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How I tell which gas bottle is off or on...

We have a couple of gas bottles that we use for hot water (ah - the bliss of the endless shower!) and for cooking. Back in the olden days, we had four and we used to turn one off and use the other three. When they ran out, we turned off the three used ones, turned on the full one and called the gas company for a refill. Then the Gas company decided that they knew our gas usage better then we did and came when ever they liked. After running out of gas a number of times (despite phone calls to let them know that we were running low and got the response that we wouldn't run out for another two months - and ran out the next week) we changed gas companies after 20+ years. Customer service wasn't a priority obviously!

The new company has a two bottle policy - making it so much easier. One on and one off. My problem is that when the first bottle empties while I'm in the shower and I have to switch the new one on dressed in my towel dripping all over the place, Which one is on and which one id off...

Here's what I did...


I used the empty cat biscuit bag and cut two solid block of colour - Green for on and Yellow for off (red would have been better but there wasn't enough of it on the packet)
 


I folded my tags in half so the colour faces out. Then using a permanent marker, I wrote "Off" and "On" on the tags and used a hole punch to attach a piece of garden string to them.



And then simply attached the right tag to the right gas bottle.
Now I can tell at a glance which one is full and which one is empty and turn the right taps the right way without having to muck around or guess!
 
 
The tags have been put on with a "slip through" type knot so that when you do have to change your bottles over you can change the tags just as quickly. The tags will also alert the gas delivery driver as to which bottle has pressure in it and which one wont when he comes to give us a top up.

You will have to change the tags each time you start a new bottle but it save a lot of stress trying to figure out which one is full and which tap you need to turn on to get back to your shower!

Score card:
Green-ness: 5/5 for using an item destined for landfill! 
Frugal-ness: 5/5 for saving both time and money!
Time cost: Maybe 5 minutes!
Skill level: Basic cutting and pasting once again!
Fun -ness: Not so much fun but satisfying to come out in your towel and back into the shower in record time!

Comments

Marigold Jam said…
We too used gas bottles when we lived in France but we had to take them to be changed ourselves rather than have a delivery. Ours were only for the cooker though our hot water was heated by electricity so we never ran out mid-shower! That must be a bit of a shock to the system if the water suddenly runs cold! Good idea to label the cannisters and free too.
Practical Frog said…
Its less of a shock and more of a dawning realisation as the pressure drops, the heat drops and no matter how hard you twist the hot tap on, the water remains stubbornly cold! Its one of the drawbacks to the endless hot water - is that when it ends. Its all over! Some people have gas piped to the house but its not available in our area. These bottles are huge - maybe 4' high - Im glad they come to us. Id never get it in the car! - K x
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