Managing LPG in a holiday let

ColinDq

Hi,
I'm considering buying a property in Southern Scotland to use as a holiday let for at least part of the year. The property has a combi boiler which uses LPG. The current setup is, four cylinders outside, two connected  and two spare. I assume that I would simply re-order more cylinders when two are empty. I'm not familiar with LPG and just wondered how do you know when the cylinders are nearly empty? Is it just a case of, it's empty when no more gas comes out or is there a metering system which shows the level? Also, I'm wondering how I would manage this with a holiday let. Do I just leave instructions for how to change the cylinders with the guests or would I need to provide full cylinders with each new rental (sounds pretty expensive)? Finally, I note that the cost of a 45kg cylinder in my area is around £67, does that price depend on an empty cylinder being returned? I'm just thinking that if I have to provide guests with a full cylinder for each rental then probably most cylinders will be half full at the end of the rental and perhaps I could keep them for the times when I use the property.
Sorry if these are daft questions, like I say, I'm not familiar with LPG.
Thanks
Colin

daveyjp

If an automatic changeover unit is fitted it will draw from two cylinders on one side of the valve.

When these are empty the valve will automatically change to the other two cylinders and indicate the first two are empty and they can be replaced.  The valve just needs checking at each letting changeover date for empty indicators.

tim_p

A pertinent question would be, how far are you from this holiday let?  Unless you’re relatively close I could foresee issues should the gas run out mid rental. 

I’m familiar with two cylinders on a basic changeover valve (both cylinders connected, valve switches to second cylinder when first one runs out) whether in larger setups this works with 4 cylinders, I don’t know but I suspect the two spares are not hot spares just physically located close by ready to swap out.  You’d need to check if the supplier will disconnect and reconnect when restocking, my guess would be not. You’ll soon get a feel for how often these things need changing but you could still get a specific type of guest that insists on running the heat flat out 24/7 - good luck with that!
I personally wouldn’t rent somewhere that expected me to change the cylinders - simple job but not something I’d trust just anyone to do, hence needing to be close enough to keep an eye on things. 

Mister_G

A 4 cylinder system has all 4 connected in two banks of two, connected to the automatic changeover valve.
The OP will need to find a supplier that will change the cylinders for him.  Our local independent supplier does that as part of the delivery service.
He will still have the issue of educating the renter on how it all works!

ColinDq

Mister_G said:

A 4 cylinder system has all 4 connected in two banks of two, connected to the automatic changeover valve.
The OP will need to find a supplier that will change the cylinders for him.  Our local independent supplier does that as part of the delivery service.
He will still have the issue of educating the renter on how it all works!

Why would I need to educate the renter on how it works if there is enough gas in the bottles for the duration of the stay? It's a holiday let not a residential so there only needs to be enough for a week or two.

ColinDq

tim_p said:

A pertinent question would be, how far are you from this holiday let?  Unless you’re relatively close I could foresee issues should the gas run out mid rental. 

I'm about 130 miles away. 

Mister_G

ColinDq said:

Mister_G said:

A 4 cylinder system has all 4 connected in two banks of two, connected to the automatic changeover valve.
The OP will need to find a supplier that will change the cylinders for him.  Our local independent supplier does that as part of the delivery service.
He will still have the issue of educating the renter on how it all works!

Why would I need to educate the renter on how it works if there is enough gas in the bottles for the duration of the stay? It's a holiday let not a residential so there only needs to be enough for a week or two.

I suppose if you are going to be there at the start of each rental, then you will be able to ensure that there is sufficient gas for the period of the rental.  Four 47kg bottles will last sometime.

matelodave

There are about 650kwh of energy in one 47kg cylinder so depending how yours in configured (1+1 changeover with two spares) or 2+2 changeover with no spares. Assuming four full cylinders you should have the equivalent of 2600kwh but you'd ideally need to ensure that they get changed/refilled when two of them have run out. You'd have to sort out how you are going to identify when they are near enough empty and how you are going to get them swapped.

Hopefully that should last you a fair amount of time, especially in the summer however possibly not if you are renting out in the winter and your boiler is flogging its heart out day & night.

Bear in mind that a lot of renters seem to be of the opinion that if they've paid for it they can use as much as they can.