Bulk LPG - Cheapest suppliers / supply route?

thozza

Juliandicks wrote: »

I live in Lincolnshire and purchase my LPG through Woldlink Ltd they are part of an Agricultural purchasing group based in Louth.

They supply to domestic customers as well as agricultural

My last order placed on Monday was at 28.41 pence per litre and the most I paid last year was 32.75 ppl.

They use one of the major providers to deliver the LPG and you are required to sign up to a standard two year contract. The main difference is that you pay for your fuel at point of order and not on a monthly basis. Yearly tank cost of £68.00 is the same as with most other suppliers.

I know they operate in Lincolnshire and have friends who use them in Nottinghamshire and Yorkshire but not sure about other areas but might be worth checking.

Their contact number is 01507 605230

Looks very interesting, just spoke to them and today's price to me would be 26.4ppl exc VAT, they have deals with most of the majors, but the price that I was quoted is through Flogas...

macman54

I have decided to move to Extrafuel a company who I had never heard of,before reading about them on this forum.
I like the transperancy of there prices,any questions I had they were quick to answer,so it is goodbye to Calor,who in fact did not get back to me about my contract.
my tank is 1410 litres,above ground and will probably go the fixed price route 38p, tank cost is £60 per annum 2yr contract. Located at TR9.

Big thank you to all the posts and information on this forum.

dch222

I came across this forum while searching generally on-line for what I mistakenly thought would be a profusion of queries as to why bulk LPG prices show no signs of falling as a result of the drop in crude oil price, whereas there is much talk of other energy sources like mains gas and oil becoming cheaper.

I have just received a bill of 56.4p per litre plus VAT for 880 litres delivered by Calor in mid- December.

HATELPG’s graph is very interesting and welcome – it seems really difficult to find out prices without actually ringing up companies.
I was wondering why the graph does not include the big players for comparison, and whether the prices shown include VAT?

It seems I am paying well over the odds and should consider switching – notwithstanding Calor’s generous offer not to increase prices until after the end of April!
Of course there is always the nagging worry that smaller companies will not be responsible for maintaining the tank and infrastructure, and I guess that’s why people like me are sometimes reluctant to change.

I only moved to this house in mid Devon a couple of years ago and Calor are now offering £100 off fuel if I renew my 2 year contract with them.

Guess I need to do some research.

LittleVermin

dch222 wrote: »

I came across this forum while searching generally on-line for what I mistakenly thought would be a profusion of queries as to why bulk LPG prices show no signs of falling as a result of the drop in crude oil price, whereas there is much talk of other energy sources like mains gas and oil becoming cheaper.

I have just received a bill of 56.4p per litre plus VAT for 880 litres delivered by Calor in mid- December.

HATELPG’s graph is very interesting and welcome – it seems really difficult to find out prices without actually ringing up companies.
I was wondering why the graph does not include the big players for comparison, and whether the prices shown include VAT?

It seems I am paying well over the odds and should consider switching – notwithstanding Calor’s generous offer not to increase prices until after the end of April!
Of course there is always the nagging worry that smaller companies will not be responsible for maintaining the tank and infrastructure, and I guess that’s why people like me are sometimes reluctant to change.

I only moved to this house in mid Devon a couple of years ago and Calor are now offering £100 off fuel if I renew my 2 year contract with them.

Guess I need to do some research.

Welcome to the forum! Glad you found it ...and are on your way (I hope) to a better deal, and prices that will go DOWN as well as up!

Generous of Calor to offer you a bribe of £100 to renew! Their current price - FOR YOU - of 56.4 ppl is, ahem, a little high compared to the prices posted on-line this morning. But other people are paying the majors (Calor, Flogas, and Avantigas) more than you - just read a few recent posts (e.g. L_P paying Flogas 75 ppl just before Christmas - post #2362)! Sometimes the majors' customers get informed about the 'standard price' but really the majors seem to charge each individual what they can get away with - which is why there is not a single price that HateLPG can post on the monthly charts for each of the majors.

Today's transparent prices (see web links below) are Extra Fuel 34.51, Lister ANSI Tracker 31.44 and Lister Malvern Hills DC 29.42, Cardiff Gas 36, Birmingham Autogas 38, Carver 37.5 and LPGas Wales Direct 42.9. These are all before 5% VAT (all domestic LPG prices are quoted before VAT, but one company, Northern Energy, pays the VAT so their prices need adjusting for comparison). As you live in Devon only Extra Fuel's price will be applicable, but you could also ask Lima Gas, based in Southampton, if you are within their expanding delivery area. When you get quotes you need to also ask what the tank rental is - and if the price comes with conditions (e.g. minimum usage, minimum delivery, pay before delivery, etc).

You may get a good deal via a farmers' co-op. Juliandicks - thanks! - recently posted an excellent price - 28.41 - from Woldlink in Lincolnshire (post #2373): yes, Juliandicks is paying HALF what you are paying - for the same stuff! You could try Mole Valley Farmers which offers national pricing. Just occasionally people have reported that they've been told, by majors, that cheap prices mean inferior product - NO, the refineries, from which all UK LPG suppliers buy, do not make bargain-basement as well as standard products. Yes, the composition of the LPG varies a little (slightly different proportions of propane and butane, and smell!) from different refineries, and probably seasonally too.

Please post any deals you get offered. We all want all the info we can get to get cheap, or cheaper, bulk domestic LPG! You need to haggle with the majors - "standard price" ..ho ho! And haggle with independents which don't post their prices. Even some that do may offer better prices if prices are falling, or if you are a very large user, or organise your neighbours into a buying group, etc.

Remember that the prices from the majors only ever seem to go up! I had one price reduction in 20 years from BP (since taken over by Flogas): others have reported not having even one price reduction.

HateLPG recommends you read the fine print of your contract "until your eyes bleed"! There are excellent (for the supplier!) escape clauses about so-called fixed price deals - read DAVID.T2's post #2354 (he's in the industry) and the FAQs on Lister's website.

BTW I think all the companies will maintain your tank OK. Nearly all are members of the trade association, UKLPG, and so abide by UKLPG's Code of Practice (which anyone can buy). The driver has to check the tank is safe (by sight and smell) before each delivery (and you need at least one delivery a year) and then there's major 10 yr and 20 yr tests. There have been quite a few reports, on this forum, of majors keeping on filling tanks which didn't meet current codes of practice. And even one or two where the customers got the majors to sort out the problem, free, where the tank didn't meet basic safety standards when it was installed! (The HSE standards for domestic LPG tanks do not seem to have changed - check out post #844 by HateLPG which quotes an answer from HSE - but the suppliers have become more rigorous in applying safe practices).

Switching suppliers is VERY easy - the incoming and outgoing suppliers do all the work once you've filled in the very simple switching form (downloadable from each supplier's website). The outgoing supplier has to offer to sell the tank to the incoming one (but they do not need to accept it) at a price fixed by a published formula (fixed by the former Competition Commission). And it all needs to be completed within 28 days. {By the way Extra Fuel filled my empty tank, at 36.29, when I switched five years ago before I'd signed a contract: BP, my previous supplier, were playing hardball and refused to do anything but a complete fill, at their extortionate price of 53.95 - and refused to drop their price unless I signed a new contract. I use around 3,000l p.a. and was years out of contract}.

Here are the web links (useful for others too!):

Transparent prices from independents (the first six are used on the charts HateLPG posts)

Extra Fuel:
http://www.extrafuel.co.uk/

Lister Gases in the Malvern Hills DC area (new price fixed for each month):
http://www.malvernhills.gov.uk/energy-efficiency
….archived prices here: http://www.malvernhills.gov.uk/documents/10558/1632761/LPG+Prices+December+2014.pdf/51b7d7ce-fd9b-41f5-8cbe-9f870dd5dbed

Lister Gases ANSi tracker (new price fixed for each month):
http://www.listergases.co.uk/anti.aspx

Cardiff Gas:
http://cardiffgas.wordpress.com/about/

LPGas Wales Direct:
http://www.lpgaswalesdirect.co.uk/

Carver Gases (publishes a ‘list price’, gives a discount off this – but seems to have a high annual tank rental charge):
http://www.carvergases.co.uk/

Birmingham Autogas:
http://www.birminghamautogas.co.uk/

&
Lima Gas …which posts its average price but you need to fill in a box to get their latest price emailed to you:
http://www.limagas.co.uk/quotation.php
...

Daveso

Very interested into what people are paying in Scotland for this.
We are in East Lothian and being charged 57.26ppl by J Gas for Propane/LPG and no sign of it decreasing due to falling energy prices.
Competition here seems to be very limited so J Gas have a captive market with no incentive to bring down prices.
Any Scottish comments welcome.

mcmullank

Daveso wrote: »

Very interested into what people are paying in Scotland for this.
We are in East Lothian and being charged 57.26ppl by J Gas for Propane/LPG and no sign of it decreasing due to falling energy prices.
Competition here seems to be very limited so J Gas have a captive market with no incentive to bring down prices.
Any Scottish comments welcome.

I am with Calor and pay substantially less than this (around 65%) but use approx 8000 ltrs per annum. I am a non-contract customer with a calor owned tank. I refused to sign a new contract in 2011 as I wanted the freedom to be able to move supplier/fuel type without being liable to Calor for lost profits etc. I have the salesman's phone number and e-mail and I just keep getting in contact with him and asking him the latest price and have agreed to continue to give him the opportunity to quote.

I would think I am quite unique in this arrangement but I am sure that it works for both parties and the usage helps.

Poundnote

Good Morning

I negotiated a price of 48p a litre ex vat at contract renewal last March and as you all know oil prices have come down around 50% since then.

I have a scheduled delivery at the end of January for 1,500 litres so contacted Calor this morning about a rebated price (this is the opposite of a fuel surcharge) although my price is fixed until March.

I indicated a rebate of 10p a litre plus vat would be appropriate and they are quoting the terms of the contract which I acknowledge. However, I pointed out that I have been a customer of some 15 years standing and have always paid increases and while there is a contract I want to pay a price that is fair and proper.

They pointed out that I am enjoying a reduced price to their standard rate of 56p plus vat - help ma' boab what is the true price?

They are contacting sales to see if there is anything they can do.

I will let you know the outcome.

Update

Calor came back to me and offered a reduction of 4p per litre to 44p plus vat and will hold the price for a year by which time my contract will be up for renewal.

I must say that I am happy with my dealings with Calor over the years.

oldninjaronzrx

hI

Just recieved bill after top up unit price 59.45 how does that compare to yours - I live in Fife, Scotland and supplier is J Gas.

Poundnote

oldninjaronzrx wrote: »

hI

Just recieved bill after top up unit price 59.45 how does that compare to yours - I live in Fife, Scotland and supplier is J Gas.

That is a very high price. I live on the Isle of Skye and am serviced from Calor's Inverness depot and am paying 44p plus vat, (their standard rate is 56p).

In my recent negotiations I obtained a quotation from Mac/Flo Gas of 41p plus vat, but their customer service is not the best.

If you refer to HateLPG's graph on the previous page there are several prices collected from the Internet for comparison.

mcmullank

Poundnote wrote: »

That is a very high price. I live on the Isle of Skye and am serviced from Calor's Inverness depot and am paying 44p plus vat, (their standard rate is 56p).

In my recent negotiations I obtained a quotation from Mac/Flo Gas of 41p plus vat, but their customer service is not the best.

If you refer to HateLPG's graph on the previous page there are several prices collected from the Internet for comparison.

Regardless of what they say, Calor do not have a standard rate. If you asked 30 people on here that are with Calor, I would guess none of them are on 56p.