MossRoad
Super Moderator
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There were two identical threads, so I merged them.
How low can propane get and still run?
- Thread starter Patriotic Stabilist
- Start date
jayste
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- 2004 Kubota M4800 SU
Ours down at the farm house is a 500 gal tank. We've had it run down to 5% and still had enough to heat with. We never intend to run it that low but it does happen.
Jay
Jay
firefighter9208
Platinum Member
It also depends on the requirements of your heater.
We have a 175,000 BTU heater in our Fire Department and a 30,000 BTU vanguard heater in the community center part of the building.
We are on the "keep full" list, but our supplier let us "run out" yesterday. It took me all day to get a delivery arranged. Finally got propane at 12:00 midnight last night.
At 10 % in a 325 gallon tank (32.5 gallons left) and 14* air temperature the 175,000 btu heater would no longer light. It has electronic ignition, but there wasn't enough volume and pressure available for the heater to stay lit. It requires a 1" supply line. The 30,000 btu vanguard heater continued to burn.
When the driver came and delivered the propane he place 276 gallons in the tank. Actually overfilling it to 85%, but at these low temps we'll use down below 80% before it gets back above freezing.
Propane has 92,000 BTU's per gallon. So a 30,000 btu heater will use 1 gallon every 3.06 hours if running constantly or 7.84 gallons of propane a day. If left on constantly.
When used in conjunction with a thermostat you can figure that a propane heater (when sized correctly) will "run" aprox. 50% of the time.
So a 175,000 btu heater with a thermostat will use 1.9 gallons per hour. So, 1.9 x 24 = 45.6 gallons / 2 = 22.8 gallons per day.
We basically are using about 30 gallons of propane a day to heat our 6000 square ft. fire hall. Luckily it doesn't get this cold here very often. BTW. We have the thermostat on the 175,000 BTU heater on 40*. Only warm enough to keep the pumps on the trucks from freezing.
Chris
We have a 175,000 BTU heater in our Fire Department and a 30,000 BTU vanguard heater in the community center part of the building.
We are on the "keep full" list, but our supplier let us "run out" yesterday. It took me all day to get a delivery arranged. Finally got propane at 12:00 midnight last night.
At 10 % in a 325 gallon tank (32.5 gallons left) and 14* air temperature the 175,000 btu heater would no longer light. It has electronic ignition, but there wasn't enough volume and pressure available for the heater to stay lit. It requires a 1" supply line. The 30,000 btu vanguard heater continued to burn.
When the driver came and delivered the propane he place 276 gallons in the tank. Actually overfilling it to 85%, but at these low temps we'll use down below 80% before it gets back above freezing.
Propane has 92,000 BTU's per gallon. So a 30,000 btu heater will use 1 gallon every 3.06 hours if running constantly or 7.84 gallons of propane a day. If left on constantly.
When used in conjunction with a thermostat you can figure that a propane heater (when sized correctly) will "run" aprox. 50% of the time.
So a 175,000 btu heater with a thermostat will use 1.9 gallons per hour. So, 1.9 x 24 = 45.6 gallons / 2 = 22.8 gallons per day.
We basically are using about 30 gallons of propane a day to heat our 6000 square ft. fire hall. Luckily it doesn't get this cold here very often. BTW. We have the thermostat on the 175,000 BTU heater on 40*. Only warm enough to keep the pumps on the trucks from freezing.
Chris
beenthere
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And listen to Hubby.
DanD78
Platinum Member
I wanted to empty my tank once so I could add a liquid valve. It seemed to take forever to go empty. You have more than you think.
Dan
Dan
OP
Patriotic Stabilist
Platinum Member
I kept looking for my posting and it didn't show up so I posted again, is that what you mean? I've never had that happen before and thought I had a brain fart and hadn't posted it. Getting old is the pits, I forget what I'm doing all the time, now where was I, ok I remember now.
Our tank is 250 gallons and we own it. They used to do metered tanks. They would come out monthly and check the tank and add some. We paid $12 a month for that and seems like we spent a lot of money for propane. Hubby said forget that I will buy one and get rid of their meter so we did. Kind of wish we had a 500, would likely only fill it once, maybe twice a year.
They did fill it today. I talked to the driver and he won't let us run out if he knows. He said they told him not to worry about people running out. He said he saw us on the list yesterday and they weren't going to have him come out this way today and he told them he needs to service his customers. I sure appreciate that, he's a nice young guy. So it was $2.31 a gallon, $416.03, a chunk of change that's for sure. But now we are all toasty.
If worse came to worse, hubby got daughters new bathroom finished and my walkin closet and his half bath in the garage all done. Her bathroom and my closet have under the floor heating under the tile, which is beyond wonderful. Told him we could go in my closet, put down some sleeping bags and sleep. That tile might be pretty hard but it would be warm. He also put a wall of cabinets in her room for storage and a nice countertop with a computer table. She is one happy young woman.
He also got my garage all insulated and I had him put plywood up, also got a nice laundry sink out there with hot and cold running water. We let the dog stay in the garage, put his igloo house in there and he stays in there at night. It wasn't bad out there this morning. The dog is scared of gunshots and thunderstorms, so now he can't hear them as good. Poor 70 pound baby.
Our tank is 250 gallons and we own it. They used to do metered tanks. They would come out monthly and check the tank and add some. We paid $12 a month for that and seems like we spent a lot of money for propane. Hubby said forget that I will buy one and get rid of their meter so we did. Kind of wish we had a 500, would likely only fill it once, maybe twice a year.
They did fill it today. I talked to the driver and he won't let us run out if he knows. He said they told him not to worry about people running out. He said he saw us on the list yesterday and they weren't going to have him come out this way today and he told them he needs to service his customers. I sure appreciate that, he's a nice young guy. So it was $2.31 a gallon, $416.03, a chunk of change that's for sure. But now we are all toasty.
If worse came to worse, hubby got daughters new bathroom finished and my walkin closet and his half bath in the garage all done. Her bathroom and my closet have under the floor heating under the tile, which is beyond wonderful. Told him we could go in my closet, put down some sleeping bags and sleep. That tile might be pretty hard but it would be warm. He also put a wall of cabinets in her room for storage and a nice countertop with a computer table. She is one happy young woman.
He also got my garage all insulated and I had him put plywood up, also got a nice laundry sink out there with hot and cold running water. We let the dog stay in the garage, put his igloo house in there and he stays in there at night. It wasn't bad out there this morning. The dog is scared of gunshots and thunderstorms, so now he can't hear them as good. Poor 70 pound baby.
OP
Patriotic Stabilist
Platinum Member
We wouldn't normally have needed any yet. I kept smelling propane and hubby said it was the motorhome, I knew it wasn't. So he moved it same smell, this was about a month ago. He tapped on the pipe and where it came through the ground it had rusted away. He hurried out and turned it off but we lost 15% of the tank. The thing was he ran all new pipes about 3 or 4 years ago for the propane as we moved the tank and also were going to concrete the patio and drive. It was just the line where the pipe came through the dirt. No weeds or anything there, just a knockout for the pipe so he has access. He changed it underground at the elbow and sprayed it with autobody undercoat this time, he said it won't rust out again.
Yes it will.
You should replace the underground portion, with a solid piece of soft copper.
Then, it won't rust out again.
tommu56
Elite Member
If you are looking for a thread you posted
click on the "My Home" and your subscribed threads will come up
I also use the "24 Hour" then look on the left of the screen at the envelope icons look for the ones with the check mark arrow on it. were were you subscribed to
Click on you name in any post and find more posts will come up as a choice in a pull down.
tom
click on the "My Home" and your subscribed threads will come up
I also use the "24 Hour" then look on the left of the screen at the envelope icons look for the ones with the check mark arrow on it. were were you subscribed to
Click on you name in any post and find more posts will come up as a choice in a pull down.
tom
The Dougster
Gold Member
On Monday, I visited a friend that owns/operates a propane company near Georgetown, Texas North of Austin.... he was going nuts! The news media have made a big deal out of the pending cold front and everyone wants to buy propane all of a sudden. Phones ringing off the hook and my friend has all of his service trucks operating many hours a day. Tis the way of the world.
Since you know the size of your tank it's fairly easy to determine how much 10% remaining is in real terms. As someone said, those meters are not all that accurate and that surprises me. Surely there is a way to get accurate readings. It surprises me that there isn't some type of system that might provide a warning once the amount of propane reaches a pre-determined level... I'll check with my friend.
Since you know the size of your tank it's fairly easy to determine how much 10% remaining is in real terms. As someone said, those meters are not all that accurate and that surprises me. Surely there is a way to get accurate readings. It surprises me that there isn't some type of system that might provide a warning once the amount of propane reaches a pre-determined level... I'll check with my friend.