# 15-20 gallons of propane a year. Deliver myself?



## SIERRADMAX (Mar 21, 2013)

My house has a 50 gallon propane tank used for cooking (gas stove). It has been 3 years since it was filled. The company I use charges a lease fee of $65/yr. for the tank. The last refill was in 2010 where they charged me $7.65/gallon for 40 gallons (80% fill). I've called around and most companies only have 100 gallon tanks and their fee is similar.

Can I buy a 100lb. (24 gallon) tank, the regulator, gauge and transport to/from a propane company?


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## Highbeam (Mar 21, 2013)

Did you really mean 7.65 per gallon plus the rental fee? Wow!

Yes, you absolutely can fill up and transport a 100# tank. That tank holds about 24 gallons.

You can even buy two of the 100# tanks and install a switchover valve that runs one tank out and automatically switches to the next one. This allows you to go refill the first tank while #2 carries the load.


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## Badfish740 (Mar 21, 2013)

SIERRADMAX said:


> Can I buy a 100lb. (24 gallon) tank, the regulator, gauge and transport to/from a propane company?


 
Yup. That's what I do for my range. The tanks you can find anywhere-Tractor Supply, etc... This is the regulator Highbeam was talking about-I'm using it:

http://www.propaneproducts.com/cata...automatic-changeover-regulator-7525b23-4.html

I ratchet strap my tank to a handtruck and transport it in the bed of my truck.  They fill it while its in the bed (so we don't have to lift it back in full) and I wheel it down using my tractor ramps when I get home.


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## Gary_602z (Mar 21, 2013)

50 gallon would be closer to 300lbs. plus tank weight.

Gary

Sorry didn't read it right!


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## Augie (Mar 21, 2013)

Sounds like you could get by with a couple of the small 20lb bbq tanks. You would have to refill a few times a year, but they are cheap


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## daveswoodhauler (Mar 22, 2013)

Highbeam said:


> Did you really mean 7.65 per gallon plus the rental fee? Wow!
> 
> Yes, you absolutely can fill up and transport a 100# tank. That tank holds about 24 gallons.
> 
> You can even buy two of the 100# tanks and install a switchover valve that runs one tank out and automatically switches to the next one. This allows you to go refill the first tank while #2 carries the load.


 Second this approach.....my FIL has a similar setup on his Travel Trailer....I don't think the tanks are 100lbs, but are larger than your normal BBQ tanks. has a nice switchover valve in that when one goes emply, he can switch over to the full one.....you use is so low that this might be a good approach. Good luck


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## Badfish740 (Mar 22, 2013)

daveswoodhauler said:


> Second this approach.....my FIL has a similar setup on his Travel Trailer....I don't think the tanks are 100lbs, but are larger than your normal BBQ tanks. has a nice switchover valve in that when one goes emply, he can switch over to the full one.....you use is so low that this might be a good approach. Good luck


 
On a travel trailer he's probably using 30s or 50s and the same regulator I'm using.  I decided to go with two 100lb'ers because while they're not impossible to move, it's not the most fun task in the world, so I figured why not make them last a while.  Plus, I'm looking at converting my generator and plumbing it into the system.  Two 5+ day long power outages in the past three years has me wanting to make running the generator an easier process...


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## FanMan (Mar 22, 2013)

I have a pair of 100# tanks at my cabin for stove, hot water, and clothes dryer. Refill about $90 per tank, I toss 'em in my truck and then use a hand truck to get down the trail to the cabin, several hundred yards from the parking area. Fortunately the cabin is downhill from the parking area...



Badfish740 said:


> Yup. That's what I do for my range. The tanks you can find anywhere-Tractor Supply, etc... This is the regulator Highbeam was talking about-I'm using it:
> 
> http://www.propaneproducts.com/cata...automatic-changeover-regulator-7525b23-4.html


 
A lot cheaper from propane warehouse...


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## Backwoods Savage (Mar 22, 2013)

SIERRADMAX said:


> My house has a 50 gallon propane tank used for cooking (gas stove). It has been 3 years since it was filled. The company I use charges a lease fee of $65/yr. for the tank. The last refill was in 2010 where they charged me $7.65/gallon for 40 gallons (80% fill). I've called around and most companies only have 100 gallon tanks and their fee is similar.
> 
> Can I buy a 100lb. (24 gallon) tank, the regulator, gauge and transport to/from a propane company?


 
If you can find some used 100 lb tanks that would be ideal. New ones are not cheap but would still be cheaper than what you are paying. We have 4 100 lb tanks and when 2 get used up we take the 2 empty ones for a refill. $62 per tank for the refill. Up until last fall we had delivery at that price but the fellow who we got them from went out of business. Now we have to go get them refilled ourselves.


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## SIERRADMAX (Mar 22, 2013)

Problem solved. I negotiated and bought my 200lb. existing tank from my propane company. Turns out it was a DOT tank so I disconnected & threw it on my truck to have it refilled for $3.40/Gallon.  All set for another 3 years!


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## jeff_t (Mar 22, 2013)

TSC around here has been filling tanks for $2.29/ gal. The last time I had a 20 lb grill tank filled at the local bottle gas place it was a flat $14, I think. It's nice to just pay for the gas you need. One of my good friends fills my 250 gallon tank, so I gather all my small ones, and he fills them off the truck


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## Highbeam (Mar 22, 2013)

SIERRADMAX said:


> Problem solved. I negotiated and bought my 200lb. existing tank from my propane company. Turns out it was a DOT tank so I disconnected & threw it on my truck to have it refilled for $3.40/Gallon. All set for another 3 years!


 
How did you get it off the truck?


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## SIERRADMAX (Mar 22, 2013)

Highbeam said:


> How did you get it off the truck?


 
Tractor. Ground is still frozen here so no trouble going over my lawn.


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## Flatbedford (Mar 22, 2013)

I'd like to buy tanks to replace the 2 150 gallon ones that I rent from Suburban Propane. I have looked online and not found a source. Where should I look and does anybody know what I should expect to pay for them?


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## SIERRADMAX (Mar 23, 2013)

Tractor Supply sells 100 gallon tanks for around $150/piece. Northern Tool sells them as well.


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## mywaynow (Mar 23, 2013)

Badfish740 said:


> On a travel trailer he's probably using 30s or 50s and the same regulator I'm using. I decided to go with two 100lb'ers because while they're not impossible to move, it's not the most fun task in the world, so I figured why not make them last a while. Plus, I'm looking at converting my generator and plumbing it into the system. Two 5+ day long power outages in the past three years has me wanting to make running the generator an easier process...


 You think you can stomach the cost of running gens off propane for a week or two at a time?  I opted for gasoline generator when I weighed the options.  Propane is too dam expensive.  Convienent, sure, but costly.


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## begreen (Mar 23, 2013)

Gasoline is not cheap either. Locally gasoline is about $4 and bottled propane is $2.99. Gasoline has a finite life in a container, propane keeps.

Our generator sips a miserly .18 gallons per hour. During major outages we run it about 7 hrs a day for refrigerated and frozen foods, everything else is gravy. A 100# tank holds about 25 gallons of propane. That will last us 19 days. We also have a 250# cylinder but it costs $4.36/gal to have it filled via delivery.  Unfortunately we don't have a tractor to move it around.  Hooking that up to the genny would provide us with 47 days of power.


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## FanMan (Mar 23, 2013)

SIERRADMAX said:


> Tractor Supply sells 100 gallon tanks for around $150/piece. Northern Tool sells them as well.


 
That's a 100 _pound_ tank , not 100 gallons.


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## Flatbedford (Mar 23, 2013)

That's what I'm sayin'. Need two 200+ gallon capacity.


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## PastTense (Mar 26, 2013)

Have you looked on Craigslist for propane tanks? Why not get a 500 gallon tank instead of the two 150 gallon tanks?


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## lukem (Mar 26, 2013)

Holy crap.  $7.65/gallon?  My last delivery was $1.69.  

Sounds like you got it sorted out.

$7.65 ...dayumm.


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## Flatbedford (Mar 26, 2013)

My last delivery was around $5.00/gallon. Or about $750! We've had two of those this winter and will probably need one more in a month or so to carry us through the summer. We also cook and make hot water with propane.


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## mywaynow (Mar 26, 2013)

PastTense said:


> Have you looked on Craigslist for propane tanks? Why not get a 500 gallon tank instead of the two 150 gallon tanks?


 
Would you like to take a 500 gallon tank for a fill up?


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## Flatbedford (Mar 26, 2013)

I wouldn't even want to take one of the 150s for a fill up!


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## Highbeam (Mar 26, 2013)

I've seen the big pigs, maybe 100 gallons?, at home depot or lowes. Those are the short and fat ones that look like huge BBQ tanks. Anything bigger and you'll be at the propane supply company where Hank Hill works.


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## Flatbedford (Mar 26, 2013)

Mine look like this.





This is how Suburban Propane got them off the truck when they swapped them out back in '09. Wow! I didn't have much of a wood pile back then did I!


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## jeff_t (Mar 26, 2013)

Flatbedford said:


> My last delivery was around $5.00/gallon. Or about $750! We've had two of those this winter and will probably need one more in a month or so to carry us through the summer. We also cook and make hot water with propane.


 


My supplier charges a premium for my small deliveries, but it's $.20/gal. Suburban strikes again?


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## FanMan (Mar 26, 2013)

PastTense said:


> Have you looked on Craigslist for propane tanks? Why not get a 500 gallon tank instead of the two 150 gallon tanks?


 
120 gallon DOT tanks can be placed right next to the house.  Larger tanks have to be placed a minimum distance from the house depending on the size.


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## FanMan (Mar 26, 2013)

Flatbedford said:


> I'd like to buy tanks to replace the 2 150 gallon ones that I rent from Suburban Propane. I have looked online and not found a source. Where should I look and does anybody know what I should expect to pay for them?


 
I bought a 120 gallon tank from Home Depot for $480.  Not all HD stores have them, though.  I've also seen them on ebay for about the same price.  I also bought a used one on Craigslist for $250.

Suburban is notorious, lots of people have found they try to charge people to remove the tanks.


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