Gas bottle, rent vs buy

[wynnum1]

You can tranfer the gas from one bottle to another .

 

[beercus]

You can tranfer the gas from one bottle to another .

How? Would love to fill up my bottle at work. What equipment do I need?

 

[mje1980]

I rent mine. When I started kegging, around 2001 I was unaware of being able to buy a bottle. It's about $100 a year, though I think that may be because I've been renting one for so long. I keep expecting the price to go up but it never seems to. In fact I don't remember getting a bill last Christmas. I just go in every few years to refill. About $40. I think sooner or later I'll go in for a refill and they won't let me keep renting it, but so far so good. If that happens I guess I'll just buy one.

 

[Hoploader]

$7.54 per per month rental is cheap. I thought it was $150+ per year.

Yeah that seemed pretty cheap rent to me too, on the 10kg size anyway. Figuring I'll probably just buy one depending on refill costs though.

 

[Nizmoose]

If you're going to own kegs for more than 2 years then surely the simple maths suggests it's worth buying one outright and should you ever want to get rid of it you'll get most of your money back?

 

[Topher]

Why is that? Just wondering because I do mine through BOC. A 23.5kg bottle.
$56 changeover. I think the rent is ~ $150.00 per year.

Correct: Rent is $176.00 per year. $14.74 a month. 23.5kg CO2 goes a long way.
(as long as you get no leaks of course)

Oh just a few stuffups. They put me into debt collection because they couldnt get my address right for the bills (despite me calling several times to change it and to check what i needed to pay).

Then the local store closed and when i wanted to return the bottle the people on the phone sent me to 3 separate places that wouldnt take the co2 bottle...only welding gas. I got a bit angry on the phone that day.

 

[Pogierob]

I rented for a couple of years, paying $15 a month for a 10kg bottle which basically lasted me close to two years.

I stopped renting when I was given an old bottle (out of date but still half full).

now I have a 2.6kg bottle which I swapped at Keg King for $25.

they way I see it, I could have bought a 6kg AND a 2.6 kg bottle with the money I spent on renting.

The whole - I paid good money for a new bottle and I don't want a banged up old one doesn't really make sense to me.. who cares what a TESTED bottle that hides in a fridge or under a bar looks like, certainly not enough to justify paying $15 a month for renting (which could be a banged up bottle).

Of course you could keep your bottle and have it refilled, which is still a better option than renting.

 

[TheWiggman]

MKOL's is an aluminium bottle. I imagine the cheekypeak is a KK type and of steel. I don't care about the weight as it doesn't get moved. Not too worried about rust inside a vessel full of co2 either. I dare say the MKOL type is of a higher quality though.

A bit gingerbeery, but steel is a more robust product for non-corrosive substances. It's the only metal that has an Sn / fatigue limit, which means there is an applied stress level that, below, will theoretically never crack due to fatigue. All other metals will eventually crack due to fatigue if stress is applied.
In the case of a bottle though it's possible this will never occur if designed appropriately. If you buy a bottle that is compliant to Australian standards / if you buy a bottle in Australia, you have nothing to worry about. I have the KK bottles from Country Brewer (Al) and I can't fault the condition or quality of any that I've swapped.

tl;dr steel is better than aluminium for pressure vessels. Both will serve home brewers as well as one another.

 

[Bribie G]

If you're in a Metro area then buy, but make sure that you buy a product that is eligible to be refilled over the years, but rental has advantage as well.


In my HB career I've only lived in regional areas where there is nearly always been a BOC in town but a few hours round trip to a kegsonlegs swapper who could go belly up at short notice.

So I rent 10k and I calculate that my gas bill equates to around a Tooheys schooner a week up t'club. I've been in Taree for nearly 3 years and only 2 trips to BOC. First rate service. They scan the barcode on the bottle that brings up your details, touch off ye Visa and the guy puts the bottle in your boot.

 

[Camo6]

Why is that? Just wondering because I do mine through BOC. A 23.5kg bottle.
$56 changeover. I think the rent is ~ $150.00 per year.

Correct: Rent is $176.00 per year. $14.74 a month. 23.5kg CO2 goes a long way.
(as long as you get no leaks of course)

If you're looking for a cheaper alternative, a mate of mine who runs a workshop has found Stargas to be the cheapest around Melbourne's east. Not sure if it's still the case but might be worth inquiring.

 

[Kingy]

I've been getting a 10kg bottle filled for 2 years and now can't get it filled anywhere. Will go the kegsonlegs for convenience!

Why cant you get it filled? Theres a few places around town that fills them

 

[KevinR]

I do swap&go with speedgas. Both my g size argon and my 7kg co2. Don't know how the co2 price compares with BOC but the argon is cheeper to swap than to refill at BOC, and no monthly rental.