[TheForge] Propane Users tank sizes and usage

[Dann]

Jerry,

Actually, I think that fire codes would want even a 100# cylinder 
OUTSIDE the building with gas lines piped into the shop.

The 500# tank kind of confuses me. Guessing that you are actually 
thinking of a 500 gallon tank, which holds something like 2,000 
pounds of LP when filled to it's 80% capacity.

The LP tank  can be in between the road and the shop for easier 
access by the tank truck. My 1000 gallon propane tank is about 50 
feet from the house, with a shallow underground copper line running 
into the home.  I've got a 500 gallon LP tank, but haven't gotten it 
plumbed into my shop yet.

For me, buying LP in bulk is 1/3 to 1/4 the cost of bringing it home 
in those small BBQ 20 pound tanks.  I've got 5 or so of those BBQ 
tanks too, and use them on occasion.  The 20 pound LP BBQ tanks  hold 
about 5 gallons of water, but LP they only fill to 80% max 
capacity,  so if you figure 4 gallons of LP at 4 pounds  per gallon.. 
that would be about 16 pounds of gas.

I paid about $16 to get my last lp bbq tank filled, about a dollar a 
pound for LP.  That isn't the only thing, as I've made special trips 
to take and retrieve a BBQ tank.--- additional cost would include the 
time and hassle to get a BBQ tank filled.  Compare that to bulk 
delivered LP cost to my home at about $1.5 per gallon.

A 500 gallon LP tank holds 400 gallons LP ( 80% fill ) but if LP 
weighs 4.2 pounds per gallon.. that is just under  1,700 pounds of 
usable gas.

Dann