Does Cold Affect a Propane Tank Level Gauge?
Like most other types of materials, propane is affected by cold temperatures. When the temperature goes down, the propane gas contracts. That reduced level of gas in the tank is reflected by the gauge which reflects the tank level. Normally, this comes into play whenever a homeowner checks the gauge in cold climate and sees the amount of the tank level before and after delivery. Depending upon the conditions, the level on the tank might not rise as much as expected.
Propane Tank Level Gauge
The propane tank's gauge shows you what portion of the tank is full. Normally, tanks are not filled more than 80% in order to allow the gas to expand during warm days. 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 web site Propane 101, that 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 close to 60 degrees, then a 500 gallon tank will have about 250 gallons of propane. If the temperature that same day is a lot lower than 60 degrees, the gauge will read lower. In the same way, if the temperature is a lot higher than 60 degrees, the gauge would actually read higher due to the expansion of the gas.
Effect of Contraction and Expansion
According to the information provided by the propane industry web site, the amount of energy contained inside the tank does not really change when the gas expands or contracts. 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 approximately 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 near 60 degrees at the time of delivery. If the delivery happened during colder weather conditions, these chillier temperatures would result in a smaller increase reading on the propane gauge.