Bulk LPG - Cheapest suppliers / supply route?

HateLPG

Mister_G wrote: »

The firm is HBS in Chilbolton. They also deliver oil.

Unfortunately, I believe that they only cover a 20 mile radius.

As can be seen on this map http://www.hbsfuels.com/Where_HBS_Fuels.html

Definitely sounds like it could be worth giving them a call if you're inside the magic red circle!

Thanks for sharing your experiences, Mister G. Most clear and helpful.

SD-253

x-x wrote: »

Would someone please check my calculation

Price of LPG is say 52p/l
LPG is 6.6KWh/ltr
above figure taken from biomassenergycentre.org.uk
If I use 3000ltr of LPG it will cost me £1560 and I will get 19800KWh
As I have an old boiler at 60% efficiency I therefore only get 11880KWh

Electricity is 8.451p/KWh (taken from British Gas Websaver 11) so 11880KWh would cost £1003

Is electricity now cheaper than LPG or have I made an error in my calculation. Even with a boiler at 90% efficiency electricity would be cheaper.

Hi LPG is 7.11 KWH per litre but thats 100% efficency. MY electric prices for economy 7 is 6.72p per kWh (day) 3.16p per kWh (night) (Lincolnshire). The standing charge is £9.80 But if you were all electric then you wouldn't count the standing charge as you would have to pay it anyway with gas oil etc IE you would be double counting. This price is almost certainly loss making. If i was to change today the best deal would be virtualy the same for night but 10p day. The following site has something called an accumalator tank this allowes you to have "wet" radiators while useing E7 and LPG/oil at the same time.

http://www.stovesonline.co.uk/wood_burning_stoves/Accumulator-hot-water-tanks.html

HateLPG

These snippets may be of interest to some. It's not really possible to relate these directly to Domestic UK LPG prices, but they do give some insight into the crazy and (in my opinion) irrational workings of the global LPG market:

From business.inquirer.net (http://business.inquirer.net/money/breakingnews/view/20110510-335791/Luzon-dealers-group-cuts-cooking-gas-price-by-50-centavos-per-kg)

...[rises] in LPG prices reflecting the $94-per-metric-ton increase in the international contract price in April [2011].

and then from philstar (http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=684773&publicationSubCategoryId=63)

“LPGMA members are pleased to announce to consumers that effective tomorrow, May 11, LPG prices will be slashed by 50 centavos per kilo,” LPGMA party-list Rep. Arnel Ty said in a statement.

Ty, a member of the House energy committee, said the international contract price of LPG went down by more than $100 per metric ton on hopes of diminished terror threats following the killing of al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden last May 1 [2011].

“As of today, the international contract price of LPG is still down by around $90 per metric ton compared to (the price) before Bin Laden was eliminated. Independent refillers are now in a position to lower prices,” he said.

For context and for those who like crunching numbers, at the time of writing the relevant conversion rates were:

1.0 USD (US Dollars) = £0.61 Sterling = 42.97 Phillipine Peso (100 centavos)

so maybe Arnel Ty was over egging the pudding just a bit when he said "slashed" - it seems these LPG salesmen are the same the world over (or is LPG just another word for "snake oil"?)

HateLPG

Admittedly posted a little bit out of context. But nevertheless, more dis-ingenuousness (is there such a word?) from UKLPG...

From the Guardian, 16/4/2011 (http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2011/apr/16/cut-petrol-prices-lpg)

Mike Chapman of UKLPG says the LPG price tends to be less prone to major fluctuations, not least because gas firms, such as Calor, tend to buy in advance. The vast majority of LPG used in the UK is in homes that are off the main gas grid.

But then again, I suppose if one checks the dictionary definition of "fluctuate", he is absolutely correct, even if his statement was carefully phrased to make people think was actually saying something entirely different...

From Chambers online dictionary (http://www.chambersharrap.co.uk/chambers/features/chref/chref.py/main?query=fluctuation)

fluctuate verb (fluctuated, fluctuating) intrans to vary in amount, value, level, etc; to rise and fall • Stock prices fluctuated dramatically over the day. fluctuant adj. fluctuation noun.
ETYMOLOGY: 17c: from Latin fluctuare, fluctuatum to undulate, from fluere to flow.

So in order to fluctuate, LPG prices have to go down as well as up!

longforgotten

Den2Mark, need some advice please. I have sent you a pm.

Many thanks

HateLPG

Regular readers can't have failed to notice that this thread has become particularly quiet of late:

• No whopping price increases (or drops for that matter)?
• No haggling over prices?
• No reports of "sharp practice"?
• etc etc etc

I wonder, has everyone here gone to sleep? Has the industry got the message? Or, as is far more likely, are those in the industry keeping their heads well down and biting their tongues until 28th May?

Why 28th May? Because the

Closing Date for Submissions to the OFT Off-Grid Energy Market Study is 27th May.

Extract from the OFT statement on this study:

LPG is another common source of off-grid energy: it is estimated that at least 150,000 UK households use LPG as their primary source of heat.

Our study will extend to both cylinder and bulk LPG.

<snip>

For bulk LPG, an investigation into the domestic market by the Competition Commission in 2006 resulted in the making of Orders intended to reduce barriers to switching. These took effect in 2009. The OFT has a statutory responsibility to monitor compliance and to keep the carrying out and effectiveness of such Orders under review. Our market study will look for observations or other evidence of compliance with the Orders, their initial impact and any implications for their longer term effectiveness.

Next steps

The study team will continue to engage with stakeholders. In particular, we would welcome submissions from interested parties on the substantive issues raised above by 27 May 2011.

Please send submissions to [EMAIL="offgrid&#64;oft.gsi.gov.uk"]offgrid@oft.gsi.gov.uk[/EMAIL], or to
Off-Grid Energy Market Study
Office of Fair Trading (2nd Floor)
Fleetbank House
2-6 Salisbury Square
London
EC4Y 8JX

We intend to complete the study in October 2011 and will post updates on our website at: www.oft.gov.uk/OFTwork/markets-work/current

So, time for a call to action for those who haven't yet put your case to the OFT (and wish to):

There is still time to get your thinking caps on and sharpen your pencils before the 27th May deadline

[and before the next round of price rise or (God forbid) surcharge letters starts flopping onto doormats on 28th May ]

(Apologies for the large/red text, but on this occasion, I think it is probably warranted )

bobhawke

HateLPG wrote: »

Regular readers can't have failed to notice that this thread has become particularly quiet of late:

• No whopping price increases (or drops for that matter)?
• No haggling over prices?
• No reports of "sharp practice"?
• etc etc etc

I wonder, has everyone here gone to sleep? Has the industry got the message? Or, as is far more likely, are those in the industry keeping their heads well down and biting their tongues until 28th May?

Why 28th May? Because the

Closing Date for Submissions to the OFT Off-Grid Energy Market Study is 27th May.

Extract from the OFT statement on this study:

So, time for a call to action for those who haven't yet put your case to the OFT (and wish to):

There is still time to get your thinking caps on and sharpen your pencils before the 27th May deadline

[and before the next round of price rise or (God forbid) surcharge letters starts flopping onto doormats on 28th May ]

(Apologies for the large/red text, but on this occasion, I think it is probably warranted )

That and it's summer. The LPG companies offer everyone a lot cheaper prices to sign them up for a 2 year contract then come the winter they jack all the prices up to silly amounts.

Hagrid151

The TV program "Don't get done get Dom" BBC1 was on about Flogas Today, Some people in the village were paying 35p a litre with some paying over 150p(this may be wrong) a litre I believe, but every one was paying a completely different tariff
The village all got together and bought in bulk, for I believe under 35p a litre
Try the BBC Iplayer

bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00slm4t/Dont_Get_Done_Get_Dom_Series_4_Flogas/

LittleVermin

Hagrid151 wrote: »

The TV program "Don't get done get Dom" BBC1 was on about Flogas Today, Some people in the village were paying 35p a litre with some paying over 150p(this may be wrong) a litre I believe, but every one was paying a completely different tariff
The village all got together and bought in bulk, for I believe under 35p a litre

Thanks, Hagrid151, and welcome to the forum!

Here's the link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00slm4t/Dont_Get_Done_Get_Dom_Series_4_Flogas/

and here's the link to a discussion on MSE when the programme first aired a year ago:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2487493

(but please don't resurrect that thread! It's much better just to have ONE thread on Bulk LPG! And this thread is a 'sticky' i.e. it always sticks around near the top of the LPG & Heating board even if no-one has posted recently)

PS Has anyone mentioned sending a submission to OFT? Just 10 days more to do it!

(Oops, sorry, that ended up in red and a large font size!)

359282

Hi, have you thought about replacing lpg with a heat pump. even though heatpumps ar not the answer to all ills, the cost of LPG means that there are savings to be had in running costs.