Propane tank Refill or Exchange?
- Thread starter Clint
- Start date
ChuckO
TVWBB 1-Star Olympian
The most important thing about propane, is draining out the air after it's burned off the fuel. This does two things: 1) Makes more room for propane 2) The propane will burn better if there isn't air contaminating the propane. If you don't drain your tanks prior to refilling, then you might as well exchange them. You will have better propane if you fill an air-free tank, that's why I refill. I am envious of you price per gallon. I just paid twice that per gallon
Rich Dahl
R.I.P. 7/21/2024
The most important thing about propane, is draining out the air after it's burned off the fuel. This does two things: 1) Makes more room for propane 2) The propane will burn better if there isn't air contaminating the propane. If you don't drain your tanks prior to refilling, then you might as well exchange them. You will have better propane if you fill an air-free tank, that's why I refill. I am envious of you price per gallon. I just paid twice that per gallon
If you have a Costco that sells propane near you check it out. The one here has a max charge of 8.69 to fill a 20# tank. The local propane place wants $23 to fill one.
ChuckO
TVWBB 1-Star Olympian
I will check that out!
Dwain Pannell
TVWBB Hall of Fame
If I plan I go to Costco. If not I run to the closest exchange place. Sometimes need trumps price especially when I have a kettle of wort that is in mid boil when my tank peters out.
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Rich Dahl
R.I.P. 7/21/2024
Dwain, next time you're at Costco pick up another tank as a backup. It will save you $$$ in the long run and maybe a batch of brew too.
Bob Correll
R.I.P. 3/31/2022
I'll have to check, but pretty sure our Costco doesn't do propane refills.
Is the area out by the gas pumps or ??
Is the area out by the gas pumps or ??
Dwain Pannell
TVWBB Hall of Fame
Ours is across from the Tire Center.
I took in 3 of my tanks to get refilled today, one needed to get recertified ($4.50), all 3 were filled. They all felt like they weighed about the same, I guess the 20# tanks hold 5 gallons of propane.
$36.93 with a recertification, $20 @ Blue Rhino
A completely empty #20 tank should take 4.7 gallons of propane if they fill it completely. Blue Rhino "fills" their tanks with #15 of propane, which is 3.525 gallons.
I haven't filled any tanks at Costco yet as I just recently became a member. But, some sites on the Web say that Costco only fills to #15's. Cost wise, it wouldn't matter as long as they are correctly charging you on a per gallon basis, i.e. 3.525 gallons X $2.89 per gallon as per your receipt. That would make it $10.18 for #15s from Costco versus $20 for the same #15s from Blue Rhino.
The most important math to look at is the actual cost per gallon from Blue Rhino. Presuming $20 for an exchange, that's 20/3.525=$5.67 per gallon.
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Dale Nichols
TVWBB Super Fan
All propane tanks have a "tare weight" or "T.W." stamped on the collar of the tank. For a grill sized tank you simply calculate the tare weight + 20 lbs, and that's how much the tank should weigh when it's full. Most 20 lb tanks have a tare weight of +/- 17 pounds when completely empty. This means a "full" propane tank should weigh about 37 pounds.
John Solak
TVWBB 1-Star Olympian
I work on a Marine Corp base and they used to refill propane tanks at their Camping Connection and they would fill a 5 gal tank for around $11, best deal buy far. There is a gas station that fills and sells refills. If I'm only gonna fill one tank its just as easy and about the same price as exchanging. The price of their propane goes down the more I get so if I am gonna fill more than one tank I have them fill them up.
Phil Perrin
TVWBB Hall of Fame
It depends on if I'm filling one or both of my tanks. Or if I'm out and need a quick swap! 
The blue rhino exchange across the street is right about $20-21. There is a place about 4-5 miles up the road that charges a flat $19 for a fill up. Whether it's empty or almost empty,it's the same price. The Tractor Supply in Denver(NC that is!) is about 10 miles up the road,and they charge by the gallon. This time of year,it's usually $.99-1.99/gallon. Spring and summer,it's $ 3.99/gallon. Both of the places that fill do the bleed off. So I guess that's a good thing!
The blue rhino exchange across the street is right about $20-21. There is a place about 4-5 miles up the road that charges a flat $19 for a fill up. Whether it's empty or almost empty,it's the same price. The Tractor Supply in Denver(NC that is!) is about 10 miles up the road,and they charge by the gallon. This time of year,it's usually $.99-1.99/gallon. Spring and summer,it's $ 3.99/gallon. Both of the places that fill do the bleed off. So I guess that's a good thing!I had been getting mine filled at Ace Hardware, and only exchanging It somewhere else if it needed recertification.
After my last fill, I realized that it would have been cheaper for me to exchange it at Academy Sports. But after reading DaveW's comments, I realize that I may have gotten more from Ace than I would by exchanging for a Blue Rhino at Academy. So now I'm not sure.
The only thing I'm sure of is that if they need recertification, it's cheaper to exchange.
After my last fill, I realized that it would have been cheaper for me to exchange it at Academy Sports. But after reading DaveW's comments, I realize that I may have gotten more from Ace than I would by exchanging for a Blue Rhino at Academy. So now I'm not sure.
The only thing I'm sure of is that if they need recertification, it's cheaper to exchange.
That's what I do Greg. If I have a tank out of date, I take the hit and exchange it for a tank with a good date. Then I go back to getting it refilled. If you don't use that much propane, it might not be worth the effort to drive over to a refill station. I have 7 tanks that I use each year, so I end up saving a bunch by refilling instead of exchanging.
THoey
TVWBB Super Fan
I have two tanks, one for my gasser and one for the flame thrower I light the WSM with. If I ever get caught and run out of one, I usually have enough in the other to finish what I am doing. I usually go to U-haul to refill them, but if a tank starts looking crappy, I'll just exchange it.
Never really paid attention to the cost per gallon. Always considered it a necessary evil that I was going to buy no matter what. I think a tank fill up costs me around $15 - $17.
Never really paid attention to the cost per gallon. Always considered it a necessary evil that I was going to buy no matter what. I think a tank fill up costs me around $15 - $17.
Clint
TVWBB Olympian
