Bulk LPG - Cheapest suppliers / supply route?

LessImpecunious

Woggle said:I do find the whole process very bizarre. I realise your issue was with pipes rather than the tank, but we keep being told by Calor that the tank does not meet current regulations i.e. too close to the boundary & is now of the age it needs replacing. We've said that we are happy for them to move it & replace it but the cost falls to us (and that is without the cost of connecting to a new gas point). We tend to go around in circles on this - whilst they are happy to keep filling it up then I'm not going to move it. Of course the only down side is that I can't move suppliers so am tied into Calor when it comes to renewing contracts.

We had (or have - going through dispute process at the moment) the opposite situation - in that Calor (before the pipe failure) replaced our tank (with no cost to us) as part of their standard process due to its age, and it was only subsequently when we tried to switch supplier that we discovered that the site no longer complied with current regs...so no other supplier can take it over...

LPGnewbie2022

LessImpecunious said:

It will start to leak eventually - which is what happened to us, shortly after Calor renewed our 30+ year old tank. Although strictly speaking we were responsible for the pipes rather than Calor (according to our contract), they renewed the whole pipe (very long and through broken-up bedrock mostly) and reinstated the ground (reasonably well) at their own cost. One of the workmen said this was possibly because the tank renewal disturbance might have been responsible for the leak, but the pipe was very rusty and we were accordingly very grateful to have it replaced...Maybe not so much if we'd had to pay for it though!

Yes heard similar about the leaks with the pipes. Anyhow it's certainly leaking now, can't believe this has happened but this afternoon I took the hedgecutter to work cutting down giant hog weeds that have encircled the tanks, got a bit close to the tank and cut through the pipe that comes out of it and goes into the ground carrying the gas. Managed to find the stop gas tap and turned this off, the sound of gas escaping the pipe stopped. So now I'm out of contract with a gas pipe broken. Would anyone know if it's ok to get the local gas man to sort it rather than Calor? 

Sorting_Hat

I suggest this is the time to make the tank safe and compliant.
The steel risers and pipes if corroded would need looking at and probably replaced with PU.
Calor should be informed and you can then liase with them on what your choices are as it is their tank.

LPGnewbie2022

Sorting_Hat said:

I suggest this is the time to make the tank safe and compliant.
The steel risers and pipes if corroded would need looking at and probably replaced with PU.
Calor should be informed and you can then liase with them on what your choices are as it is their tank.

Thanks Sorting Hat. The pipe itself is the one going into the ground to feed the boiler. As I'm out the contract having not sorted one I have called a plumber to come over 8am on monday to see if they can mend the cut in the pipe. Hoping they can insert a join where I hacked at the pipe with the hedgecutter. Even a temporary fix would be good til can decide whether to keep gas or have a wood fuel system installed.

Sorting_Hat

I hope whoever is not just Gas safe but LPG certified.

Can, worms

LPGnewbie2022

Sorting_Hat said:

I hope whoever is not just Gas safe but LPG certified.

Can, worms

Wish I'd acted after reading your advice on contacting Calor. The gas man turned up took one look at the pipe that comes out the tank and said it was nowhere near his part of the system. His part vstarts next to the house, the pipe that comes out the tank and I severed off with a hedge cutter is owned by Calor. Got back in his van and drove off, guess I'll be charged a call out fee in the next few days, that's life I guess.

The man said I need to contact Calor, explain what's happened, he said they will not be happy which is understandable and will moan.

Is this the time like you said above to negotiate a contract with Calor. Should I expect to be charged for the pipe repair if I go with a contract for 2 years or do I try to include pipe repair as part of the haggleing? Vey appreciate help on this one btw, totally in the dark with LPG and everything that goes with it

Sorting_Hat

I expect it will be a chargeable repair, but I hope separate from the supply agreement as you are using the gas that is in the tank/came with the house.  Also give Avanti/Flogas etc a call for prices as at least then you have something to measure against.   You would pay rental for the tank as you use it then if you switched it could be refunded back in part for the unused part of the years rental. Then you would start over with the new firm paying them a years rental.  Some firms charge in increments rather than per year I understand.

LPGnewbie2022

Thanks so much Sorting-Hat for the help and advice, time to fess up and tell Calor what I done

LPGnewbie2022

Calor said I needed emergency repair, sent out an engineer. He looked at the pipe, said he assumed it was plastic before setting off, now realised it was metal. He said it was difficult to weld, checked some calculations on his tablet and said the pipe at 15mm increasing near to the boiler at 25mm copper was not sufficient for the boiler anyway and needed to be 35mm (I think) made of plastic. He left I didn't sign anything. He said Calor will be in touch today once they've checked his report. Am I liable to be charged for a team coming out with robots diggers etc to fit a new pipe? Any idea of the potential cost? I did consider getting rid of the system and installing a wood burner with boiler to heat water, if the potential costs of new pipework is in the thousands this suddenly becomes viable. Will Calor charge me for the new pipework or can I haggle with this as a condition for going with them in a contract for two years?

Mister_G

I had a situation many years ago where my tank had been installed, by my initial supplier, underneath a 11kV power line.  Calor bought out the company and decided that the tank needed to be relocated.  They asked me to provide a new concrete base at my expense, but they then moled in 40m of new plastic pipe across the front garden to the house.

This was done at their expense, but they then tried to put my ppl price up by more than the amount allowed in the contract (obviously trying to recover some of their costs).  I therefore left them and went elsewhere (with my nice new compliant tank!).

I am fortunate in having a local independent supplier who charges competitive rates.

Not sure how much of this is relevant to your particular situation but I thought I'd pass this on.