3.9kg Propane Bottle Shortage

[Piratepete]

Hi Guys
Just emptied my 3.9 kg Calor bottle only to find that Calor have stopped supplying or exchanging these (since Feb this year).
Suppliers are using up existing stock, but in my area they've all gone.
I've managed to buy a Flogas 3.9 kg bottle, but it seems that I was lucky because these are also in short supply due to thousands of ex Calor customers buying Flogas!

I think that this commercial move by Calor was incredibly irresponsible because so many gas lockers on campers and boats can't fit a 6kg bottle (Calor's solution).
I could've changed to smaller Camping Gaz bottles with gas double the price. However I run totally on gas (inc. the fridge) due to some of the exorbitant fees charged by some campsites for electricity, so using smaller bottles is not the way I wish to go.
Is anyone else having similar problems and what has been your solution?
Cheers!
Pete

[R0B]

My LPG supplier told me Calor have stopped doing them as there is no or very little profit made on them.

[KateLovesPurple]

My coachbuilt I bought back in February has a gas locker in it designed to take 2 x 3.9kg propane bottles too. Of course I only found out about the lack of calor bottles after that, and there is no way I can fit in a 6kg bottle.
I thought about fitting a double bottle gaslow lpg system, they do a 2.7kg bottle of about the same size, but the initial cost is too much for me right now, so I have gone down the Flogas route also. I tried to get a 3.9kg bottle from gaslow themselves but their own people told me on the phone they have none spare to sell, only empty for full swaps. They suggested i try ebay or market place for a bottle! Luckily I found one on ebay, so now I have a partly empty Calor and a full Flogas as backup.
I really cannot think what Calor hope to gain from dropping these bottles. They are just going to lose so many customers. I spoke to a guy in a caravan and motorhome dealers and he is sending people down the road to flogas or they are offering rebuilds to take 6kg bottles if possible! Madness.

[Mocki]

They have not completely stopped supply , they have stopped replacing worn out and dangerous cylinders , so supply will be “awkward” but not impossible

https://www.calor.co.uk/news-and-views/ ... nder-range

[ajsimmo]

Perhaps some calor users could switch to the 5kg patio gas, which is shorter and wider than the 6kg bottle. You'd need to change the regulator to fit the bottle, but it's still 37mbar propane.

Sent from my moto g(30) using Tapatalk

[Piratepete]

They have not completely stopped supply , they have stopped replacing worn out and dangerous cylinders , so supply will be “awkward” but not impossible

https://www.calor.co.uk/news-and-views/ ... nder-range

Hi Steve
I tried 10 Calor suppliers in my area and none had any stock, nor were they expecting any. It was rumoured that Calor were going to resume supplies because of the uproar and that I could also get my bottle filled at a Calor base - Stony Stanton for me. The answers were No and No! This doesn't mean that things might not change in the future. The least that Calor could do would be to flog or give all their empty bottles to Flogas to relieve the shortage!
There is a problem with Flogas to be aware of. The local agent that had 3 bottles - they were all different heights and only one would fit my compartment. I guess that this is because Flogas have taken over several smaller companies - all with different shaped bottles!
Cheers!
Pete
 

[Mocki]

See I’m sure all this stems from the stupid lockdowns, when loads of people went out and bout gas bottles for bar b ques and patio heaters ect , then they are left in the garage / shed unused and un returned , causing a shortage , they was certainly the case with the 13kg calor bottles i was told .

[silverbullet]

Go to any local tip or "recycling centre" and you will see loads of all sizes. People are too wealthy/ lazy/ignorant to get their deposit back.

Or do gas suppliers make it too difficult to actually get a deposit returned?

[Mocki]

Im pretty sure its a non returnable “deposit” , more of a rental

[jrt]

I’ve just found a place that has them but Sod’s law I’m in the car!
David.

[slowcoach]

We're on campingaz (the 904 bottle is smaller than the smallest calorgas bottle). I'm about to try and get this one refilled this week, I think it's the same story.

[Dobble]

I got rid of our 907 campingaz cylinder in favor of one of the Gaslow refillable cylinders of the same size. It now costs about £3 to fill rather than £40 odd.  

[Smiffo]

B&Q stopped refilling all Calor bottles too. 
I went up there a few weeks ago, only to be told they moved to FloGas instead.

Not the end of the world, but an irritant for sure. 

[Mocki]

Update ! Back peddle !

[ZsZ]

Gas is cheaper on the wholesale market nowadays.