Does Cold Affect a Propane Tank Level Gauge?
Propane is like the majority of other kinds of materials in that it is affected by cold temperatures. The propane gas contracts as the temperature does down. That reduced level of gas inside the tank is reflected by the gauge which reflects the level on the propane tank. Often, this comes into play whenever a homeowner checks the gauge during cold weather conditions and sees the amount of the tank level before and after delivery. Depending on the conditions, the level on the tank may not rise as much as anticipated.
Propane Tank Level Gauge
The gauge on a propane tank shows you what fraction of the tank is full. Normally, tanks are not filled over 80% so as to enable the gas to expand on warm days. Like for example, a 500 gallon tank, at a reading of 80% at normal temperatures reflects about 400 gallons of propane in the tank. This is roughly how much is able to be stored.
Normal Temperatures
The website Propane 101, which is operated by the propane industry, considers an exterior temperature of 60 degrees to be the reference or baseline point. Like for example, if the gauge reads 50 percent of capacity on a day when the temperature is near 60 degrees, then a 500 gallon tank would contain approximately 250 gallons of propane. If the temperature that day is much lower than 60 degrees, the gauge will read lower. Similarly, if the temperature is much higher than 60 degrees, the gauge would actually read higher due to the expansion of the gas.
Effect of Contraction and Expansion
Based on the information given by the propane industry website, the amount of energy contained within the tank does not really change when the gas contracts or expands. The amount of propane itself has not changed, but just the density of the gas has changed.
Cold-Weather Delivery
The homeowner who orders 100 gallons of propane will receive around 424 lbs. of propane. With the delivery of 100 gallons, the homeowner with a 1000 gallon propane tank could expect the guage to go up by 10%. These numbers will be accurate if the temperatures were close to 60 degrees at the time of delivery. If the delivery took place during colder weather conditions, these chillier temperatures would result in a smaller increase reading on the propane gauge.