Gas for our Motorhome
We purchased our motorhome in 2009, an old Elnagh on a Ford Transit body with only 68,000 kilometers on the clock and it was in good condition. While we were waiting for our green card to arrive we decide to do a trip in Holland to test things out. We stopped at a camperstop / aire in Zutphen, a great place overlooking a lake. In the evening a Dutchman came to the camperstop to check out a box which he filled with newspapers and magazines for motorhomers who stop there. He was the person who was responsible for setting up the camperstop and we chatted for a while and gave us some good advice. He asked which countries we were planning to visit and how long we intended to travel. Then he asked what type of gas bottles we had on board. We had 2 green gas bottles of 11 liters each. His suggestion was to buy a refillable red gas bottle which holds 22 liters with extra nozzles to fit various countries. This can be filled at a service station which means easier access and also cheaper gas. I hoped on my bike and followed him to his house where he showed me his setup in his motorhome. The problem with the bottles we had was they needed swapping or filling which could prove to be difficult in some countries. He explained what to buy and from where.
After that long winded explanation I will tell you what we bought, where we bought it and were are pleased that we did.
The gas bottle we bought is red in colour and hold 22 litres it fits in the same spot as an 11 litre bottle meaning no adjustment to be made on the motorhome. It comes with 3 different adapters which screw on to the intake allowing for the different types of gas connection in various countries. It has a gauge on the top which lets you know how much gas is left in the cylinder.
To fill the bottle we open the gas hatch, turn off the gas, connect the right adaptor and fill. When it reaches its full capacity it automatically stops the pump. At most places it is self-serve but there have been attendance to help you fill up. We have only been refused once and that was in Turkey when the attendant said no to filling kitchen gas. Every other time we just explain that it is a proper refillable tank and we have had no problems.
In most places across Europe they have gas at petrol stations but in some countries eg Sweden they only have gas at refill centers. I suggest downloading the POI’s for these locations as they can be hard to find. The blog site Do Your Dream has a download page which has the LPG sites on it. In Sweden we were low on gas and we looked at our Autoroute program and found the closest place. We se the GPS co-ordinates into out TomTom and it took us straight there. It was in an industrial area and we would never have found it otherwise.
We met some Australians in Dresden who had hired a motorhome who told us that they had major problems trying to fill their gas tanks as they were travelling through Europe.
We purchased our gas tank from De Wit a very large camping shop in Holland but we have seen them in many other camping shops. It cost then 230€ which included the adapters.
Clyde and Anna friends we have travelled with in Morocco and Turkey have a different system installed in their motorhome that has the inlet on the body of the motorhome which makes it even easier to fill and looks like it is filling a gas tank for the vehicle.
If you are planning to do short trips and your gas tanks will last then spending the money may not be necessary but if you are planning a long trip through Europe in remote areas then it is well worth the investment. We still keep our other 11 kg bottle with us but have never needed to use it. Our thanks go out to the Dutchman at Zutphen for his friendly advice.
