Does Cold Truly Affect the Level Gauge on a Propane Tank?
Similar to nearly all other kinds of materials, propane is affected by cold temperatures. When the temperature declines, the propane gas contracts. That reduced level of gas inside the tank is reflected by the gauge that reflects the level on the tank. Usually, this comes into play whenever a homeowner checks the gauge in cold conditions and sees the amount of the tank level before and after delivery. Depending upon the conditions, the tank level may not rise as much as anticipated.
Propane Tank Level Gauge
The gauge on the propane tank would show what fraction of the gas tank is still full. Tanks are usually not filled more than 80% full since this would allow for the gas to expand during hotter temperatures. Like for example, a 500 gallon tank, at a reading of 80 percent at normal temperatures reflects approximately 400 gallons of propane in the tank. This is roughly how much is able to be stored.
Normal Temperatures
The propane industry operates the popular web site Propane 101, which considers the propane baseline point to be an exterior temperature of 60 degrees. For instance, if the gauge reads 50% of capacity on a day when the temperature is close to 60 degrees, then a 500 gallon tank will have around 250 gallons of propane. If the temperature that same day is a lot lower than 60 degrees, the gauge would read lower. In the same way, 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
The energy contained or amount of energy contained within a tank would not change when the gas either expands or contracts, based on the propane industry website. The amount of propane itself has not changed, but just the density of the gas has changed.
Cold-Weather Delivery
If a homeowner orders 100 gallons of propane to be delivered, they would receive 424 pounds of propane. If the homeowner has a 1000 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, these chillier temperatures would cause a smaller increase reading on the propane gauge.