LPG Citerne - which supplier?

[Gyn_Paul]

Has anybody done any research into the offers from the bottled gas companies? I'm thinking of going in for the smallest (probably) above-ground citerne which is around 1000-1200 litres.

My wife is bugging me to get her gas-fired kiln going (not unreasonable, as it was bought nearly 2 years ago!), and I had planned to run it off 2 x of the tall bottles, but - after a recent bout of sciatica - I realise I need to be a bit more realistic in terms of my future capabilities vis-a-vis lugging 90kg bottles on and off a trailer!

I'm just starting, so I don't yet understand the various combinations of buy v rental+deposit, and cost per litre. I suppose availability might also be an issue, too.

What have been your experiences?

[Pierre ZFP]

Since nobody has yet replied, I'll share my experiences.

I have a LPG citerne  which came with the house when I bought it.  It's a little bit bigger than the one you are proposing (1500 l I think) and it powers the central heating (expensive) and hot water (not too bad)

It is from Primagaz and I have never paid a penny for rental or the 2 yearly inspections but I paid a deposit against future refills which may become clearer later..

I think a while back installations were free, at least for above ground tanks, Primagaz wanted more customers I suppose.  I have to say that Primagaz have always been very helpful, I don't use a lot of gas but I check of the gauge on top of the tank and if it's below say 15% remaining, I give them a call.  I say it's not urgent and come when you want (I think you get a small discount for that, and it's cheaper if you refill outside the winter season) and their truck comes and blocks the small lane outside my house for 30 minutes or so.  This normally happens when I'm not there but no problem, they fill the tank (to a max 70%) and I get a facture in the post, it is always for more than my deposit but it doesn't seem to matter.  Of course the price of gas always seems to increase but that is to be expected I suppose [:(]

Check out the Primagaz website, lots of info there.

[Gyn_Paul]

Thanks Pierre,

It would seem that the previous owners of your house bought rather than rented the citerne. Does the price vary if you fill up or part-fill, as well as seasonally, do you know? and - may I ask - what sort of price per litre do you end up paying?

paul

[Pierre ZFP]

It can all be found HERE

click on the link  'Consulter le barème Primaconfiance Particuliers'  for the prices

It varies a lot depending on how much you use

Likewise the delivery goes from free for 15 days notice and >400kg to over €100 for 48 hours and <400kg

[Gyn_Paul]

I see what you mean by " it varies a lot...."

And - naturally - you can't really compare one company with another any more than you can compare apples and shoelaces.

p