Cost has been touched on, so I may as well put my own findings on here. Daz1968, I agree with your comparison against the smaller Hobbyweld bottle, but if you can fork out the deposit for the Ultra sized bottle, it's a good deal. Some people will also save £50 on not having to buy regulator as it's built into the Ultra bottle.
Here's the comparason of rent vs no-rent. I'm assuming the BOC deal above is the best rent deal. I'm calling the Hobbyweld the best no-rent deal as it's the best I found and it's widely available.
BOC Argoshield light (Rent)
Y size cylinder
5.02 m³ gas
Rent £47
Refill £33 (£6.57 per m³)
HobbyWeld 5 (No-rent)
1.34 m³ gas
Deposit (£60+VAT)
Refill £31 (£23.13 per m³)
HobbyWeld 5 ULTRA (No-rent)
6.13 m³ gas
Deposit (£199+VAT)
Refill £64 (£10.44 per m³)
The bottom line:
My maths says you need to use the BOC gas at a rate of 1 bottle in under 5 months to be a better deal than Hobbyweld 5 ULTRA, or 21 months to be better than the HobbyWeld 5 normal sized bottle.
Personally, I couldn't use a BOC cycinder every 5 months but I need it on tap all year round, so the HobbyWeld 5 Ultra is the best for me (despite the scary deposit cost!)
Edited by Phil-R, 28 March 2016 - 03:29 PM.
