Does Cold Temperature Affect the Level Gauge on a Propane Tank?
Like most other types of materials, propane is affected by cold temperatures. As the temperature goes down, the propane gas contracts. That reduced level of gas in the tank is reflected by the gauge which reflects the level on the tank. Normally, this comes into play whenever a homeowner checks the gauge in cold weather 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 expected.
Propane Tank Level Gauge
The gauge on a propane tank shows you what portion of the tank is full. Typically, tanks are not filled more than 80% in order to allow the gas to expand on warm 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 could be stored.
Normal Temperatures
The propane industry operates the popular web site Propane 101, which considers the propane reference 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 near 60 degrees, then a 500 gallon tank would contain about 250 gallons of propane. If the temperature that 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 will actually read higher because the gas expanded.
Effect of Contraction and Expansion
The amount of energy contained or energy contained in a tank would not change when the gas either expands or contracts, according to the propane industry web site. 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 pounds of propane. If the homeowner has a 1000 gallon propane tank, they may 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 took place during colder weather, these chillier temperatures would result in a smaller increase reading on the propane gauge.