I refer to the front page story ‘Consumers complain that LPG cylinders are running out more quickly’ (TMI, 7 January).

There are various ways of approaching this problem. The empty tare weight of a gas cylinder can be found on a metal disc on the shroud, this gives the weight of the cylinder in pounds and ounces. To convert this to kilogrammes multiply this number by 0.453592. Once you have the empty weight of the cylinder you can put it on some scales, then you will have the total weight, so you can now take the empty cylinder weight off the total, this will give you how much gas you have left in the cylinder.

Another approach is to pour boiling water from a kettle down the side of the cylinder. Then run your finger down the side of the cylinder until you reach a point of temperature difference. When your finger goes from hot to cold that will be the level of gas in the tank.

It is also possible to buy little stick on plastic strips which change colour to show the level but I don’t think they can be moved from one tank to another so would only be useful if you were getting your tank re-filled rather than swapping it for a new tank. A better approach would be to fit a gas level indicator to the cylinder. I don’t know if these are available in Malta but a couple of examples can be seen at the links below to give you an idea what to look for.

http://www.irawoods.com/Maverick-GW-212E-Digital-Gas-Watch-Gauge-Propane-Level-Indicator

http://exterioraccents.com/gaswatchi.html?productid=gaswatchi&channelid=NEXTA

James A. Tyrrell,

N. Ireland