Use of LPG for heating, tank siting

[nospam]

The house that I'm about to buy is not on mains gas and has an LPG tank for the (Keston) boiler and the hob. I haven't had to deal with LPG before so know nothing about it, but have happily worked with mains gas (in my own home, before the usual "that's illegal" barrage starts) for over 30 years. It would be useful to hear whether there is anything about LPG that I need to know, particularly: regs, costs, suppliers. One of the early jobs is likely to be relocating the tank so I've been reading the UKLPG CoP and the Calor note on Tank Siting ... what else do I need to know?

[Tim+]

The only things I know are that LPG is heavier than air so no pressure drop is permissible. Also you don't own the tank so that might have a bearing on DIY relocation.

Lastly, an observation. A recent new build near us has three lpg appliances. All appliances seem to have individual stop valves on the outside walls of the property which presumably means no pipe joints (other than terminations) within the property.

Tim

[Jethro_uk]

IIRC you are responsible for the civils for siting, but Calor won't connect an unapproved tank.

Depending where you are, underground tanks are a thing of the past. You'll need a sodding big concrete plinth.

If you have a large property make sure Calor have the right GPS for the tank as opposed to the billing address.

[Michael Chare]

I would have thought that an oil boiler and an induction hob would be safer.

Not having had gas for the past 30+ years I now find gas somewhat alarming!

[Fredxxx]

That your fuel bills will become very expensive.

You might find a new oil fired boiler will pay itself back in just a few years? Especially if you fit one yourself.

[spuorgelgoog]

See if there's a sensor on the tank which phones home when it needs a top-u p. Also external access to the tank so it can be refilled when you're out.

If the tank is allowed to run empty the delivery driver will turn off the e xternal ECV before refilling it if no-one's home.

If you have the space you can get a buried tank under the lawn.

You may want to get a reading (probably as a percentage of the tank capacit y) and agree a value with the outgoing owner for the gas in the tank - a fu ll tank is about £800. You might also want insurance for loss of gas i n the event of an escape or catastrophe.

In my limited experience Flogas have been more competent and helpful than a lmost any other utility provider.

Owain

[nospam]

Thanks to all for the responses.

[bert]

Remember the simple rule ABC (Anyone But Calor)

[Bill Wright]

I have Calor and I've no complaints. The tank phones home and they come and fill it and I have to do nothing.

Bill

[nospam]

Care to expand?

[nospam]

I'll need to know the energy usage to do a comparison. However, I think the existing boiler is fairly new so perhaps two boilers in series to give a dual fuel solution ;-)

[nospam]

The tanks are already on plinths, but I think one would be better somewhere else.

[Handsome Jack]

[e-mail] posted

You have to tighten the nuts the wrong way.

[Fredxxx]

I would suggest in parallel! Each with their own pump and non-return valve.

It was a serious suggestion, the cost of fuel soon becomes greater than the cost of the boiler.

[nospam]

Hmm, series or parallel? If in series they could both be used at once (although TBH I can't think why this would ever be useful) but there'd be higher resistance, parallel might be better. When I first suggested keeping the LPG system if changing to oil it wasn't serious, but if the current boiler is fairly new then why not. Something to consider in the future.

[nospam]

That's caught me out occasionally when changing the bottle on the blowtorch.

[nospam]

Thanks, several good points there.

[bert]

Expensive, pedantic, arrogant bullies.

[Vir Campestris]

Next door had one installed last summer. I read up on the regs because it's closer to our kitchen window than his house! (next to the road - he's set back from the building line).

AFAIK there are no regional restrictions. I'm willing to be proved wrong.

Andy

[nospam]

Thanks for the info. Sadly I'm not going ahead with the purchase because of a bad structural survey, but the info will be useful in the future.