propane and the cold

[schmism]

anyone have experience running a house on a 500 gal tank when temps drop to 0*F or below?

im concerned that my furnace isnt putting out max heat due to reduced input pressure from the tank due to the cold weather.

ps tank lvl at 67%

 

[beenthere]

Shouldn't be a problem due to the cold temps you mention.
Have had 30 deg F below zero, and no problem with propane.

Less output from the furnace may just be the size of the furnace vs. the demand for more heat when it is so cold. (we've been known to call it global warming, or global climate change now. )

 

[Willl]

0* F will get you about 23-24 PSI

Pressure - Temperature Chart for HC-290 (Propane)

ps tank lvl at 67%

As long as there's liquid in the tank, it'll be the same pressure be it 80% or 10% full.

 

[irvingj]

With small tanks, yeah! But with a 500, you shouldn't have a pressure problem.

 

[bp fick]

If this is your first time with zero weather in this house it may just be the reality you will live with or have to deal with. If the furnace is in otherwise good working order, zero weather brings out the weaknesses of one's insulation, windows, doors, bond insulation, basement wall convection and any problems with the furnace having been undersized a bit.

It's funny how most of these problems don't show in weather that averages in the teens or twenties. Zero weather exposes areas that need improvement in the entire package; insulation, weathertight seals, and the heating system. You find out how good your entire package really is or isn't.

 

[Kays Supply]

I just went to a $300,000 home yesterday that the shower head supply line was frozen. The ceiling in the shower had condensation on it that looked like rain. It had a poor insulation job to say the least. The cold will bring out many weak areas.

 

[kenstrac]

anyone have experience running a house on a 500 gal tank when temps drop to 0*F or below?

im concerned that my furnace isnt putting out max heat due to reduced input pressure from the tank due to the cold weather.

ps tank lvl at 67%

Do you in fact have reduced pressure or is it an assumption ,your pressure should be 10" WC when it is running,if it's below that I would look for a partly closed valve ,regulator not set right,regulator safety discharge port plugged,faulty regulator.
If the pressure is OK I would look at the quality of the flame air /fuel mix all work should be done by a gas technician.

 

[charlz]

Propane pressure definitely drops with temperature. At low pressure the size of your delivery pipe likely comes into play as you need a certain cubic ft/min supplied to your furnace. You either do that with small pipe/high pressure or large pipe/low pressure.

I agree though that the most likely answer is your house is simply losing more heat.

 

[bigtiller]

anyone have experience running a house on a 500 gal tank when temps drop to 0*F or below?

im concerned that my furnace isnt putting out max heat due to reduced input pressure from the tank due to the cold weather.

ps tank lvl at 67%

You won't have any gas problems. If your tank was down to 25% and it was -20 degrees outside, the tank can still produce 68,900 BTU at a continuous withdrawl rate. But your furnace runs intermittently so you can draw quite a few more BTU's.

The line from your tank to the house has 10 pounds of pressure and the regulator on the house cuts that down to 11 water column inches, which is about half a pound or so. So as long as you have a few gallons in the tank the furnace will make "max" heat.

 

[Patriotic Stabilist]

Maybe just a filter replacement is in order? My furnace guy also told me to go to the cheaper ones, can you imagine? I was using those pleasted ones to take the dirt out and he said they cut the air flow to much. I had called on a couple of my rental furnaces and that's all it was.