contact your local Flogas depot or local Flogas dealer directly to discuss cylinder availability. Details of these outlets can be found via Stockist Finder

We continue to endeavour to supply your order as soon as possible but we ask for your patience during this time"

A result of calor customers swapping out, do you think?

During the Beast From the East in March 2018 I had problems getting Calor refills in Cornwall but had no problem with Flogas. I suspect that they are the better operation so it may be worth thinking about changing or dual sourcing if you have a local Flogas dealer.

Agreed....we have both now. Might be interesting if you are on holiday, forward planning, know where you're going and see which supplier is more prevalent on your route!

I used to buy my bottles from a local Calor supplier but recently it was hit and miss as Bikerlaw said with no promise when they would have stock. I now travel six miles to a garage that has a small selection on the forecourt. The local shop has been in business since we came here in 82 but I can’t see how they are going to survive.
It’s tempting to swap to refillable bottles but this area is devoid of autoggas filling points. A local transport company had the price for autogas blanked out yesterday so it looks like they have stopped selling it.

I see lots of small independent van converting companies are offering all-electric options. 600w+ solar, lithium multi-battery pack with big inverters etc.
Maybe this is the way things will have to go in the near future.
Al.

Obviously I’m not a converter Al but I have seriously considered building my next van, eliminating gas and going all electric was high on priorities.

Duplicate

bikeralw wrote:I see lots of small independent van converting companies are offering all-electric options. 600w+ solar, lithium multi-battery pack with big inverters etc.
Maybe this is the way things will have to go in the near future.
Al.

Recreational boats, particularly inland, have gone the 230ac / inverter route for a long time. I was building boats with inverters in the late eighties, and more recent barge projects that I have designed have been almost totally AC, including most lighting, all heating, pumps, fridges, AC etc. You would hard put to find a narrow boat or barge builder these days who does not fit large inverters as standard and offer solar. Even though many motorhomes have led lighting they still seem to be in the electrical dark ages!

My Kingham inverter is working brilliantly and I can hardly remember when we last plugged into an EHU. My only regret is that I only fitted a 2kw unit. 3 would have been better. I still have the solar to look at but to be honest with the enhanced split charge system that I also fitted we are getting that much charge into the batteries now that we hardly need to improve the solar, but we do tend to move every day. We now cook almost totally electric.

Got the call this morning that our local supplier finally had a delivery of 6kg bottles, a few cylinders less than their original order, but enough to tick off everyone on their waiting list.
The price has gone up a few quid, now about the same cost as one night at a campsite, but as I've said before, a full bottle lasts us around three weeks of off-grid camping.
Al.

I have given up with the Calor shop in town. I tried them yesterday and they had no 6kg bottles and didn’t know when they would get any more.
This morning I tried a garage in the next town 6 miles away. They said they were getting short but had a delivery booked for tomorrow. There prices are about average at £28 and most important they had bottles.
The local shop must be surviving on their contract with the local holiday camp supplying the big bottles but that must dwindle in the winter.

Hi Everyone
         Calor has decided to phase out the small 3.9kg bottle offering to swap it for the 6kg bottle, this has obviously created a shortage
    regards
     Alan

We made an interesting discovery whilst filling up management’s Fiesta. The Jet filling station 100 yds from our house has got its Calor bottle cage back. It used to be at the front of the kiosk but it disappeared when they had a cash machine fitted five years ago. Next time I need fuel I will ask how much there 6kg bottles are. There must be a contract with Jet because the other garage I bought the last bottle from is a Jet filling station.
This will be another nail in the coffin for the Calor shop in town.

Hi
   Correct thread but wrong section, I did advertise that I had some 6KG Butane bottles for sale
     Alan

I was chatting to a reputable outlet earlier and they indicated that problems with the 6kg bottles has now been sorted. They have 3 in stock and more being delivered on Thursday.
I’m trying my luck with an empty 3.9kg tomorrow so will report back.

Now got a full 6kg, probably going to to keep it but if anyone wants to collect from Aylesbury it’s £55. Going for stupid money on the bay from greedy sellers.

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