Compare bottled gas suppliers in New Zealand at Canstar Blue. Genesis, Rockgas and Elgas were compared on Overall Satisfaction, Bill and Cost Clarity, Customer Service, Tools & Advice and Value for Money.
See our Ratings Methodology.
Genesis delivers gas and customer satisfaction, rated the No.1 supplier of bottled gas by Kiwi consumers.
Our review compares bottled gas suppliers on customer satisfaction, so you can discover what other Kiwis think about our bottled gas retailers before you make your own choice. Think of it like asking hundreds of your closest friends which bottled gas suppliers they think deliver the best value and service!
Canstar Blue surveyed 383 Kiwis who have bottled gas delivered to their homes for their feedback on the supplier they use.
Respondents rate their satisfaction with their bottled gas suppliers from zero to ten, where zero is extremely dissatisfied and ten is extremely satisfied. Brand satisfaction was rated by respondents on the following criteria:
The winning bottled gas supplier is the one that receives the highest Overall Satisfaction rating once all the scores from the Overall Satisfaction criteria are combined and averaged.
Brands must have received at least 30 responses to be included, so not all brands available in the market have been compared in this survey. The brands rated in this survey are listed below in order of best overall satisfaction.
Find more information on our Most Satisfied Customer methodology.
This year’s award result marks back-to-back wins for Genesis. It’s the second year in a row that Genesis has won Canstar Blue’s Bottled Gas award. And it’s clear that the energy company is delivering plenty of customer satisfaction along with its bottles of LPG. For not only does Genesis earn a top 5-Star rating for Overall Satisfaction, it’s a consumer rating it wins across all categories in our award ratings.
It’s also the second year in a row that Genesis has won our top Natural Gas Award, too, for more on that award, click here.
Genesis is a publicly listed company that is 51% owned by the NZ government.
Genesis provides electricity, natural gas and bottled gas (LPG) to New Zealand households and businesses, and also generates electricity, natural gas and LPG.
It’s quick and easy to order bottled gas from Genesis through its Energy IQ app. Delivery is speedy and you can track the delivery, too. Plus, Genesis offers a 5% discount if you bundle your gas and electricity supply.
Genesis’s bottled gas prices include a monthly bottle rental fee, you then pay for each bottle refill. Prices as of 08/06/2022, not including 5% multi-fuel discount:
For more details, check out Genesis’ website.
Rockgas is a previous three-time winner of our award. And this year it earns another strong set of ratings from its customers. Along with great 4-Star ratings for Overall Satisfaction and Value for Money, it has two top 5-Star ratings, for Customer Service and Bill & Cost Clarity.
Rockgas is New Zealand’s largest LPG retailer serving over 140,000+ customers from 10 branches and a network of 25 franchises throughout the country. It is part of the Clarus group, which services over half a million homes and businesses of all sizes across New Zealand.
Ordering a gas refill from Rockgas is quick and simple through the Rockgas app. It delivers 45kg bottles to homes for gas cooking, heating and hot water needs, as well as providing LPG tanks for business gas essentials.
BBQ 9kg bottles and LPG vehicles are also covered by Rockgas, which operates a network of over 180 Refill & Save locations throughout the country.
Rockgas’ prices for bottled gas vary across the country, depending on your location. For more details, check out the Rockgas website.
Rounding out our award ratings, Elgas earns 3-Stars from its customers for Overall Satisfaction and Value for Money – solid scores that are certainly not a measure of displeasure. In addition, it earns higher 4-Star ratings across all other categories.
Elgas is part of BOC, which in turn is part of the Linde company, a leading global industrial gases and engineering firm. Elgas offers:
Elgas’ prices vary depending on location. Check out the Elgas website for more details.
Not all bottled gas suppliers in the market qualify for our ratings (based on minimum survey sample size), but that doesn’t mean they’re not worth considering. Here are more bottled gas providers to check out before choosing a supplier:
Frank EnergyOriginally established in 1999 as Energy Online, the company was purchased by Genesis Energy in 2002 and rebranded as Frank Energy in 2021.
Frank Energy offers electricity and gas plans across New Zealand, along with LPG bottled gas. The power company focuses on providing not only smart apps and online services, but great customer service, too. Current prices:
For more details, click through to the Frank Energy website.
One of the country’s largest gas retailers, Vector Ongas supplies LPG gas bottles to Kiwi homes.
Vector Ongas’ current prices for bottled 45kg cylinder LPG:
Cylinder refill/delivery
Between $132.52 and $205.82 per cylinder depending on your location
Annual Equipment Charge
$138.80 for two 45kg cylinders
For more details, check out the Vector Ongas website.
While over a third (35%) of respondents to this year’s award survey cite Value for Money as their biggest concern when rating their choice of bottled gas supplier, price alone isn’t the only factor driving consumer satisfaction.
Customer Service is also very important: 32% of bottled gas customers rated it as their No.1 concern. And understandably so.
Because bottled gas relies on manual delivery to the home, consumers need to be able to rely on their provider to deliver their gas regularly and on time. Therefore great Customer Service is essential.
Here’s the full rundown of what the consumers in our survey say are the main things they consider when rating their bottled gas suppliers:
Bottled gas is either butane or propane gas that has been compressed into a liquid form and bottled. When release from its pressurised bottle, the liquid reverts to a gas, which can then be burned to fuel heating or cooking in the home.
While bottled and natural gas perform the same tasks: either used for heating or cooking in the home, there are differences between the two:
While there are over 2500kms of high-pressure supply pipelines in New Zealand, supplying gas to more than 60,000 customers, there is no mains supply in the South Island. And if your home isn’t already connected to mains gas, a new connection can be prohibitively expensive.
However because bottled gas is portable, it’s an easily accessible option if your home is off the mains gas grid.
Natural gas is often referred to as mains gas or piped gas, and is only available to homes on the mains network in certain parts of the North Island.
Unlike bottled gas, which is usually butane or propane, mains gas is primarily methane.
For more information on our natural gas award, click here.
Homes using bottled gas usually have two 45kg bottles. When one empties, supply switches to the other and a replacement is ordered for the empty bottle.
How long a gas bottle lasts depends on your power usage, whether you’re using the gas for cooking, heating, hot water, or a combination of all three. Obviously, the more gas you use the more bottles you will have to purchase.
However, here’s a rough guide to gas bottle consumption for an average home:
This report was written by Canstar’s Editor, Bruce Pitchers. Bruce has three decades’ experience as a journalist and has worked for major media companies in the UK and Australasia, including ACP, Bauer Media Group, Fairfax, Pacific Magazines, News Corp and TVNZ. Prior to Canstar, he worked as a freelancer, including for The Australian Financial Review, the NZ Financial Markets Authority, and for real estate companies on both sides of the Tasman.
Understand info on gas bill: 57%
Understand benefits of gas as a fuel in home: 45%
Understand how to check safety of gas appliances: 36%
Use gas because it’s cheaper: 32%
Have compared gas suppliers online: 24%
Gas supplier provides the tools to enable efficient gas usage: 22%
Canstar Blue surveyed 5046 New Zealand consumers across a range of categories to measure and track customer satisfaction, via ISO 26362 accredited research panels managed by Qualtrics. The outcomes reported are the results from respondents who have a bottled gas account. In this case, 383 New Zealanders. Brands must have received at least 30 responses to be included. Results are comparative and it should be noted that brands receiving three stars have still achieved a satisfaction measure of at least six out of 10. Not all brands available in the market have been compared in this survey. The ratings table is first sorted by star ratings and then by mean overall satisfaction. A rated brand may receive a ‘N/A’ (Not Applicable) rating if it does not receive the minimum number of responses for that criterion.
The past winners from Canstar Blue’s Bottled Gas ratings:
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