# How many 100# propane tanks will be enough in my case?



## VERN in IL (Nov 30, 2008)

I want to ONLY swap them out once a year.

I am planning on having a propane gas range and an emergency wall heater.

I probably will be cooking once a week with the stove.


----------



## FarmboyBill (Aug 19, 2005)

youll likely get by easily on the cooking part with one every other month. Heating in Ill. They could go at one every other night.


----------



## PaulNKS (Jan 11, 2009)

You would be better off buying a 500 gallon tank and having the propane delivered. Bulk propane delivered is much much cheaper than taking and filling tanks. Some propane delivery companies will not fill 100 lb bottles.


----------



## Pouncer (Oct 28, 2006)

I think they will last much longer, based on my personal experience. I had two of them hooked up in series years back, and they were used for a clothes dryer. They lasted 11 months.


Think how long you can cook with a small bottle of propane on a good BBQ.


----------



## Sarah J (Jun 28, 2003)

When I had a 500# tank, we only ran the oven/stove. Daily, with three young children, homemade bread baking, etc, so we used it a LOT. And it took 3 years before it was half-empty and I refilled it anyway... HEAT will use a lot more, but not the cooking, especially if it's only once a week.

I have an outdoor propane oven (regular kitchen oven that I use on propane in the garage during the summer) that uses about 20# annually, using it for all of our summer cooking and some heavy use during holiday seasons and family gatherings.


----------



## PaulNKS (Jan 11, 2009)

I use propane for cooking at least 2 meals per day, refrigerator, and a tankless water heater. I only use about 250 gallons per year.


----------



## Nimrod (Jun 8, 2010)

My 100 pound propane tank ran out today. I hooked it up in October so it lasted about 7 or 8 months. The only thing I used propane for is the gas stove. The pilot lights ran all the time and I cooked on it a bit more than you will.

You have to be very careful when talking about the capacity of propane tanks. Small ones are rated in pounds, 10, 20, 30, or 100. Big ones are rated in gallons, 100, 500, 1000, or 2000. There are approximatly 4 pounds of propane in a gallon.

When you have them filled around here, you have to bring the small ones in and they charge $3.50 a gallon. A 100 pound tank, filled to 80% (they can't be filled more than this by law), takes 80 pounds which is about 20 gallons so it costs $70. You can buy or rent the big tanks and they deliver the propane to your house (has to be accessible to their truck). Some places they are reporting the price of delivered propane is under a dollar a gallon. Filling a 100 gallon tank will cost you about $100. It has about 5 times the amount of propane as a 100 pound tank. 

Having a big tank in your yard is definantly the cheap way to go but you have to watch out. The propane company that rents you the tank for a small fee (like $10 a year) will want to have you sign up for automatic refill. This means they can drop in whenever they like and fill your tank and charge you for it, even if you are strapped that month. Don't sign up for automatic refill. They also get upset if you don't fill it at least once a year. My propane company tried to charge me 1 1/2 times as much to fill the tank as they were normally charging because I had not filled it in over a year. 

If you buy your tank you can shop around and have it filled for the best price. You don't have to worry about automatic refill either, just call when you want it filled.


----------



## hippygirl (Apr 3, 2010)

Pouncer said:


> I think they will last much longer, based on my personal experience. I had two of them hooked up in series years back, and they were used for a clothes dryer. They lasted 11 months.
> 
> 
> Think how long you can cook with a small bottle of propane on a good BBQ.


I only cook with propane on my stovetop (I bake in a tabletop oven on my back porch). Two 20# tanks lasts me 6 months (cooking twice a day), but I anticipate about 4 - 5 months when I start canning.


----------



## Jim-mi (May 15, 2002)

Yes . .by all means buy your own 500 tank . . .
Some companys are insane with fees for "not using enough" "rental" etc. etc.

With a 500 you >"might"< not need to refill for 2-3-4 years . . . . .and all the while you have that good backup heat available........ 

Can't imagine wrestling those 100 lb tanks is any kind of fun...........


----------



## PaulNKS (Jan 11, 2009)

If you buy your own tank, buy used. In this part of the country, you can buy a used tank for about 1/3 of the price of a new one. I found mine at a farm auction.


----------



## Pony (Jan 6, 2003)

Don't know if you have MFA in your area, but they loan the big tank and, although they have a minimum delivery of 200 pounds or so, they don't clip you for not feeling annually.


----------



## goatlady (May 31, 2002)

The cook stove uses hardly any propane, its a heater that slurps it up!


----------



## BobbyB (Apr 6, 2009)

Standard size in most of this country is 150 to 250 gallons. Personally, I couldnt fill a 500 gallon tanks due to cost. 

We want a gas stove and I have been seeing used tanks on Craigslist for $110 to $300


----------



## Jim-mi (May 15, 2002)

I bought both of my tanks from Ferrell propane Co.
Ferrell was going through a big rate increase and many folks were jumping ship and the yard had scads of used tanks......I think I paid $300 per

But . . .The good thing about buying from them was that the tank had to be certified in good working order. I paid a small fee for install . . .which included the pressure test...........That receipt is good as gold . . . .When ever I'm shopping around for a good price, if company "X" says "You need a pressure test" ($70) I know that that Co. is NOT going to get my business.........


What will the price of a gallon of Propane be shortly down the road . .?????????????


----------



## Qhorseman (Jul 9, 2010)

I ran a 30,000 Btu wall furnace and my cookstove. 2 100 pound tanks would last me 22 days in the winter when I was heating. The tanks would last me all summer for just the stove. Locally our propane companies all charge a set rate to fill 100 Lb. tanks and it is more expensive than buying bulk.


----------



## VERN in IL (Nov 30, 2008)

Qhorseman said:


> I ran a 30,000 Btu wall furnace and my cookstove. 2 100 pound tanks would last me 22 days in the winter when I was heating. The tanks would last me all summer for just the stove. Locally our propane companies all charge a set rate to fill 100 Lb. tanks and it is more expensive than buying bulk.


Heh, that was useful. Right now my setup is this, I heat with electricity and the wall heater is for backup in case of power failure.

Right now I got a 30,000 Btu vent-less heater on a 1 100# tank and have _NEVER_ had to use it.

I got a electric stove and it has regulation problems, I would like to upgrade to a gas stove. Considering my use of propane is ziltch, smaller 100# tanks may be more expensive to fill, but do I really need a 500 gallon tank with my usage?:bored:


----------



## Qhorseman (Jul 9, 2010)

I didn't have to buy tanks, our propane company doesn't charge for them. Just give them back when I am thru with them. Pay for the propane  I have since gone to wood and just use the wall furnace in the morning until the wood burner is up to the task. A nice down comforter on the bed keeps nice and warm thru the night.


----------



## Jim-mi (May 15, 2002)

Vern . . .Another way to look at it is; If you had a 500 gallon pro tank you would be "stock piling " fuel for way down the road. A "prep" item per say.

In this troubled day and age if the very vulnerable "grid" goes down, need I say how many folks are going to be in a BIG hurt . . . . . .

If you own your own tank you do not have to fill it all at once . . . .
Of course most propane Co's will have a minimum amount of gallons for home delivery.

Another bad Co. to deal with is AmeriGas very high prices.......
A neighbor friend (a weekender) bragged for a while about how little propane he used, to heat and cook on his weekends up here.
AmeriGas is now demanding way too many fees from my neighbor------"You don't use enough"
What he pays per gallon is going to be almost double to what I pay.

Your own "used" tank is a good investment for down the road.


----------



## VERN in IL (Nov 30, 2008)

Good Point Jim-Mi.

Yes Amerigas sucks ever since they bought out Petrolane(anyone remember them?) Not only do they got those "cell phone" fees, they charge by the LITER, not by the gallon. It's like they TRY to hide and confuse the prices!


----------



## TNHermit (Jul 14, 2005)

Jim-mi said:


> Vern . . .Another way to look at it is; If you had a 500 gallon pro tank you would be "stock piling " fuel for way down the road. A "prep" item per say.
> 
> In this troubled day and age if the very vulnerable "grid" goes down, need I say how many folks are going to be in a BIG hurt . . . . . .
> 
> ...




I have my own 500. But let me pose a question. If I have to move andits very far away am i going to have to hire somebody to do it. Wil it be better to sell and buy another were ever I end up. Jus t something that popped in my head


Vern

Since things have been up in the air around here. i have only been doing 100 gals at a time. that would be about 4 100lb if my math is right. I run a water heater. dyer, kitchen stove and occasional heat and it has lasted me almost a year. Take in mind i am only one living here but it might help


----------



## Gianni (Dec 9, 2009)

LP gas has a little less than 92,000 BTU per gallon. One range burner burns 9,000 btu per hour. You get 10 hours of that one burner per gallon. 100 lb cylinder has 20 gallons. You need to know the BTU rating on your heater and how long it will burn, not just how long the fan runs.


----------



## Jim-mi (May 15, 2002)

Good question about moving.
I know there are some very strick laws (here in Mich) about moving pro tanks. 
One is it can not have more than 10% in it . . . .
I had to pay Ferrell gas Co a 10 or 15$ fee for a "permit" to haul the tank down the road . . .
Having a tank 'pumped out' is another big fee...
Another would be if your driving down the road and a Nazi road jock (cop) doesn't like the color of your eyes, than he will find some other "violation" . . .and all of a sudden your moving a tank gets very $$$$$$$$$$$
"Its not tied down properly"

In a way I can't blame them for so many restrictions . . . 
I sure wouldn't want to be any where in the neighbor hood if one of those tanks blew up . . because of somebody handling a tank the wrong way.......................


----------



## Sawmill Jim (Dec 5, 2008)

TNHermit said:


> I have my own 500. But let me pose a question. If I have to move andits very far away am i going to have to hire somebody to do it. Wil it be better to sell and buy another were ever I end up. Jus t something that popped in my head
> 
> 
> Drag it in a high sided trailer and toss a few mattress and junk on it ,tarp it down and go eep: Put a moving Nawth or Bust sigh on the back too :bandwagon:


----------



## Jim-mi (May 15, 2002)

. . .LOL . . . .
Hard to argue with that

putting my blinders back on . . . .lol


----------

