How Much Grill Time Do I Have Left?

Tips for Checking Your Tank’s Level

Here at Bottini Fuel, we hope you’re having a terrific summer. One of the perks of the season is enjoying your backyard and grilling up feasts for your family and friends. But when it’s time to fire up the BBQ grill, you don’t want to get caught without enough gas to finish cooking!

Checking Your Propane Level

Want to know if you have enough propane to make it through your next BBQ? You don’t have to guess. There are some simple ways to check the propane level of your grill’s propane cylinder.

Use the warm water method. 
This is a safe and simple way to determine how much propane is left in your tank.

1. Fill a small bucket with warm (or hot) tap water.
2. Pour the water down the side of the tank.
3. Run your hand along the side of the tank until you feel a cool spot. The top of the cool spot indicates the fill level of the tank because the liquid propane inside the tank will absorb the heat from the water and make the metal wall of the tank cool to the touch.

Weigh the tank.
Most propane grill tanks come with two numbers stamped on the handle. One is the water capacity (WC) and the other is the tare weight (TW). Your tank’s tare weight is its weight when it’s completely empty. Most empty grilling tanks weigh about 17 pounds. And most grilling tanks can hold about 20 pounds of gas.

To calculate how much propane is left in your tank, simply weigh it on a scale. Once you have its weight, subtract the tank’s TW number from its current weight.

Install an external gauge.
You can choose from a variety of gauge types:

1. Inline pressure gauges install between the gas line from the grill and the cut-off valve on the tank, measuring pressures to determine how full the tank is.
2. Analog propane scales look like luggage scales and are pre-set based on your tank’s TW.
3. Digital propane tank scales give a digital readout of remaining cook time and gas fill percentage. Some even work with smartphone apps.

How Much Grill Time Do You Have?

Now that you know how much propane you have left in your grill’s propane cylinder, you can estimate how long it will last.

On average, a medium-sized grill on high heat will use approximately two pounds of fuel per meal. That means you can get 18 to 20 hours of cooking time on a medium grill with a 20-pound propane tank. With a larger grill, that 20-pound tank might run out after 10 hours of cooking. But these are just estimates.

Get Connected

Bottini Fuel provides expert propane delivery and service for your Hudson Valley home. We can also run lines for all your propane appliances, including your grill. And we offer a propane tank monitoring plan that will take the guesswork out of how much propane you have left.

Our locations serve New York’s Hudson Valley as well as parts of Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Click here to see which Bottini Fuel location serves your neighborhood.

Contact us today to learn more about the propane services we offer.