|
Gaslow Systems for LPG
At last! refilling is as easy as filling your car
Gaslow is a system whereby you buy the bottles outright and instead of exchanging them when they are empty you refill them yourself using a propane LPG pump, usually at a petrol filling station. The Gaslow system is not cheap to buy so why use it? There are probably two main reasons:
- . The gas at LPG forecourts is about half the price of Calor propane bottles that you exchange.
- Gaslow Refillable Cylinders can be refilled overseas. You cannot exchange Calorgas overseas.
It would take quite some time to recoup the cost of buying the Gaslow system . But for fulltimers like me the system does start to look attractive.
If you intend to travel in Europe you will find that many countries have their own gas companies like we have Calor in the UK. This could mean changing gas providers every time you cross a border, certainly something you want to avoid if you don’t speak the language! The only real bottled gas that is universal across Europe is Camping Gaz. The largest Camping Gaz cylinder is a 2.7Kg butane bottle which in the UK can cost almost £50.00! Faced with these problems, people who travel in Europe quickly begin to look at a system like Gaslow Refillable Cylinders.
Industry Information Sheet 028
Formerly LPGA Information Sheet 24 – June 2007
FILLING OF USER OWNED, PORTABLE REFILLABLE LPG
CYLINDERS AT AUTOGAS REFUELLING SITES
It is our advice that user owned, portable LPG cylinders should not be
refilled at autogas refuelling sites.
�� Vessels which are attached to a vehicle for heating or cooking (on camper
vans or similar) present similar risks on filling to those for propulsion
purposes and may be permitted to be re-filled at autogas refuelling sites
provided they:
• remain in-situ for refilling; and
• are fitted with a device to physically prevent filling beyond 80%; and
• are connected to a fixed filling connector which is not part of the
vessel.
UK Health and Safety law, particularly the Health and Safety at Work Act, the Dangerous
Substances and Explosive Atmospheres Regulations and the Carriage of Dangerous
Goods and Use of Transportable Pressure Equipment Regulations, impose significant
duties on the site operator to ensure safety. Autogas refuelling sites are places of work
and their personnel have responsibility for safety to everyone on the site, including the
general public. They authorise the flow of gas from the dispenser and they may be
considered, in law, the filler.
Safe filling of LPG cylinders requires appropriate expertise and/or equipment. Staff at
autogas refuelling sites cannot fulfil statutory obligations as they have neither.
Were there to be any accident the site operator could be liable to prosecution.
This view has been confirmed in the Minutes of the HSE Petroleum Enforcement
Liaison Group meeting of 7
th
July 2005 which states “PLAs should consider
issuing a prohibition notice if their inspectors discover a site which allows
members of the public to refill gas cylinders”.
Gaslow
|
