Upgrading to a 1000 gal propane tank

[Owen Lucas]

I have a 290 gallon tank and according to my calculations, with the furnace running in the winter, I can get 2 - 3 days of generator run time @ 50% load.

Propane company won't give me a 1000 gallon tank because I need to use 1600lb a year for them to justify the free tank. They even want to charge my $40 ever 3 months for a 500 gal rental.

I want the tank to have a good buffer of run time without having a propane company come out every 2 days to fill it. As a bonus I get cheaper prices with my own tank.

1000lb tanks are hard to comeby but I found a private reconditioner on facebook selling tanks for $4000. Delivery is likely a separate charge. I'll have to hire a plumber to get the tank installed to run extra underground pipe as 1000lb tanks have to be 25' from the house.


Is there anything I should look out for buying a tank from a private reconditioner? I understand the nameplate is the most important thing to look for, is there anything else I should be aware of?

 

[Zee09]

I don’t know about that.
My local propane company sold new 1000 g tanks installed underground for $3200... remove and replace or upgrade.
Never prebuy propane...
Good luck

 

[Pablo]

Pounds or gallons?

 

[The_Jeff]

Your math is way off somehow, I don't see how you can go through 90 gallons of propane a day unless you have a 200 cow farm or an elementary school to run. What's your electric bill, what's your kWH per day/ month?

Tanks age out, right? So you want a date stamp far in the future, check what you get from the reconditioner vs new.

 

[walterjay]

Shop around with the other propane companys. They may get you a bargain to have a new customer.

My BIL had issues with his old supplier. I think they were charging him some kind of ridiculous rent. Said three days before a refill even though he was about empty. They also had a terrible attitude towards their customers. He called around and found a company to come out the next day and install all new tanks and at a fraction of the cost and a good attitude.

He called the old supplier and told them to get their junk off his property.

 

[zzyzzx]

How does one 1000 gallon tank compare to having two 500 gallon tanks?

 

[Owen Lucas]

I don’t know about that.
My local propane company sold new 1000 g tanks installed underground for $3200... remove and replace or upgrade.
Never prebuy propane...
Good luck

That's a good deal! I called all the local propane suppliers and they are just sticklers. The ones that have the tanks won't rent it to me and the other ones say they are hard to get. I don't want to go the FB marketplace route but I guess I'm going to be inspecting propane tanks this weekend

Pounds or gallons?

Gallons.

Your math is way off somehow, I don't see how you can go through 90 gallons of propane a day unless you have a 200 cow farm or an elementary school to run. What's your electric bill, what's your kWH per day/ month?

I'm assuming running the home electric off the generator during a power outage with the furnace at 6hrs of daily use and water heater (minimal), I ran the math through AI:

Hourly Propane Consumption
Generator (24/7): Your generator runs constantly, using 2.4 gallons per hour.

Furnace (Averaged): Your furnace runs for 6 hours a day. When we average its 6-gallon daily use over a 24-hour period, it adds an effective 0.25 gallons per hour to your total.

Water Heater (Averaged): A standard water heater might run for about 3 hours total per day. When averaged over 24 hours, this adds an effective 0.05 gallons per hour to your total.

Total Combined Use
Adding all three together, your total combined usage is approximately 2.7 gallons per hour.
(2.4 + 0.25 + 0.05 = 2.70 GPH)

Total Estimated Runtime
On 200 Gallons: Your system will run for approximately 74 hours, or about 3 days.

On 800 Gallons: Your system will run for approximately 296 hours, or about 12 days.

Tanks age out, right? So you want a date stamp far in the future, check what you get from the reconditioner vs new.

I looked into this deeper, apparently they do not age out, they just need to have a number plate on them and no dents or pitting.

How does one 1000 gallon tank compare to having two 500 gallon tanks?

That's a good point, they are going for $1600 a piece. The propane company doesn't want to add a separate auxiliary tank plumbed just to the generator unfortunately.

 

[walterjay]

That's a good point, they are going for $1600 a piece. The propane company doesn't want to add a separate auxiliary tank plumbed just to the generator unfortunately.

A plumber/gas fitter can easily do that. I did several of them for my customers. Was happy to get the business.

 

[Chris142]

How can you used that much propane? We can run our inefficient 1950's heater 24/7, cook and dry clothes and only use 30 gallons a week.

 

[ripcord]

Those consumption numbers are away over estimated, I think. A 5k watt generator in my experience uses about a gallon an hour under a heavy load (maybe 50%).

 

[Owen Lucas]

Those consumption numbers are away over estimated, I think. A 5k watt generator in my experience uses about a gallon an hour under a heavy load (maybe 50%).

How can you used that much propane? We can run our inefficient 1950's heater 24/7, cook and dry clothes and only use 30 gallons a week.

I should have mentioned, it is a 26kW Kohler whole house generator. Maybe a little over kill, probably could have gotten by with a 24 or 22kW.

 

[97prizm]

I have a 290 gallon tank and according to my calculations, with the furnace running in the winter, I can get 2 - 3 days of generator run time @ 50% load.

Propane company won't give me a 1000 gallon tank because I need to use 1600lb a year for them to justify the free tank. They even want to charge my $40 ever 3 months for a 500 gal rental.

I want the tank to have a good buffer of run time without having a propane company come out every 2 days to fill it. As a bonus I get cheaper prices with my own tank.

1000lb tanks are hard to comeby but I found a private reconditioner on facebook selling tanks for $4000. Delivery is likely a separate charge. I'll have to hire a plumber to get the tank installed to run extra underground pipe as 1000lb tanks have to be 25' from the house.


Is there anything I should look out for buying a tank from a private reconditioner? I understand the nameplate is the most important thing to look for, is there anything else I should be aware of?

View attachment 299659

I'd have the inside of the tank scoped to make sure it doesn't have any corroded or issues. Every year going from Kentucky to Indiana to visit my aunt and uncle there was a huge field that had hundreds of these large propane tanks just stacked. I assume they were a wholesale and reconditioning business. Is there not anything like that near you?

 

[SubieRubyRoo]

I should have mentioned, it is a 26kW Kohler whole house generator. Maybe a little over kill, probably could have gotten by with a 24 or 22kW.

What’s your monthly electric bill in kWh? You’re probably nearly double your average usage with that big of a genset.

 

[ripcord]

Then it should have published usage rates. You're average load won't be anywhere near 100% unless you're using an electric furnace or AC.

 

[Owen Lucas]

I'd have the inside of the tank scoped to make sure it doesn't have any corroded or issues. Every year going from Kentucky to Indiana to visit my aunt and uncle there was a huge field that had hundreds of these large propane tanks just stacked. I assume they were a wholesale and reconditioning business. Is there not anything like that near you?

Good point! I have a borescope, would be interesting to see inside.

What’s your monthly electric bill in kWh? You’re probably nearly double your average usage with that big of a genset.

Around $200, sometimes below. I think we are at .19 kWh? I went for a larger unit to run the pool equipment just to be safe so it doesn't turn green. I stress tested the generator when we first got it with the central air, 2 mini splits, pool pump, electric clothes drier, and stove on. It peaked at 70% load.

 

[K-Man]

How much would it cost to fill that 1,000–gallon tank? In 2005 our rural supplier was charging over $6/gallon for propane then, and we were using it just for heating, cooking, and clothes drying—that is, no generator. By comparison, gasoline then cost less than $2/gallon. Running your whole house on a genset for days might have a horrendous cost.

 

[Owen Lucas]

How much would it cost to fill that 1,000–gallon tank? In 2005 our rural supplier was charging over $6/gallon for propane then, and we were using it just for heating, cooking, and clothes drying—that is, no generator. By comparison, gasoline then cost less than $2/gallon. Running your whole house on a genset for days might have a horrendous cost.

I can get locked in at $1.8X or so.

I need the reserve capacity incase we are out of power of course. We wouldn't run the generator for any other reason besides the bimonthly auto training for 20 mins. We've had 3 outages here in the past few months for over 24 hours. I WFH a lot and can't afford to be without power.

 

[SubieRubyRoo]

I can get locked in at $1.8X or so.

I need the reserve capacity incase we are out of power of course. We wouldn't run the generator for any other reason besides the bimonthly auto training for 20 mins. We've had 3 outages here in the past few months for over 24 hours. I WFH a lot and can't afford to be without power.

Non-grid-tie Solar? Or hybrid solar, where you can sell electricity back to power company and in case of grid outage, the inverter can send the solar to your home. That should combine with the 500gal propane and your genset to give you a much longer usage depending on season. You won’t be running your pool or minisplits year-round, will you?

Check out 480VSolar on eBay. They’re a local company that not only builds new panels locally but also resell gently-used off-lease commercial panels at a super price. Last one I saw was 29 panels @ 245W (7.1kW) for $975 total. Buy your own hybrid inverter, have a local electrician wire it up, and you’re in business for about $1/W installed. Money in the bank, as @JeffKeryk says…

 

[JohnnyJohnson]

One would think they would be eager for those big sales and reducing the cost of more frequent deliveries.

 

[oldcodger]

Are you planning to just kick the generator on and run your house as if everything was just like utility power? If so you can cut your fuel bill by managing your loads.