Your camper uses gas for cooking, and often for heating too. How it's supplied and charged depends on your region and your van's system — pick yours below — but a few things apply everywhere.
- Gas is made available with your van. In most locations you can add a gas bottle to your booking in advance, and buying ahead is usually cheaper than buying at pick-up.
- You can buy more during your trip, at your own expense — from gas stations, camping stores, or our depots.
- Always use gas that's compatible with your van and the local regulations. Incompatible gas that damages the vehicle is chargeable (a Gas Incompatibility Fee applies where set out in the Fee Document).
- Exact prices for any gas charge are in the Fee Document.
- Use gas safely — ventilate, turn the gas off when required, and mind carbon-monoxide risk. See Safety tips & Protocols.
Europe & UK
Your van has one of two gas systems: a portable cooker (a small propane canister, for cooking), or a built-in cooker/stove with a tank gauge that runs off a refillable cylinder powering both cooking and heating.
- A sealed bottle is provided at pick-up. Pay for it in advance for a lower price, or at pick-up. If you don't pay for it either way but open the sealed bottle during your trip, you're charged at drop-off.
- Once you've bought a bottle it isn't refundable, even if it's only partly used — so add one when you're fairly sure you'll cook or heat on your trip.
- If you pre-purchased a bottle and we can't supply it at pick-up, we refund what you paid. We can't guarantee bottles are available to buy at the depot if you didn't pre-book one.
- We're not responsible for outside factors like local supply shortages or purchase restrictions.
- Adapters: Please note that gas adapters and cylinders provided by Indie Campers should not be exchanged for foreign ones. If this occurs, a fee will apply. If you need an adapter, it can be purchased at your own expense.
Australia & New Zealand
Same sealed-cylinder model as Europe & UK, with the two system types (portable canister / built-in cooker with gauge + refillable cylinder):
- Sealed bottle provided at pick-up; pre-buy cheaper; charged at drop-off if you open an unpaid bottle.
- Once you've bought a bottle it isn't refundable, even if it's only partly used — so add one when you're fairly sure you'll cook or heat on your trip.
- Pre-purchased bottle guaranteed at pick-up (or refunded if we can't supply); no guarantee of at-depot purchase if not pre-booked.
- Buying more on the road is at your expense — ensure it's compatible or the Gas Incompatibility Fee applies.
United States & Canada
US and Canada vans use a fixed onboard LPG (propane) tank, not the exchangeable gas bottles used in Europe and Oceania. Instead of swapping a cylinder, you top up the tank with LPG/propane at a refill station when it runs low.
- Refilling is at your own expense, at LPG/propane stations along your route. There's no separate gas refill or return charge from us — gas isn't billed the way it is in Europe.
- Check the tank gauge before you set off and top up as needed; running the heating and stove draws it down over a trip.
- Safety/legal rule: vehicles carrying propane can't enter Manhattan (New York) or travel through tunnels — plan your route around this.
- Running a generator? That's a separate, optional system with its own costs (an access fee per night, a usage fee per hour, plus fuel at your expense). See Generator Policy for how it works.