Gas for grill - should I be providing?

[Inna22]

I have a gas grill at one of my places and I I have never provided gas tank for it. It did not even cross my mind. I always viewed it as a disposable I guess. No guest has ever asked. On Sunday morning I received a call at 8 AM from a guest demanding that I bring a tank over.

I looked it up and it is about four dollars to add some to the existing tank and there are three locations within a mile of my house including a grocery store where they would buy the food for grilling. Because I don’t live there, I would not know if it ran out so I feel like committing to providing gas would be unreasonable for my situation.

I’m not able to run over to bring extra midway of someone cooking. I do not say anything about not providing it in my listing though.  Should I begin providing it and keep an extra tank in the garage? Should I say in my listing I’m not providing it and list places to buy in my house book? 

[Alexandra316]

@Inna22 I offer a grill at my cottage, and I do provide propane to use it. I leave one bottle hooked up to the barbecue and a second in the shed, which is full in case they run out. If you do decide to offer gas, make sure to let people know not to use a cylinder exchange program, because often you will end up with an old, inferior tank: I tell guests that if they do run out, use the one in the shed, and if that's gone too, then have the cylinder refilled, not exchanged. I have a reminder stuck to the outside of both cylinders.

It would be nice to offer free gas, but I think it's up to you. If you don't, I would just make it clear in the listing that the guest may have to purchase propane if they want to use the barbeque, or set an expectation like if a guest uses the barbeque, they should refill the tank for the next guest.

[Aida767]

I also have 2 tanks, one connected and the second placed conveniently as back up.  Recently the 1st unit was emptied and the guest connected the second but left the empty tank.  I am glad to read how you resolved this challenge.  If the guest does not comply with refilling how do you resolve that issue? I also live a distance from my guest cottage. 

[Jim472]

If I put a BBQ in my listing I would provide the gas. I didn't go through your multiple listings to see how you worded it but as the previous post mentioned you might want to specify that it's on the guests dime if they want to BBQ. 

[Inna22]

@Jim472 I do not mention it in the listing one way or the other. It is one of the checked boxes

[Mary419]

Tons of rentals all over the place tell the guests where they can get propane tanks or exchange tanks for full ones. Providing unlimited gas for a fire pit and/or a grill is ridiculous because some guests will use up a whole tank immediately. Most rentals keep the deposit on the tank and let guests exchange it for a full one without paying a new deposit. Anyone who imagines providing it is easy enough must live on site or just has not hosted enough people to experience the reasons not to do it. Indeed they will call you at the worst times demanding it be delivered to them even if you are an hour away and they are next to the store. Set the expectation up front and you should be fine saying you keep the deposit on the tanks (2 is a good idea) but refills are the guest's responsibility. Some guests read that and bring their own in the first place.

I hate grills for the cleaning and fire hazard but this is how it is done in the few rentals where the owner just reallllllly wants to keep a grill on site.

The only legitimate time I have heard anyone complain about having to get their own refill gas was when they booked on Daufuskie Island which is essentially away from all commerce and then I guess it would be awfully frustrating if it was not clearly communicated up front. 

[Jim472]

Ok. So I guess it's like the smoke detector box. Yeah, you should provide gas. 

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Inna22 

make it simple and buy electric grill 🙂

[Inna22]

@Branka-and-Silvia0 thats exactly what my husband said! And if someone wants to use the other one, they can then buy the propain

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Inna22 

and it is safer to use!

we have a cheap one at our holliday home (for our own use) and it works great. Easy to  operate and to clean

[Ian-And-Anne-Marie0]

@Branka-and-Silvia0 @Inna22 

No. If you supply propane - you supply propane.

If they run out, you need to provide a spare.

We provide Propane for our barbecue, and a spare if needed. Our thoughts are that if they're using the Grill/BBQ then they're not using the piped gas to the cooker/stove.

However, the problem with a BBQ/Grill is not the Propane, its the cleaning. It takes ages and really messy. We have plans to remove the Propane BBQ and build a Charcoal BBQ instead. That way, easy clean, guest buys charcoal if they want to use it.

[Lisa723]

@Inna22 as a guest if a propane grill is provided I would expect propane. We provide a tank and a spare, and rotation is one of the turnover tasks.

[Kelly149]

@Inna22 in my mind a gas grill must have gas to work whereas a charcoal grill is a vessel where guests must add food and charcoal to cook. (not saying everyone would agree, but that's my thought...)

I can certainly understand not wanting to add anything to your turnover to do list so you could either:

un check the box about a grill and then it is a bonus instead of an expectation OR

leave the box checked but then be very specific about how they need to provide their hot dogs and the gas to cook with as well. (if you at least provide them with the tank and then tell them where to buy the gas - grocery sounds convenient - then that works too for most people I'd expect)

I don't like the idea of a gas grill for my space bc: guests could leave it running, hurt themselves if they don't know how the gas works, burn my house down by having it too close to wall/ceiling/etc

[Inna22]

@Kelly149 it came with the house, I would have never actually bought it for all the reasons you have mentioned

[Jackie378]

I would supply propane if I mentioned the grill in the ad. 

If if you don’t want to supply or be responsible for it, I would remove it completely from the property.