How To Check The Gas Level On My Propane Tank

As the weather gets colder here in the Hudson Valley and Catskills, you are likely using more propane to heat your home.

That means it’s even more important that you regularly check your propane tank gauge levels to see how much propane is in the tank. If you are a will-call customer, this is essential.

If you don’t know how to ready your propane tank gauge, that’s OK. We’re here to explain it to you. Fortunately, it’s pretty easy, so you’ll be comfortable doing it.

Reading A Propane Tank Gauge

First, go out to your propane tank. Look for a round dial that looks like a speedometer or meat thermometer and has the numbers 0 to 95 on the face. Check the photo here for an example of a tank gauge. It will be on or near the top of the propane tank. You’ve found the propane tank gauge.

The numbers on the gauge aren’t the numbers of gallons of propane in the propane tank. They are the percentage of how much your propane tank is filled.

That gets us to a fact about propane tanks: They’re never filled to 100 percent capacity. Instead, they’re filled to 80 percent for aboveground propane tanks and 85 percent for underground ones. That’s done for safety. Propane expands a great deal when it gets warm or hot, like when the tank is in sunlight, and needs that empty 20 or 15 percent of empty space in your propane tank to do so. One example is that if you have a 500-gallon aboveground propane tank, it will be filled to 400 gallons. You may hear this referred to as the 80/20 rule.

There! You know how to read your propane tank gauge. But you also need to know when you have to contact Bottini Fuel to schedule a propane delivery to your home. This is important: Do not let your propane tank levels get below 25 percent before getting in touch with us. This is particularly important in cold weather or ahead of an Arctic blast. By requesting a propane delivery when your tank gauge level is at 25 percent or a little above that, we have enough time to schedule a propane delivery to your home before you run out. A propane run-out causes a lot of hassle and can cost you a lot of money between emergency delivery, the mandatory pressure and leak tests, and restarting all of your propane appliances like your heating system, water heater and stove.

A great way to avoid all of that is to sign up for our wireless tank monitoring. It will track your propane usage in real time and alert Bottini Fuel when it’s time for a refill of your propane tank. With our Bottini Fuel app, you’ll be able to check your propane tank gauge levels anytime, anywhere.

Contact Bottini Fuel to learn more about our propane delivery!