Bulk LPG - Cheapest suppliers / supply route?

Mike2cv

I am just starting the tedious process of getting quotes. I am out of contract as I had enough gas in my tank and thought that prices might come down. So far I've only had one quote from Avanti at 55ppl + vat fixed yr1 then variable which is much more than I was quoted when my contract finished end of April - they offered 48ppl +vat then. Have prices really gone up since then? What is the best price that I can expect currently? 

Tinhat

I’m coming up for renewal at the end of August after a two year fix. I went with Avanti last time but https://www.lpg-save.co.uk/  also gave me a very competitive quote (which Avanti matched). 

Let us know how you get on…

JerryW

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.

The cost does not, mainly fall to you. Calor moved and replaced my tank and all of the supply pipes at their expense.

I had to pay for and install the new concrete base for the replacement tank. £100.

The tank owner has a legal and enforceable duty to make the tank compliant.

JerryW

LPGnewbie2022 said:

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?

Please, don't panic. Talk to Calor, sooner rather than later, and ask them what they are able to do. Tell them if it is too expensive you do have other options... at the end of the day it is their tank, and their metal supply pipes. Wind the possibility of a new 2 year contract into the discussion.

I DID have a team with robot diggers etc .. but they paid for it.

JerryW

Mike2cv said:

I am just starting the tedious process of getting quotes. I am out of contract as I had enough gas in my tank and thought that prices might come down. So far I've only had one quote from Avanti at 55ppl + vat fixed yr1 then variable which is much more than I was quoted when my contract finished end of April - they offered 48ppl +vat then. Have prices really gone up since then? What is the best price that I can expect currently? 

I don't personally see it as tedious, I see it as rather fun. Not many seem to want to cope with a genuine free market, any more. Only you can establish the best price, which depends upon both location and your usage. Tell us where you are, and litres pa. usage .. this latter makes quite a bit of difference.

Mike2cv

JerryW said:

Mike2cv said:

I am just starting the tedious process of getting quotes. I am out of contract as I had enough gas in my tank and thought that prices might come down. So far I've only had one quote from Avanti at 55ppl + vat fixed yr1 then variable which is much more than I was quoted when my contract finished end of April - they offered 48ppl +vat then. Have prices really gone up since then? What is the best price that I can expect currently? 

I don't personally see it as tedious, I see it as rather fun. Not many seem to want to cope with a genuine free market, any more. Only you can establish the best price, which depends upon both location and your usage. Tell us where you are, and litres pa. usage .. this latter makes quite a bit of difference.

I am in the Yorkshire Dales and use about 1600 litres per year. I guess that I find it tedious because of the time that I now have to spend researching and negotiating prices for all the services I need when I would rather be doing something else. The free market is all very good but the fact that I am able and willing to make the effort means that I will get a significantly better deal than someone who doesn't have the capacity to do it and that seems very unreasonable.

JerryW

Mike2cv said:

I am in the Yorkshire Dales and use about 1600 litres per year. I guess that I find it tedious because of the time that I now have to spend researching and negotiating prices for all the services I need when I would rather be doing something else. The free market is all very good but the fact that I am able and willing to make the effort means that I will get a significantly better deal than someone who doesn't have the capacity to do it and that seems very unreasonable.

Hmm, each to their own. I guess that is how any marketplace works, though. Insurance, for example.

So far as lpg goes, I am afraid your quotes will not be rock bottom. Prices seem to have come down lately, but with that location and usage I would think you will do well to get below 50p/l. Perhaps other N Yorks users may wish to comment?

Andrew1066

Mike2cv said:

I am just starting the tedious process of getting quotes. I am out of contract as I had enough gas in my tank and thought that prices might come down. So far I've only had one quote from Avanti at 55ppl + vat fixed yr1 then variable which is much more than I was quoted when my contract finished end of April - they offered 48ppl +vat then. Have prices really gone up since then? What is the best price that I can expect currently? 

I do get Mikes point. With the comparison websites you get a clear view of mains gas prices, then can haggle. 

With LPG it’s a repeated back and forth verbal negotiation. 

Time consuming and not something everyone enjoys. 

I did raise this with my MP because I have vulnerable elderly neighbours paying significantly more than me with the same supplier, but they are timid and intimidated by the process. 

LessImpecunious

Mike2cv said:

I am just starting the tedious process of getting quotes. I am out of contract as I had enough gas in my tank and thought that prices might come down. So far I've only had one quote from Avanti at 55ppl + vat fixed yr1 then variable which is much more than I was quoted when my contract finished end of April - they offered 48ppl +vat then. Have prices really gone up since then? What is the best price that I can expect currently? 

Have you tried lpgcompare? - not an all-singing-and-dancing website but, as far as I can tell, a more-or-less one-man business who appears to give an honest assessment of the local market (in our case a hill in mid Wales, so not dissimilar to your situation) without trying to promote any particular supplier. BTW I wholly agree with you about the evils of the free market - with insurance being one of the worst of the lot, as it's a racket as well! (if I'm allowed to say that on here ).

JerryW

LessImpecunious said:

Have you tried lpgcompare? - not an all-singing-and-dancing website but, as far as I can tell, a more-or-less one-man business who appears to give an honest assessment of the local market (in our case a hill in mid Wales, so not dissimilar to your situation) without trying to promote any particular supplier. BTW I wholly agree with you about the evils of the free market - with insurance being one of the worst of the lot, as it's a racket as well! (if I'm allowed to say that on here ).

A fair point, I guess. I am retired and have plenty of free time so treat this (and insurance etc) as a money-saving hobby...

I second the recommendation to try LPGSave and LPGcompare ... the former at least has never been known to give a price for anyone but Flogas; but somehow, seems able to undercut the price they quote direct!