Does Cold Temperature Truly Affect the Level Gauge on a Propane Tank?
Propane is similar to 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 in the tank is reflected by the gauge that reflects the level on the tank. Normally, 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 weather, the tank level may not rise as much as expected.
Propane Tank Level Gauge
The propane tank's gauge 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 temperatures. For instance, a 500 gallon tank, at a reading of 80% at normal temperatures reflects about 400 gallons of propane inside the tank. This is roughly how much could be stored.
Normal Temperatures
The propane industry manages the popular website Propane 101, that considers the propane baseline point to be an exterior temperature of 60 degrees. For instance, if the gauge reads 50 percent of capacity on a day when the temperature is close to 60 degrees, then a 500 gallon tank would have about 250 gallons of propane. If the temperature that same day is a lot lower than 60 degrees, the gauge will read lower. Similarly, if the temperature is a lot higher than 60 degrees, the gauge will actually read higher due to the expansion of the gas.
Effect of Expansion and Contraction
Based on the information given by the propane industry website, the amount of energy contained inside the tank does not actually change when the gas expands or contracts. The amount of propane itself has not changed, but only the density of the gas has changed.
Cold-Weather Delivery
If a homeowner orders 100 gallons of propane to be delivered, they will be given 424 lbs. 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 accurate if the temperatures were near 60 degrees at the time of delivery. If the delivery took place during colder weather, these chillier temperatures would result in a smaller increase reading on the propane gauge.