Bulk LPG - Cheapest suppliers / supply route?
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We have a domestic LPG tank at our house and pay an annual standing charge to the company who own and fill the tank. The tank is over 20 years old and is due its Enhanced Test this year.
Does anyone here know if we are entitled to request a copy of the current Tank Test Certificate from the company ? We have received conflicting advice from different suppliers and would be interested to learn if there are any regulations/guidance on this ?
Many thanks !
There is no entlement to the customer to see the 20 year test, but I am sure if you asked them they may well send you a copy.
Can't really see why you would want one?
Just another point, the 20 year extended test is not actually in the LPG codes of practice I am told. The tank must be tested every 10 years and it is down to the gas company how they deal with the test at 20 years.0 -
Price drops?Extra Fuel’s monthly LPG prices hit a high for 2009 in February and for 2010 in January, and fell to lows in both summers (May 2009, June 2010). Of course price patterns in the past are not guaranteed to repeat! I believe you can use Extra Fuel’s prices as a proxy for wholesale LPG prices (but maybe DAVID.T can advise?). Speakeasy’s post (#625) about getting a new contract in the Autumn makes sense, but maybe is a gamble too far.
Hi
The extragas website would give you a fairly good idea where prices are going, and you would need to remove the summer/winter difference but on the whole probably the best way to keep an eye.0 -
As suggested, I personally don't think that I would take it any further than that. That is Extra Fuel to get an idea whether prices are going up or down (I don't live in the North West anyway). I don't think that their prices are very competitive and the fluctuations are pretty steep. Credit to them for publishing a monthly price and I am quite sure there may be some good reasons (like service) for someone to decide to pay what could be a higher cost/litre. It also must be good to keep more players in the market place. I just would rather hope these prices do not become the benchmark to go by.0
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[Originally Posted by brandeberryj
Umm yes I do think the standing charge is going to remain the same for the entire duration of the contract that’s why it is called a contract. Wouldn't you agree? And I have said the standard cost of the standing charge is £60 in fact he asked me what my previous charge was and said he would charge the same. Are you sure people are not just agreeing to the first thing they (the salesman) offers? .[/QUOTE]
Actually, no, I wouldn't agree.
From the current Flogas Contract Terms (which I have readily to hand):
It is arguable that this in practice contract term as it stands is unfair, for the reason that it potentially allows unfettered increase of standing charges, but in principle, it is a fair and legitimate clause. As I posted before, read back through this forum and you will see that tank standing charges are unquestionably increasing.
“It is arguable that this in practice contract term as it stands is unfair” No it is not arguable that is unfair it is illegal end of.
“But in principle, it is a fair and legitimate clause.” How? Unlike LPG the price of the tank is not rising & falling by huge amounts. AND you say I am working for the LPG companies. This “it is a fair and legitimate clause" shows who
Really is working for the LPG companies”
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Originally Posted by brandeberryj
But I do think people on this site are being overly harsh at times to LPG companies on the wrong things. LPG prices are the problem nothing else. So HateLPG said "So would you mind enlightening us on which of these cuddly LPG companies you actually work for?"Originally Posted by brandeberryj
Well Well isn't that a surprise. I suppose I should have expected it after all you lost the argument.......fancy saying that unfettered tank price rises are fair? Is that illegally fair you do know that is a contradiction in terms??
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As suggested, I personally don't think that I would take it any further than that. That is Extra Fuel to get an idea whether prices are going up or down (I don't live in the North West anyway). I don't think that their prices are very competitive and the fluctuations are pretty steep. Credit to them for publishing a monthly price and I am quite sure there may be some good reasons (like service) for someone to decide to pay what could be a higher cost/litre. It also must be good to keep more players in the market place. I just would rather hope these prices do not become the benchmark to go by.
I agree Extra Fuel are showing a lot of bottle by putting up there prices for everyone to see. Other companies may use it to under price them. I would prefer the companies I am with who charge less (although at the time I took out the contract there was only a half penny between them) AND in a lot of cases I have a suspicion that some people are being subsidized by others? In fact that must be true if they are charging different prices to different customers?
NOTE speakeasy I live in Lincolnshire not the North West and they quoted me on the other side of the country and no delivery charge.0 -
Other people on this site are saying that your tank must be removed after 20 Years so what would be the point of the test? Can I assume that was a load of !!!!!!!!. God knows how old mine is (although it was tested when I moved suppliers) as it has a company name on it that no longer exists? The paint work on it is in very good condition which I assume will mean no rust?There is no entlement to the customer to see the 20 year test, but I am sure if you asked them they may well send you a copy.
Can't really see why you would want one?
Just another point, the 20 year extended test is not actually in the LPG codes of practice I am told. The tank must be tested every 10 years and it is down to the gas company how they deal with the test at 20 years.0 -
1st negotiate the price of gas. The salesman will always ask this question “how much do you use a year” Well I think it is a reasonable assumption that the more you CLAIM TO USE THE LOWER THE PRICE? If you claim to use more than you actually use they can do nothing unless it’s in the contract. Now I have used a quarter of a tank in the last 14 months. But I could not foresee that as I did not know I was going to get years worth of wood for nothing? Also I could have been in hospital (I was but not for that long) Also I could have made an unplanned stay with my brother in the US. Further more going on the variable weather we have had this year it would be rather difficult to estimate anyway? Simply put, unless it is in the contract then you do not have to use what you estimated to the salesman. I would also point out that no persons word is worth more than another’s? Obviously nowadays there is also the contract itself to think of, you may for instance want a Shell contract IE only 3p maximum rise every 6 months. It is normal for a salesperson to come round so don’t get bullied into signing up on the day, read the contract at your leisure.
2nd The tank rental….negotiate this second and use the phrase that’s what my other supplier charged or such and such a company is offering it at this amount. Either way put the amount on your what you think you will use so as to see what it does to the price of your gas IE ppl. Now what Hatel someing or other is saying on this site can be ignored. You would be surprised how easy going firms are on tank rental prices. If you use 2000 liters then £100 adds 5p per liter to the price while £60 adds 3p per liter (I hope these prices are right?). So negotiate but after you have agreed the price of the LPG
One more thing I think that the salesman is on a bonus based on the amount of customers not how much gas they buy. Worth noting?0 -
Good work HateLPG. I have a figure if accurate, of 62.9p/litre (based on 500 litre) for heating oil from oilpricecheck.co.uk. As generally agreed, LPG needing to be at least 30% cheaper, this works out at 44p/litre which is close to your figure of 45p/litre. LPG needs to be at least as low as this to be competitive (in my opinion).
As stated many times by me LPG has to be 30% cheaper BUT be careful there are extra things to consider when putting central heating in. Surprisingly Oil is slightly more efficient according to LPG suppliers but not by a huge amount. And oil can rise by huge amounts IE a friend best quote around Xmas was 92 ppl. Also oil is extraordinarily expensive to cook with (range). The following is a personally belief based on my readings.
A/ the US has gone from importing gas to having 100 years of gas reserves (shale gas). Shale gas is also available in Europe. They are drilling in Blackpool now. There are problems of pollution when producing Shale gas in heavily populated areas though.
2/ Huge amounts of liquid natural gas are being transported to the UK from the Middle East which was not viable before.
Will this lead to large reduction in LPG prices I would be surprised very surprised if it didn't???0 -
Brandeberryj, good to see Extra Fuel is supplying further afield than the North West. I have had LPG for 26 years and certainly consider that switching to oil would be a backward step for me. I am not too sure what the future is for energy but I certainly would take more into account the energy supply to a house I was about to buy than I did then. I agree with what you are saying about the future for LNG. Most of it will still be delivered to the house by pipeline and it may not be too late for some people not too far "out in the sticks" to get it supplied by this means rather by a tanker and LPG.
It is not a big deal but I still have it in mind about this question about "oil burning slightly more efficiently" than LPG. Since the LPG suppliers (as far as I can see) do not mention this 30% more heat in a similar volume of oil, maybe "oil burning slightly more efficiently" is their way of acknowledging this (laughing). I am trying to remember where I think that I heard it was the other way round. I think it may have been talking to the technician who serviced my boiler. I think that he said that an oil boiler needs to be serviced regularly or it suffers more (not his exact words). That perhaps is where I got the idea that an oil boiler (albeit not regularly serviced) may not burn the fuel as efficiently. I will ask him next time.0
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