Still need convincing before I change to LPG.

[sherlock]

This is a great read fellows, Im getting gassed next month so this is of interest to me. I dont want to be put off, but then again I dont want to splash out a grand and find that it's not gunna be worth it.

[Ian Hulley]

I dont want to splash out a grand and find that it's not gunna be worth it.

You will be running at half-cost, your van will be quieter, your van will be smoother, your van will be more environmentally friendly.

I'm not saying that the previous poster (Maxstu) is talking cobblers BUT .....

The truth is that the payback period has lengthened ever so slightly, weigh up the other benefits I listed and I'm sure you'll not be cancelling your conversion

I/we do ~16-18K a year in The Bus so it was a complete no-brainer for us

Ian.

[sherlock]

You will be running at half-cost, your van will be quieter, your van will be smoother, your van will be more environmentally friendly.

I had no idea that the van will run smoother/Quieter.

Yea im still gunna do it. Im also hoping steve will sort my very high reving carb out at the same time.

[Nicola&Tony]

. . . Nationwide, AVERAGE prices of LPG have increased by a staggering 30+% in the last three years! Average petrol prices by around 13%. LPG in 2005 just 32p a litre. Petrol about 92p. 2008? 50p average for LPG and around £1.03 for the horrible stuff.

Surely the average price of petrol has gone up more than 11p in 3 years?

From the link that Phredd posted; "Average petrol prices have now reached an all-time high of 104.85p a litre compared with just 87.27p a litre a year ago." (article dated 26.02.2008)

Nice one Phredd! I thought the price of petrol had increased more than the figures that were previously quoted . . . maybe I'm not losing me marbles after all?!

Tony

[Nicola&Tony]

79.9p per litre for petrol in 2005 according to this source:

http://www.speedlimit.org.uk/petrolprices.html

So what does that take the percentage increase to?

Tony

[matt]

Petrol varies hugely over a few miles
as does gas

At the mo, and I know cos I drive it every week
Derby, gas 49p Liquid Gold 101.9p
Leek, Gas 55p, Liquid Gold 105.9p

in Derby, its always, since 2004, been half price or less
when We converted there was talk of changing the duty.......
now converted 3 busses, (busi?)

The £10 trip on gas journey wood cost £20 on juice.......

so in 5 months at 160 miles a week, its paid for

or about 4 to 5k...i thin k that werks

[jed the spread]

You will be running at half-cost, your van will be quieter, your van will be smoother, your van will be more environmentally friendly.

I had no idea that the van will run smoother/Quieter.

you wont believe it honestly. I just found out to today from a reliable source that mayor ken may be dropping the congestion charge for cars on lpg . about time to, get the incentive going just hang back on the taxation Kenneth.

[Mocki]

dont wanna pour pi$$ on your fire jed, but i bet its only for new cars , not retro conversions.........

[steve8090]

Following successful lobbying by UKLPG the proposed changes to the London Congestion Charge Scheme now include continued recognition of the positive contribution LPG can make to improving air quality.

The highlights for LPG in the new Congestion Charging plans are:

Existing Alternative Fuel incentives (i.e.100% discount for LPG vehicles on the Powershift Register) will now apply to 27th October 2008 and those vehicles registered by that date, and whilst continuing in the same ownership, will now continue to get full 100% discount until 11th January 2010

The Powershift Register will continue in full operation.

For cars, the emission figures on the Powershift Register will be accepted to justify under 120gm/km and thus 100% discount. LPG cars will be around 10% lower CO2 at the tailpipe which will mean that their lower emissions can be taken into account.

For vans, those on the Powershift Register will attract the "Euro V" concession of £2 reduction per day which extends to when the Euro V limit becomes mandatory for that type of vehicle - in the case of vans up to 3.5 tonnes this expires on 1st January 2012.

Looking to the future, we will be pressing the Mayor to extend this concession for LPG vans in view of the increasing CO2 advantage of LPG over diesel and that LPG vans are much cleaner in terms of NOx and fine particles than even Euro VI diesels.

Source: UKLPG

[Pickles]

I have done 90,000 miles on LPG in my 2.1
Saved more than my camper cost.
Just get it converted you will not regret it

[syncroandy]

Following successful lobbying by UKLPG the proposed changes to the London Congestion Charge Scheme now include continued recognition of the positive contribution LPG can make to improving air quality.

Yeah, but is this relevant to us ? T25's converted to LPG aren't listed on the Powershift Register are they ?

[ginge]

well steve done a conversion for me and after doing a few long trips etc i think its paid for itself its still cheeper than gold all over europe and just depends what sort of milage you do big milage it payes and folkes have there van sprayed at a cost no way of getting that back so the gas will pay for something over a year maybe a respray etc

[jon71]

This is a very interesting thread. Does anyone remember how much cheaper diesel was than petrol in years gone by? The more popular diesel became...the more expensive it became.
The more popular lpg becomes...the more the government will take notice and increase the tax. Well...thats what I think anyway.
However - you should seriously consider it just for the environmental implications.

[maxstu]

My thanks for all the interesting and lively feedback to my original posting.
Much has been said regarding this subject as the obvious merits of swapping to LPG have been actively recorded above.
I do notice, however, there are very few comments from members who live in the south east of our great country, such as myself. And I suspect this could be because of the higher price of LPG and conversions down here? Futhermore, Gasure in Chester, I believe, IS THE place to get your van converted. That's obvious from the fantastic praise recorded on this forum. And regretably some way away from me.
The price fluctuation in petrol is still, percentage wise, far lower than LPG. You can't get away from the maths. Four to eight pence on a £1.00 (petrol) is 4-8% and four to eight pence on 50p (lpg) is approx 8-16%. And it's increasing as LPG gets more popular. Yes, it's still only half price now. So get it done NOW and feel the full benefits.
I took an article from september 2005 recording the price of petrol at 90p a litre. Further research has shown this was the month petrol shot up and then actually came down again. Shock horror I hear you say! A price war between the supermarkets started then fizzled out as winter came on and prices for oil always increase then anyway. So maybe that bit was a little misleading.
But show me where there is a 30% variation in petrol prices? Or say between 95p and £1.20 a litre unlike LPG 42p to 57p and even 66p from my local supplier.
So before I decide I going to take into account the many pros and cons ..... the conversion costs, my average annual mileage (do you get the same mpg from lpg as petrol??). LPG tank only can be filled to 80% of it's volume due to safety reasons. Addition weight and loss of storage (mines a pop top). Less world pollution (let's not mention India's and China's new car industry!). A smoother drive. Filling up and smiling as you hand over just 50% of your hard earned crusts. Going further afield and seeing new places without getting too concerned if it's gonna cost an arm and a leg. Running all your gas appliances from the same fuel must save money. Do it without delay if you think it's right for you!
I'm very tempted to ring Mr Gasure tomorrow.
Cheers
maxstu

[VWlewis]

Just one more observation which I shared with a calor gas supplier when they were filling up my LPG tank - it seems the major petrol suppliers always move the price of LPG up in line with petrol so it is around 50% of the price per litre. Calor Gas outlets always seem to undercut them by at least 4p/litre. Of course the person filling up my tank agreed!

Has anyone else observed this or is it different elsewhere? (I should say of course the cost of all fuel is higher in remote parts of the UK)

VW Lewis