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Does Cold Affect the Level Gauge on a Propane Tank?
Similar to nearly all other types of materials, propane is affected by cold temperatures. As the temperature declines, the propane gas contracts. That reduced level of gas inside the tank is reflected by the gauge which reflects the tank level. Usually, this comes into play whenever a homeowner checks the gauge during cold weather and sees the amount of the tank level before and after delivery. Depending on the weather conditions, the level on the tank might not rise as much as expected.
The gauge on a propane tank shows you what fraction of the tank is full. Typically, tanks are not filled more than eighty percent in order to enable the gas to expand during hot temperatures. For instance, a 500 gallon tank, at a reading of 80% at normal temperatures reflects around four hundred gallons of propane inside the tank. This is around the amount that could be stored.
The web site Propane 101, that is managed by the propane industry, considers an exterior temperature of sixty degrees to be the reference or baseline point. For example, if the gauge reads 50 percent of capacity on a day when the temperature is near sixty degrees, then a five hundred gallon tank would contain around two hundred fifty gallons of propane. If the temperature that same day is a lot lower than sixty degrees, the gauge will read lower. Also, if the temperature is a lot higher than 60 degrees, the gauge would actually read higher since the gas expanded.
According to the information given by the propane industry web site, the amount of energy contained inside the tank does not really change as the gas expands or contracts. The amount of propane itself has not changed, but just the density of the gas has changed.
If a homeowner orders 100 gallons of propane to be delivered, they would be given 424 lbs. of propane. If the homeowner has a one thousand gallon propane tank, they could expect the gauge to go up by 10% with the delivery of 100 gallons. These numbers would be correct if the temperatures were near 60 degrees at the time of delivery. If the delivery happened during colder weather conditions, these chillier temperatures would cause a smaller increase reading on the propane gauge.