Propane Tanks

Simplicity · February 02, 2016, 08:46:30 PM

I go through about 200 gallons a year in each two 500 gallon tanks. One for house and one for mobile home. I have a wood boiler (had it three years), so use only propane for back up heat and hot water. So now the propane company wants to charge me 100 year for rental on each tank, because I do not use enough propane. Maybe I need to buy (2) hundred pound tanks and get them filled myself.

beenthere · February 02, 2016, 08:52:32 PM

Found the same, or similar thing. Bought my tank and told the gas co. to come pick their's up.

Now am free to buy gas wherever.

Can you find 100 pound tanks that the propane co. will fill when you take them in?

Simplicity · February 02, 2016, 09:10:38 PM

I will have to do some research on to see if they will. We will see if they will like to change there mind on the rental fee first or lose the 400 gallons a year I buy from them too.

submarinesailor · February 02, 2016, 10:07:45 PM

I just received my "Tank Rental Fee" bill today. :

$125.00

because I didn't use 400 gals between December last year and December this year. >:(

Bruce

Gary_C · February 02, 2016, 10:16:41 PM

There is a little under 23 gallons in a 100 lb propane tank. So it would take about nine 100 lb tanks to supply 200 gallons. So that's 18 trips to fill those tanks and they are always empty at the wrong times.

beenthere · February 02, 2016, 11:52:45 PM

What do you think they make per gallon of propane? 10%, 15%, 20%, 30% ?? curious here. No idea.

Then what is the cost of the delivery truck to make a stop ??

What are the delivered prices per gallon at this time? What would the price per gallon be for the 23 gal in the 100 lb tank?

Your supplier may very well know all those numbers, and have figured out what they can get by with for a rental fee.

Gary_C · February 03, 2016, 12:47:58 AM

I can't answer but one of your questions. I filled my 500 gallon tank in December for just under $1.00 per gallon. I heard that a large user was paying $.70 per gallon this past fall.

Propane prices are mostly about transportation, labor and equipment costs. So the cost to fill small tanks includes a high labor component and it costs far more per gallon or pound to fill 20 lb tanks than to fill 100 lb tanks. Many tank exchange's only fill 20 lb tanks to about 15 lbs and when you exchange a tank, you loose any propane that was left in the tank. So it's best to find a place that fills tanks and only pay for what they put in, not a fixed price by size per fill. I think there is one place I saw that charges $2.49 per gallon to fill up to 100 lb tanks.

When it comes to home delivery with a truck, there is usually a minimum quantity per delivery unless you are on a route or keep fill program. Also there is a minimum usage per year if the supplier owns the tank. I've heard from many people that it's high rental. Far better to own your tank.

There is around 4.24 lbs per gallon of propane, depending on temperature and pressure.

47sawdust · February 03, 2016, 05:53:56 AM

Gary C
Wow,$1.00 a gallon.I'd like to see that.Here in Vermont we are over $4.00 with a $75.00 rental fee on tanks.We are like the OP.don't use a lot and pay a premium.
We are switching dealers in the spring,our current supplier is Amerigas and they are losing a lot of customers in our area.

red · February 03, 2016, 06:36:16 AM

I have seen 100 lb tanks at both Lowes and Tractor Supply . But not sure who will fill them

Ivan49 · February 03, 2016, 08:54:37 AM

We just bought a tank last fall. The old supplier was going to start charging a tank rental fee and in the mean time the old tank sprung a leak. I called them about it and was told oh well we will get there sometime in the next 2 weeks. I rolled the old tank out and had a new supplier deliver and set the new tank. Our gas price per gal went from around 2.00 a gallon to .95 cents and then a 10% discount because we own the tank. Our old tank was a 120 gal one and we had it filled every other year. The new one is a 330 gal one and will be filled as needed. I was told that if I let it get down to 30% and then call for a fill they will charge less per gallon than we are paying now

hedgerow · February 03, 2016, 07:44:36 PM

I have always owned my own tanks. Around here you can pick up a used 500 gallon tank for $350.00 to $500.00. I used to have a 1000 gallon tank on the house and a 500 on the shop. We put the garn in 10 years ago and hadn't bought propane since. We still dry clothes with propane and run the furances once a year to check them and the hot water heater kicks on once and a while in the summer if I forget to load the garn once a week. The 1000 finally got down to 10 percent last fall so I sold it and hooked the shop and the house to the 500 gallon tank. You may look at buying one tank and hooking both of your useage points to it.

Simplicity · February 03, 2016, 08:17:37 PM

I put a email into them last night, they gave me a call this morning. The tanks were still in my dad's name. He moved off the property 2 years ago. At that time I wanted the tanks switched into my name. They told me it would be alot of work to switch them over to my name. Well today they said they could switch them over to my name, and wave the rental fee. I said how to I avoid this in the future. They told me they could put in smaller tanks. So I will be getting a 200 gal for house and 120 gal for trailer. They did not want to lose my business. I don t mind paying a little bit more convince so, we will see how this goes. Good day!!

dannyrc · February 04, 2016, 08:34:33 PM

Some of the companys out there buy a lesser quality propane, a #2 grade. This is considerly cheaper, but poor quality. I know this to be true because I've been a service man for 14 yrs and have experienced the sludge in a tank cleanout. This will eventually build up in regulators and supply lines, and in time, appliances. Drip-legs help when installed. We supply regs. which cost money. They are dated, so we update when needed. We cover about 150 mile radius, so dependable bobtail delivery and service trucks aren't cheap. Just got a new f550 with hyd. crane service bed in Aug. Already have 18xxx miles on it. I really don't see them "makin-a-killin".

gww · February 04, 2016, 09:22:13 PM

Just for info, I don't know if they all do it but the uhaul place in kokomo indiana fills the tank and charges what they put in.
I saw it mentioned earlier in this thread.

I told the gas company to come and get their tank cause they were charging me $0.20 per gallon for rental. I bought a tank and am glad of it. Around here the propane dealers have changed hands very often and just cause you make a deal today, it may change tomorrow and you not be the wiser. The company I got rid of didn't mind losing me and I didn't mind losing them.
Cheers
gww

TimRB · February 04, 2016, 09:32:16 PM

A couple years ago we got notice from our longtime propane supplier that they just had to raise the rent on our tank. Since we had been renting the tank (and buying propane from them) for over 25 years, and therefore probably paid for the tank several times over, it pushed me over the edge and I went shopping.

After just a few phone calls I discovered that we were being reamed, and EVERY SINGLE competitor offered a better deal than we were getting. So I called my supplier, told them to place their tank in some location where sunlight is nonexistent, and bought my own tank. I rarely do smart things with money, but this was one of them.

Tim

jiggysmb · February 12, 2016, 01:41:39 PM

We just bought our 500 gallon tank for $500. Cost to fill it rented would have been $3.94/gallon or about $1600.

Cost to fill it 2 weeks ago was $1.06/gallon (from a new supplier) which ended up being under $400 since it had a bit left.

We saved the cost of the tank with a single fill!