Propane Exchange vs Refill


 
Steven I think the Ace Stores vary. I am in Atlanta the Ace I use does not charge by the pound its a flat fee the last time like I said it was $11 and change but that was 6 months ago. So if you refill with a quarter of a tank does not matter, since I have 3 tanks they are always empty when I refill as if we run out of gas just hook the other one up. Nothing worse having one tank invite friends and run out of gas and by the way my neighbor who I love has borrowed a tank from me before because that happened. They replaced it of course and then he bought another tank.

As others have posted yes when you do an exchange its only 15 pounds its on the label and it was a co-worker a few years ago who told me that or I would not had a clue that they did that. So if you have a place to swap and its closer you do it my Walmart is at least 4 bucks more for an exchange for less gas by the way. Refill 2 tanks thats 8 bucks in savings for more gas.

My Costco does not refill tanks so again I think its where you are located.

Brian
 
Yep everyone around here charges flat fee. FWIW I have done refills and exchanged. I have weight both and they both weigh the same. The refill places only put 15lbs in them and the exchange places give you 15. Other than special sales (where they'll charge $10) it costs about the same to fill as exchange. I find exchange easier as it's closer. YMMV
 
Wow, interesting reading how prices vary around the country. I worked at a local independent hardware store for 23 years. Filling propane tanks was one of my daily jobs. Here in NJ most places charge a fixed price. Now and for the last 10 years or so my store charges $17.99 for a 20 lb fill. Other local places charge at least $20. That Blue company only fills to 15 lbs and still charges about $20. But most of their tanks are old expired tanks that have been painted, and "recertified." If it were me, I would have my tank refilled and skip the exchange thing. I don't want a rusted out 20 year old tank full of propane next to my house.
 
Well, I took 4 tanks to the tractor supply store today. 20 mile drive. He said he couldn't fill three of them because they were out of date and needed recertification. They were all three blue Rhino tanks with the plastic still on them. I guess Blue Rhino doesn't care if they are out of date. So, I basically wasted a trip. I wound up going to Menards to fill the rest at $15.88. Probably just 15 lbs.

The funny thing is, when the guy at TS filled the one tank, he got 4.8 gallons in it. At least that is what he charged me for. Anyway, that would be over 30 lbs. Can that be right?

It was a pretty good deal at $2.59/gal.

I did check the two tanks I got from Menards in exchange and they look to be well within the 12 year certification window.
 
A gallon of propane is about 4.2 lbs, so 4.8 gallons would be just over 20 lbs.

I read that a 20lb tank could accommodate a little bit more than 20 lbs to account for expansion. It's fine. They didn't rip you off.
 
Oh. OK, I was under the impression that propane weighed about 7 lbs per gallon. Thanks for clearing that up. That makes it a pretty good deal over the exchange prices.
 
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Around here I have weighed tanks I have had refilled by various vendors (hardware store, Menards, gas supply house, industrial welding supply house, etc) vs the exchanged tanks. They weigh the same. IOW there is no difference in the amount of gas in the tanks by weight. Also most places here charge a flat fee for refill that is MORE or equal to simply doing an exchange
 
I just went out and weighed the tanks I refilled yesterday. The one from Tractor Supply that was refilled was 34.4lbs. The two that I exchanged at Menards were both 31.6lbs. So, I got about 8-9% more in the refilled tank than the exchange tanks. The refill tank was about 20% less expensive as well.
 
What I found out is the exchange tanks around here are recertified when needed except they don't put the recertified sticker on the tank. They just put a sticker that has about 8 numbers on it that they can look up to see when the tank was recertified. They do that because they were losing to many tanks to people who would pay $20.00 for a full rank instead of buying a new empty tank for the same amount and then just get it refilled. So with this eight digit # it doesn't give the recertified date so if the tank is expired on the original date no one will fill it.
 
Rich Dahl said:
What I found out is the exchange tanks around here are recertified when needed except they don't put the recertified sticker on the tank. They just put a sticker that has about 8 numbers on it that they can look up to see when the tank was recertified. They do that because they were losing to many tanks to people who would pay $20.00 for a full rank instead of buying a new empty tank for the same amount and then just get it refilled. So with this eight digit # it doesn't give the recertified date so if the tank is expired on the original date no one will fill it.
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I'm pretty sure that the recertified tank has to have a new date stamped on it. Check to see if there's a mm-yy number with an E either in front or the back of the date. Recerts are only good for 2 years iirc.
 
Bruce said:
I just went out and weighed the tanks I refilled yesterday. The one from Tractor Supply that was refilled was 34.4lbs. The two that I exchanged at Menards were both 31.6lbs. So, I got about 8-9% more in the refilled tank than the exchange tanks. The refill tank was about 20% less expensive as well.
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To be sure, check the collar of each tank and look for a number with the letters T.W. close by. That is the "Tare Weight" of the tank, or the weight when completely empty. Different tanks might have different weights.
 
The guy at TS that filled my tank said that some outfits just put a sticker on the tank and don't actually stamp it into the metal ring. He also said that original tanks are good for 12 years and re-certs are good for 5. That is likely a state by state thing however. I am in Wisconsin.
 
I just had my tank refilled today from bulk. 4 gallons (17 lb) for $11.00. That is $2.75 per gallon.
Blue Rhino wants $18.00 for 15 lbs. (3.5 gal) @ $5.15 per gallon.
 
Yah, refilling is the way to go as long as they are not picky about the recert dates on the cylinders. Otherwise, you have to do the exchange with them and get back a cylinder that is recertified. After that you can refill.
 
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