Swapping from natural gas to propane (2025 Update)

I see the average standing charge for natural gas is £100 per year. A

I would have the bottle(s) outside if you can.

You will need to re-jet your cooker. Shouldn't be difficult to obtain the jets and fit if you have a standard make of cooker. You still need the changeover and regulator. Your existing pipework will be fine.

I would be surprised if it is cheaper.

I recall a friend who used propane going to considerable effort to convert to ‘mains’ gas. He lived in a cul-d- sac, in a village. The gas company either had pipes at the entrance or where laying them but, they wouldn’t dig the trenches to the houses in the cul-d-sac, at least unless funded.

He convinced his neighbours to dig the trenches. The gas was connected and he cut his bills.

True he used gas for heating - not sure about cooking- but mains gas was much cheaper.

Certainly if you plan to go induction later, it seems unwise.

Plus, you would need to source the replacement orifices for your hob etc.

We’re using about £1.20 worth of gas a month but 30p a day standing charger.

Tim

So about £120 a year. What would you spend on bottled gas? How long were you planning on keeping the gas bottle arrangement, to amortise the installation costs?

Another option would be some plug-in imduction hotplates, which can be bought cheap (eg Ikea) and then sold on later.

Or, possibly, buy your chosen induction hob and switch it for the gas hob in your old kitchen. Quite possible they're the same size and a drop in replacement - there's probably an existing cooker circuit for power. Then keep it when you redo the kitchen.

Theo

From memory; All new propane installations must be external & cylinders must be on a raised solid foundation (normally concrete) due to the gas being heavier than air. There will be restrictions on how close the cylinder(s) can be placed with regards to openings (doors & windows). Because of your small usage you may get away with a single cylinder but work out whether the benefits of 2 cylinders on an automatic changeover outweigh the costs.

I believe there are also restrictions concerning distances from drainpipes, when they empty into open gullies.

We have a 13kg cylinder for the barbecue that could be pressed into service so no new cylinder needed.

So that’s about 182kWhrs of gas for around £50. We’re consuming 15 - 18 kW hrs a month for cooking purposes so a cylinder would last about 10 months.

Installation cost might be the biggest issue. *If* having the cylinder in our integral garage is allowed the installation would be a piece of cake as the hob is by the wall between the kitchen and the garage.

I rather suspect it’s not though which would make things a bit tricker. Not sure what it would cost to have a new pipe run to it.

I don’t really want to use the existing pipework (even if allowed) as it’s been modified many times and probably has numerous dead legs. I’d much rather have a continuous small bore pipe from regulator to appliance with no underfloor joins.

We do have a countertop one but it’s just a single pan unit so not a decent substitute. Our existing hob is part of a floor standing oven/grill/hob unit so and electric hob can’t be “dropped in”.

Tim

I'm pretty sure bottles have to be placed in a well ventilated area and that excluded attached garages

Using the existing pipework would be the obvious choice. Check for leaks before writing this off. You did say it was temporary?

There are self-contained heaters (e.g. Superser) that use a 13kg butane cylinder, not sure if that's because propane is not allowed indoors?

I remember the switch from coal-gas to methane. They had to change the burners on all of the devices. I'm pretty sure that switching to propane would be the same. You might need new piping but I'm sure it will at least need a sign-off from a gas-safe engineer.