1. Purpose (Home/Business): Before you go to the market to buy just any LPG cylinder, you ought to know what purpose it is going to serve. This is important so you don't end up with something too big or inadequate. If you are in the food retail business, you need a cylinder that is big enough to cater to the size of your kitchen. By size of the kitchen I mean the quantity of food that is prepared and the average number of customers you cater to.
If your intended purchase is for use at home, you are to consider the size of your family. Do you cook for just yourself, or there are other dependants? How often do you prepare meals? A student who stays alone for instance would likely get a 6Kg LPG cylinder because getting a bigger-sized one would be a waste. A typical household-sized LPG cylinder is the 12.5Kg and 25Kg for larger families.
2. Manufactured Vs Last Tested Date: Most people do not pay attention to the dates on their LPG cylinders; this is risky. This is due to the fact that many are unaware that these cylinders actually expire. Aside from physical dents, rusts, and scratches, one key thing to look out for is the manufactured date or last tested date of the cylinder. We will address how important this is in another article. However, you should know that the dates are usually written (embossed) on the neck of the cylinder (for bigger sizes) or at the bottom (for smaller sizes). For new cylinders, you are more likely to see “manufactured or tested date”, while used cylinders have “last tested or retested date” on them. These dates appear as regular numbers such as 09/2020 or as alphanumeric codes like C-2020. While the earlier is easy to decipher, many get confused by the latter format.
In the alphanumeric code format, the letters A, B, C, and D represent the end of the first, second, third, and fourth quarters of the year. That is March, June, September, and December. Hence, a manufactured date of C-2020 means the cylinder was manufactured in the third quarter of the year 2020, most likely in the month of September.
LPG cylinders have a recommended safe lifespan of 15 years but should be retested every 5 years.
3. Design: When we hear the word “design” what typically comes to mind is the aesthetics of a product, but the design is beyond mere aesthetics. What has this got to do with LPG cylinders now? For safety reasons, some LPG cylinders have been designed with smooth handles at the top to ease the stress of transporting them from one place to another, so you don’t hurt yourself.
Thinking of a reliable cylinder brand? Look no further than Smart Gas cylinders. Our alluring range of LPG cylinders comes in 3Kg, 6Kg, 12.5Kg, 25Kg, and 50Kg sizes.
Tags: LPG, Smartgasng, cylinders, cylinder expiry date, manufactured date, family, kitchen, cooking.
