Can I Refill Gas In France And Germany?

[lute]

Hi

We are planning a 3 month trip to northern europe in the spring and I have 2 x 6Kg light gas bottles (repsol) that I'm planning to take with us, We are not heavy users of gas, no oven, and we cook on electric,but of course we do have heating and barbeque which use gas.

We also haveTruma electric heating but as we are now so used to warmer climates, the gas may have to be used as well, if the weather turns nasty.

I can't see the temperatures being high enough for the fridge needing to run on gas

 

I don't want to take camping gas cylinders as they are small and pricey to refill.

 

Anyway the question is will I be able to refill my bottles in France or Germany and do I need anything special to do it?

 

 

[Chestrefeldian]

Firstly, we use electric heating at minus 8 C in our caravan and as long as its on most of the time it copes no problem.

1 or 2 kW electric should cope. (Gas is probably 3kW)

 

Might I also suggest a George Foreman or similar for barbequing allied to a single ring hotplate . We coped totally with these two items so didn't use the gas barby despite taking it. We didn't even use the microwave.

 

We did use the gas a couple of times when the site electrics tripped.

 

You can get hoses/adaptors to fit your regulator from alternative bottle threads or an in-line quick release coupling to connect to alternative bottles. ..or of course a refillable gas bottle.

 

Although only away for a month, we only used about 2 kg of gas despite taking 2 x 6kg lights.

 

I also have two 10kg BP Lights which would allow 20kg of gas and the empties are only 5kg each.

 

We used the frig on electric at plus 30 and above and it coped on electric. We did once add a small fan to help cooling over the frig vents.

 

Hope this helps.

[BroGoat]

Hi

 

We left UK on 8th June for a four month trip to Norway with two 6kg Calor light bottles and the indicator on the first bottle is still showing nearly full. This is, for us very unusual as we usually go through a 6 kg bottle around every six weeks or so despite using gas for cooking only, although SWMBO is an enthusiastic and very good cook. The difference this time is, we think, that we have a charcoal burning Cobb BBQ with us, which we use at every opportunity, instead of a gas fired Cadac which we normally use.

 

Charcoal can be obtained anywhere bottled gas is more difficult.

 

Steve

[beejay]

Hi

We are planning a 3 month trip to northern europe in the spring and I have 2 x 6Kg light gas bottles (repsol) that I'm planning to take with us,

 

Anyway the question is will I be able to refill my bottles in France or Germany and do I need anything special to do it?

 

 

 

Do you mean refill at an auto LPG pump in a filling station? If so you will need adapters to suit your bottle outlet and the LPG pump connector being used.

 

A standard LPG bottle has no means of restricting the refilling to 80% capacity which is essential for safety so it may be better to buy a bottle locally In France and Germany which will be cheaper than the adapters you will need. .

Edited August 27, 2014 by beejay

[lute]

I do mean refilling the 6Kg bottles I have now, but I do understand your point about the 80% . The refillable ones are every expensive in this region where I live and when I made inquires into filling it, I was told there is only 1 place in the the area, about 35/40 miles away from where I live and I'm not sure about the rest of spain, But the price at nearly 900 euros for a bottle and valves can't be justified as gas is relatively cheap here.

 

I don't know how long my bottles will last, as I said I use electric to cook with,and it looks like it will only be for the bar-b-que, so maybe it'll last the distance.

 

I've tried the charcoal route and thats why I bought a gas barby, I'm not a clean worker and I'm sure my wife will back me in saying there was more mess than food made when we had a charcoal burner.

 

I'm pleased to be reasured that the electric heating will cope a minus temperatures . We have used it on the 1 & 2 Kw settings and after fitting the remote thermostat it worked well, and I don't often use the fridge on gas as we don't go away in the warm months and I've a fan fitted already and I'm just about to fit a sensor and probe to regulate the fan.

 

Thanks for all of your feedback it's been a help.