Home LPG Gas 45kg Bottle Nearly $200 - Can I Just Refill The Small Ones?

Sydney-bargainhunter on 03/05/2022 - 21:52
Last edited 03/05/2022 - 21:52

So I recently moved into a rental house which has hot water and stove gas and the gas is supplied by the LPG tanks, there's two 45kg bottles sitting at the supply. As it turns out the previous tenants of course left an empty one and a couple weeks supply in the other.

So I'm new to gas bottles (have always had direct supply) and checked with the supplier of the existing bottles and my gosh they are so expensive! I had had a google when we moved in to get a rough idea and saw estimates of around $120-140, ok I thought.

So the price turns out to be $195 a bottle. They then want me to pay $44 a year for each bottle as well.

So this is some expensive hot water, I was wondering can I just use the smaller 8.5kg bottles and bypass the rental fee and what seems like a mark up for delivery and installation etc.

By my calculations there's about 88litres in a 45kg and 8.5kg have about 16litres. So that's about 5.5 of the 8.5kg bottles per 45kg tank.

So I can get refills for the 8.5kg for like $25-$30 (excluding the odd special which would be cheaper) and I can just keep a few around.. so 5.5*$30=$165 which is a $30 saving each bottle times by approx 8x45kg bottles a year = $240 + $88 rental = $328 saving

Anyone do this or too much effort/not safe or something ?

Home & Garden Gas Supply

Comments

  • chuneeperformance on 03/05/2022 - 21:58
    +5

    $80 here for 45kg tank and $33 yearly fee NSW

    • SmiTTy on 03/05/2022 - 23:13
      +1

      That's a great price. Who ru with?

    • Mike444 on 11/04/2023 - 15:11

      I'd like to know too :P

  • BewareOfThe Dog on 03/05/2022 - 22:21
    -4

    I think its a different formulation of gas, plus usually the larger the gas bottle, the better the quality of gas (thats what I was told with CO2)? Also, the larger tanks are probably thicker and safer?
    Here another option :)

    • Presence on 03/05/2022 - 22:57
      +2

      Nope LPG is LPG, but don't confuse it with natural gas that comes in pipes.

    • Chandler on 04/05/2022 - 11:57

      Pressure/flow rate could be an issue. 45kg bottles can push through more gas.

      Same as you would get with an 8.5kg bottle running a BBQ: there will come a point where the bottle can't push out enough gas for the HWS/BBQ to run, even though there is still some "gas in the tank" (literally!).

      I know when we had to replace our HWS we needed to increase the size of our gas pipe (went from a storage system to instantaneous).

  • lgacb08 on 03/05/2022 - 22:22

    if you can get access to Bunning's <$20 gas swap for a definite amount of time then it's cheaper, even cheaper if you manage to get it refilled at Anaconda as such. But have you shopped around for the 45kg? There might be cheaper somewhere else, like standard 8.5kg swap is $32 somewhere but you can mostly get it cheap somewhere.

    • modsec802 on 04/05/2022 - 07:14

      Bunnings <$20 exchange? It’s $28.95 per bottle https://www.bunnings.com.au/gas-exchange-8-5kg_p3180180

      • mini2 on 04/05/2022 - 08:49
        +1

        Thanks for the heads up - didn't know they're just $0.05 cheaper than the servo's.

      • lgacb08 on 06/05/2022 - 09:50

        There was a deal a few months ago, and my local still did swap for $19.8 just before Easter. But that was storr specific

  • Jimothy Wongingtons on 03/05/2022 - 22:32
    +3

    I thought the pipes going from house to tank are usually supposed to be the copper (?) rigid type designed for the height of a 45.

    Although you can probably fashion a stand to get the 9kg to the right height you’ll want to make sure it’s sturdy with at least a chain or similar to ensure a safety if knocked or during heavy winds.

    Always ensure to do a leak test at time of swap overs.

    And I guess even if you factor opportunity cost to go down to swap tanks at Bunnings or similar it’s still a decent saving for a year.

  • sjj89 on 03/05/2022 - 22:34
    +12

    Landlord should pay the rental fee

  • squirrel14 on 03/05/2022 - 22:36
    +1

    I mean you could use the 8.5kg gas bottle, but you will go through it pretty fast (especially in winter). Only exception would be you cant plug bottled gas into a natural gas appliance but if theres already bottles you should be fine.

    You don't have to use the company who the previous tenants used. My suggestion would be to try some other companies first. 45kg gas bottle has about 2205MJ of energy where as the 8.5kg has about 416MJ. You might just wanna check what rating your hot water system is first as during winter you could end up going through a 8.5kg bottle each week (maybe faster). Our hot water system has a 5 star rating and is rated for 18308 MJ/Year (equivalent of 44 8.5kg bottles)

  • Master Bates on 03/05/2022 - 22:40

    The 8.5kg bottles may not be able to feed your hot water system adequately (so said the independent gas certifier to us) however if you were gas stove only it would likely be sufficient.

    Sounds like you got a quote from Origin. Supagas are cheaper at ~$116 per cylinder (pc) swap and $33 pc rental. Call all the available suppliers in your area, ask for specials and then play them off against each other. Bit of effort, but definitely don't be paying $200 pc.

  • donkcat on 04/05/2022 - 04:07
    +2

    If this is for hot water then no you shouldnt use BBQ bottles, its to do with the evaporation rate of the gas, the larger the surface area of the bottle the greater the evaporation rate of the gas. Your home hot water requires a much higher rate than running a few stove burners, if you run a small bottle its possible all the bottle cant handle the rate required and you will end up sucking liquid gas down your line instead of gas

    • franks on 10/05/2022 - 17:18

      Liquid gas…otherwise known as liquid 😄

  • Euphemistic on 04/05/2022 - 07:59

    We had LPG for a heater at one house. There were two bottle ports but I only ever got one bottle to save the rental on the second. If the big bottle ever ran out I just used an old stool and put a BBQ bottle on the line until the next big bottle arrived (day or two). It wasn’t for cooking or hot water though so less critical.

  • JimmyF on 04/05/2022 - 08:10

    Anyone do this or too much effort/not safe or something ?

    The bottle rental should be paid by the landlord, they 'own' the bottles, not you.

    You can use 8.5kg bottles, they'll plug straight in, BUT you'll be changing bottles every week, so it will come down to what your time is worth.

  • Chandler on 04/05/2022 - 08:50
    +2

    Shop around. Elgas and Origin are the big suppliers, but you can definitely gett better pricing elsewhere.

    Here is a comparison chart I made back in March last year.

    Noting:

    • Pricing as at 25/03/2021
    • Based on 4 bottles p.a. (our typical usage)
    • Assumes no price changes
    • Elgas and Origin's prices ($106 per bottle for Elgas, and either 35% off or $80 per bottle for Origin) were only for the first 6 months. They would have gone up to $116 and $167 respectively after 6 months (these prices will be well and truly out of date now). Chart assumes half of the p.a. supply is within the first 6 months.
    • At the time, Supagas had a BOGOF deal for your first delivery, which is why it came in so cheap. Without that, Plusgas came in $20 cheaper over 12 months. Supagas also fixed our bottle price for 24 months

    Also note: not a Supagas shill, just a happy customer.

    • Chandler on 04/05/2022 - 08:54

      I suppose I should hand in my OzBargain badge for not taking the $80 Origin deal and then going elsewhere after 6 months, but to do that I need to shop around again, get slugged with another rental fee, and have potentially higher prices/no bargains at that time.

    • Jimothy Wongingtons on 04/05/2022 - 10:57

      i had nothing but issues with elgas in the last two deliveries - in the end was ready to tell them to f off and go to supagas, called up and was told no availability till June… im not sure if thats because im not an existing customer or what.

  • cashless on 04/05/2022 - 09:05
    +1

    Like the OP, I was with Elgas (assuming that is correct given the pricing quoted).
    Got sick of paying that and switched to these guys.
    Small, lean, family run business.
    Have to pay a deposit per bottle up front (refundable and not an annual fee).
    I pay $115/45kg bottle.

  • djkelly69 on 04/05/2022 - 09:08
    +1

    I believe $25-30 is the price when you are swapping an empty gas bottle for a full one (essentially a refill). So you would probably need to factor in the cost of buying and filling the spare gas bottles you plan on having.

    • Presence on 04/05/2022 - 09:39

      You can pretty much find old out of date gas bottles in hard waste for free! The servos and Bunnings don't check when you swap them - congrats, an almost free gas bottle!

      • Euphemistic on 06/05/2022 - 22:56
        +1

        If they do check, you say ‘sorry didn’t realise’ and go find another place that doesn’t check.

  • scatman00 on 04/05/2022 - 16:31
    +1

    Nothing helpful to add, but had to laugh at the unnecessary conversion to litres in this sentence…. 🤣

    'By my calculations there's about 88litres in a 45kg and 8.5kg have about 16litres. So that's about 5.5 of the 8.5kg bottles per 45kg tank'

  • the Unforgiven on 04/05/2022 - 22:40
    +2

    I made my own connection that went from the bottle to the bowser gun. I then went to the servo with my bottle & allen key and just filled it myself. As long as the bottle is in date, they didn't mind; but this was a few decades ago thou

    • modsec802 on 05/05/2022 - 15:30
      +1

      smoking a Peter Jackson at the time?

      • the Unforgiven on 05/05/2022 - 22:13
        +1

        I used to smoke them, then I went to Wox

  • Cheapshots on 08/05/2022 - 00:55

    We have a spare 9kg when the big one runs out. Runs the stovetop and hot water perfectly fine.
    But yeah you would Probably be going to the shops a lot to refill.
    Our pricing wasn’t cheap so my wife searched around and was told she could ask the company for a discount as it was so expensive and they did. Don’t remember exact pricing. Maybe elgas

  • Gros21 on 14/05/2022 - 01:10

    Yes can be done. I did it on a place a partner rented. A wheelie bin is the correct height.

    If you live in Tassie you will burn through gas if in Cairns you will be fine.

    8.5kg bottle lasted 3 months with 3 girls.

    Many people also do this on some of the rural properties arround here as gas man does not like dirt roads.

    Keep an eye out on FB market place I bought a Webber baby q and 4 X 9kg gas bottles (3 were sealed still) for $150 from a guy that just been caravaning across aust.

    Ive only swapped mine once or twice as well because Bunnings are idiots and never check dates.

    Oh I also think there is a limit transporting gas bottles in a car maybee 2. I put them in my ute tray so I don't care.

    • doug2023 on 01/08/2023 - 23:01

      Re "Bunnings are idiots and never check dates."

      Half right, Elgas swap and go accept out of date bottles at no extra charge, so Bunnings etc do not need to check the dates.
      They do it to increase their customer base, once you swap and go you realize how much time you waste refilling.

  • doug2023 on 01/08/2023 - 23:24

    You can buy wall brackets for 8.5kg bottles for $45 (2023) dyna bolt them to the wall and you can have 2 x8.5kg set safely in place using the connections you already have.
    I only have gas hot plates and 8.5kg lasts 4 months. I have 3 bottles (3rd on a bbq) I can swap them around as required and do a swap and go 4 times a year and never have a problem running out of gas for house or BBQ as I can move bottles from one area to the other at anytime.

    The thing that I do not understand about needing the large bottle for high flow.
    In Australia we use Propane which boils at about -44c, so unless you live in a very cold spot you turn the gas on and it boils.

    In some countries butane is used which boils at about 0c, this would be a problem in winter.

    I accept I may be missing something, but it could also be the Gas providers being frugal with the truth.

    • Jono05 on 22/02/2024 - 15:47

      My 8.5kg bottle only lasts 2 weeks, used only for hot plate. I’m going to go back to a 45kg bottle and use an 8.5kg one as a back up.

    • lgacb08 on 23/02/2024 - 07:08

      You forgetting one principle of physics: evaporation rate reduces as temperature drop so it doesn't need to be at - 44 to stop completely, if you're using something like instantaneous hot water which consume an enormous amount of gas per sec, tank temperature will reduce to a point that evaporation rate falling below required level, safety mechanisms kick in and stopping the burner. Similarly with even a multiple burners bbq you'll find gas flow rate reduces and you can't seem to get larger flames and have to pour hot water to keep it going.

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