does anyone have a tried and true *proper* method of determining how much gas is left in your bottles? I have two large household bottles installed 9 months ago and have absolutely no idea how low I'm getting on gas. I presume one bottle by now must be empty (I have gas hot water and cooking) but I've tried the "hot water" test recommended by Elgas and it's rubbish - I can't feel any difference in temperature at all yet I'm (currently) still getting plenty of gas. I don't want to wait until both are completely dry before I order more gas. last time it took them 2 weeks to deliver! If anyone has any tips, most welcome!
mtbotrev,
Feb 7, 9:09pm
Ours have small dials which show red when one is empty. the red moves across the dial. Weight wise u can also get an idea. they are heavy full. Ours are wired in sequence I think.
When the indicator is red, the one the knob is pointing to is empty. Call and order 1 cylinder. When they deliver, they will change the valve to point to the other cylinder. Repeat as necessary.
Unfortunately these are only a manual checking system. just check it every few weeks.
captaingraham,
Feb 7, 9:29pm
Boil the jug, pour over bottle, feel temp from bottom to top. When it gets hot that is the gas level. If you can't feel the difference, take your gloves off.
boby11,
Feb 7, 9:38pm
If you cant feel a temperature diffence with hot water then its probably a very low gas level
aredwood,
Feb 7, 11:46pm
If you can - Weigh the bottle. Get someone strong to lift the bottle - they weigh approx 100KG when full. And place the bathroom scales under the bottle. The empty weight of the bottle will be stamped on the handle at the top. Minus that from the total weight to get how many KG of gas is left.
You can buy mechanical bathroom scales that are ideal for this for $10 from the Warehouse and Kmart.
gpg58,
Feb 8, 12:39am
I always leave one bottle turned off, that way you always have one to turn on when you notice burner starting to cut in and out, rather than run out completely with Both on, with an auto change over, which relies on you needing to go and check regularly. Bottle companies always turn both on when delivering, as they want to sell you 2 at once, rather than have 2 trips for same amount of gas,( i always check after delivery, and turn new one off). This method also gives you a full bottle to compare to the one you are using.
johotech,
Feb 8, 5:54pm
Yeah that's not actually a good idea.
And the gas company turning both on has nothing to do with wanting to sell you two at a time. The system is setup under normal conditions to use one first, then the other one.
BUT, in the winter, is't possible the pressure in the first bottle may get so low during use, that the selector switches to the second bottle to maintain flow. If your second bottle is turned off, it won't be able to do that.
daves01,
Feb 8, 6:11pm
Or more likely the first bottle will freeze up so you can't switch to the second bottle .
monofoil,
Feb 8, 6:12pm
The valve thing confuses me, (we have two bottles, but the shower goes freezing cold like we've run out of gas, have tried one bottle on, both on etc) so I am going to comment on your comment about taking so long for a bottle. Maybe you should change? We were with Contact, they would take two days, we are with someone else, that takes maybe 3.
cameron-albany,
Feb 8, 7:36pm
thanks for the tips everyone, most appreciated !
colin433,
Feb 8, 7:55pm
We have a 45kg bottle and a 9kg bottle. We supposedly own both bottles but one is replaced by the delivery man when we phone for a new bottle, and the other is replaced when we take it to the swappa a bottle place. The last time we got a full 9kg we obviously got a dud bottle, VERY rusty and I fear they may not take it back next time, yet we started with a new bottle a few years ago. Granted, we live at the beach, so have salt air. WE have recently purchased another 9kg bottle, simply because it was advertised cheap, and half full of gas. It now gives us one for the gas cooker (for power outages) without having to get the spar from outside. I imagine we will not be taking the new one to the swappa place only to receive a potential rust bucket again. There must be somewhere that will fill a bottle while you wait. This swappa idea is fairly new in our town. Whe we bought the house 10 years ago, there were two full-sized bottles, when we arrived to take over, there was one. What proof did we have that we had bought both the bottles, NONE, so we use the small one as back-up till we can get the large one filled again. They come twice a week during the winter, once a week during the hot weather, even though in our community all the hot water is on gas in each house.
albion2,
Feb 9, 8:16pm
I had the same problem my first bottle lasted 10 months (single person)and yes it does eventually go red when empty - now I know how it works
snoopy221,
Feb 9, 8:19pm
re#13 and 9kg bottles. Any gas station that sells LPG will fill em for ya -AND cheaper than a swappa bottle-K
grouch,
Dec 27, 6:53am
I have two 9kg bottles that I fill at the service station. The full one lasts me exactly 5 weeks and in that time I get the other filled. I dont rely on anyone to come out and fill mine up. One single person and thats hot water and gas top stove, $30 every 5 weeks.
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