A 40 lb propane tank holds 9.4 gallons of propane and weighs 72 lbs full. Virtually all of the tank exchange companies now only fill your tank to 15 lbs. They apparently started doing this when the price of propane went up with gas prices several years ago. They claimed that they were doing an incredible service to customers by not having to raise the price. After complaints, they do now list that the tanks are filled to 15 lbs, but very few people are going to realize this.

As stated above, there are ways to find how much propane is precisely in your tank and patterns for you to make sure you don’t have an underfilled tank. However, it is purely subjective and is up to the customer which is better for their circumstances and wallet. If you can’t make it to the refill station, tank exchange may be the best option for you. You would need to place the tank on a scale for total weight and subtract tare weight to determine the remaining propane.

How much is a 20lb propane tank?

Is anyone using these in their campers for heating etc. or are they for grilling only. One great thing about propane is that it is one of the safest fuel sources. While this is a rare occurrence, if it is handled properly, propane is generally safe for your family and pets.

However, a lot of places have a 5 gallon minimum, so they will charge $17.25 to fill a partially empty 20# tank. In the first example, bulk is $3.75 cheaper than the Blue Rhino, and if there is a minimum charge it is still $2.72 cheaper to refill your tank. Given that I had three tanks, the exchange cost for me was $11.25 more than if I had taken three tanks to the U-Haul store less than a mile away.

You will seldom, if ever, receive 80% (of Water Content-WC) which is what is considered a full tank from any supplier who fills an OPD equipped tank. This is simply because the OPD will close and prevent the tank from being further filled. OPD’s are relatively crude mechanical devices and are not calibrated when installed in your tank.

• I have nothing against the tank exchange companies.
• Propane tanks are meant to last and generally do so if handled with care.
• These 5 gallon tanks are what come with the typical outdoor grill and also on many campers.
• A 20 lb tank contains roughly 4.75 gallons.
• Another tip- get your gas anywhere BUT Blue Rhino .
• As a general rule, in the United States, propane tanks need replacing when damaged or after 12 years of use.

The stations that charge based on temperature correct gallons or weight are being fair. It holds a maximum of 400 gallon of propane. Empty 500 gallon propane tank weighs about 949 pounds.

lb Propane Tank Dimension, Weight, BTUs

There is a company that makes refillable 1 lb cylinders. They are refilled from a fork lift propane tank, which is designed to deliver liquid propane. Purchasing a fork lift tank (if you are like me you probably don’t have one) makes it expensive, however. It would require a lot of refills to break even. I have nothing against the tank exchange companies. They have found a new business model that works for them and certainly has some consumer benefits, often at a price.

They do the same thing with large stationary tanks that are built with steel 1/4 in. The propane company will only put 400 gal in my 500 gal tank. So you really don’t want those thin portable tanks filled to capacity. Some guys haul these things around inside their cars! At extremely high temp a completely filled LP tank would be very dangerous. An OPD valve is required on all grill bottle tanks.

Beware if you plan to use the Blue Rhino tank exchange service for buying propane. With 18,300,000 BTU content, 250 gallon propane tank can run a 10,000 BTU/h surfshark server locations heater or furnace for 76 days and 6 hours. You can check how long does 250 gallon propane tank last here. You can safely put 20lbs of propane in a 20lb tank.

Meaning that the full capacity of the tank, after allowing for that 80% standard, is ~4.6 US gallons of liquid. The 80% of 20lbs myth is exactly that, a myth. It is misinformation invented and spread by tank exchanges to sell you less gas for more money. They are lying to you, and I will show you how. GeneL I’ve done it but that aint much of a reference. They have a internal pressure relief valve which keeps it from overpressuring and is supposed to make it safe.

How much propane does Blue Rhino put in its tanks?

As a side note; 100 pound or larger tanks do not require the OPD valve or date tests. The bleeder valve is opened when filling allowing some gas to escape, and a bit of liquid when full. I’ve got to give Blue Rhino kudos for honesty. At least they are up front with admitting that under-filling is a cost-saving measure. On the other hand, AmeriGas gives you 80% capacity, compared to Blue Rhino’s 75%. A comparison of pros and cons of refilling a Blue Rhino tank vs exchanging a tank.

• 20 LB tanks can not be filled to a 20 LB capacity.
• It seems to me its better and cost effective to have your tank filled rather than buying a partial tank.
• It would make sense, then, that most consumers would not have known they were actually getting less fuel.
• Your furnace may kick on for 10 minutes out of the hour and you may spend half an hour using the stove.
• The answer may not be 20 pounds, as you might think.
• The label should say “This 20 lb tank is only filled to 15 lbs for our benefit, not yours”.

That is, how many gallons of propane to expect in a standard 20 lb tank when it’s “full”. In this post,Are We Out of Propane Again? I took a deep dive into propane tank capacities and how to weigh your tank to determine how much propane is left.

Now that old man is in the hospital recovering from his knee operation I am in charge of the orchard. We are having a frost tonight and I have to light the propane tank with the heater on top. Followed the steps but couldn’t get the propane match to light.

In any case, weighing will probably give you a better indication than your average car’s gas gauge will. I have one vehicle which sticks on Full for a long time then quickly drops. My new car has an 18.5 gallon tank, but the gas gauge and the electronic “range left” indicator thinks it will run out after using only 13 or 14 gallons. Exchange prices vary a lot in my town, from $14.99 at a grocery store to $28.99 at a hardware store and a gas station. Havent checked percent capacity or the refill option.

I have but actually getting 100 pounds when I pay for it, and subsequently only having to get it filled about 1/7th as often, I’d suffer it. Nothing a handtruck and pickup can’t handle. It is cheaper to fill a tank than swap one out unless of course the tank is out of date. Before it goes out of date, I swap it out.

Grill Propane Tank 101

OPD is short for “Overfill Protection Device”. It is a safety feature that prevents the tanks from being https://coinbreakingnews.info/ overfilled. If you have a tank without an OPD, the company will not be able to fill your tank.

If your tank has a fly wheel valve it’s the older style and cannot be filled. The OPD valves are more of a triangular shape . Regarding price to refill, the truck stop near my house charges a 5 gallon minimum. If someone is filling only one tank, they are getting hosed to refill their own. Many propane users often opt out of refilling altogether, which can be time-consuming and costly.

• Finally, if you are dissatisfied with a Blue Rhino tank, please return it to the store for a refund or replacement.
• Fortunately it was early enough in the camping trip to just keep it attached to something, and I used it up.
• If you need additional help, you can pose a question in the comments below and we’re try our best to answer it.
• In many cases, you will also have to convert lb of propane to gallons of propane.

This is because national fire codes prohibit filling tanks to their designed capacity, for safety reasons. I was in a hurry and did a tank swap at Walmart recently, which is supplied Blue Rhino in the DFW area. The stated tare weight was 18, so I actually received 16.4 pounds of propane in a 20# tank. With the price of propane these days, I want what I pay for and that’s a full tank. All in all, it contains almost 50 million BTUs . That’s enough to run a 10,000 BTU/h heater for more than half a year .

If I could afford it, I would use electric heat and only use propane for a backup in case of power outages. But our electric rates have sky rocketed here, so even at $1.90 a gallon, propane is still cheaper to heat with. So that’s what I’ll be using this winter. Hopefully my experience here using propane will be more successful. We finally got the greenhouse moved here to our new home this week. I sure hope to get it up and running before freezing weather gets here.

But remember you are paying a premium for convenience. And you really can’t blame them for wanting exclusive rights if they can get it. It’s up to the consumer to put a stop to that practice by buying elsewhere. I would agree that it’s underhanded not to inform a customer that the tank could not be filled elsewhere if that’s their practice. It’s also bad business practice people will eventually catch on and the smart ones will take their business elsewhere. But many people won’t and they say nobody ever lost any money by underestimating the intelligence of the american consumer.

It is always best to check your tank to ensure it is safe to fill before adding more propane. Uhaul suggests that they have the most propane refill stations in the U.S. alone. It is often that propane users have equipment specified for specific dimensions.

How much you actually burn per hour also depends on the size of your home and how hard your furnace has to work to heat it. A smaller home requires less propane than a large home. It’s important to know how much you use and how to know when you’re getting low.

Butane has almost the same btu content as propane. One issue with butane is that it does not vaporize easily at Temps below freezing. Since you live in the South, where freezing weather rarely occurs, they can add it in with propane and it will still work well. Northern climates this will not work as the butane will not vaporize and just sit in the tank until the outside temp warms way up.