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Does Cold Temperature Affect the Level Gauge on a Propane Tank?
Similar to nearly all other types of materials, propane is affected by cold temperatures. When the temperature declines, the propane gas contracts. That reduced level of gas in the tank is reflected by the gauge which reflects the level on the propane tank. Normally, this happens whenever a homeowner checks the gauge in cold conditions and sees the amount of the tank level before and after delivery. Depending on the weather, the tank level might not go up as much as anticipated.

Propane Tank Level Gauge
The propane tank's gauge shows you what percentage of the tank is full. Normally, tanks are not filled over 80% in order to allow the gas to expand on warm days. Like for example, a 500 gallon tank, at a reading of 80 percent at normal temperatures reflects roughly 400 gallons of propane inside the tank. This is about the amount that is able to be stored.

Normal Temperatures
The propane industry operates the popular website Propane 101, which considers the propane baseline point to be an exterior temperature of 60 degrees. Like for example, if the gauge reads 50 percent of capacity on a day when the temperature is near 60 degrees, then a 500 gallon tank will have around 250 gallons of propane. If the temperature that same day is a lot lower than 60 degrees, the gauge will read lower. Also, if the temperature is a lot higher than 60 degrees, the gauge would actually read higher because the gas expanded.

Effect of Contraction and Expansion
According to the information given by the propane industry web site, the amount of energy contained inside the tank does not actually change as the gas expands or contracts. The amount of propane itself has not changed, but just the density of the gas has changed.

Cold-Weather Delivery
The homeowner who orders 100 gallons of propane would receive around 424 pounds of propane. With the delivery of 100 gallons, the homeowner with a 1000 gallon propane tank could expect the guage to go up by 10%. These numbers would be correct if the temperatures were near 60 degrees at the time of delivery. If the delivery happened during colder weather conditions, these chillier temperatures would result in a smaller increase reading on the propane gauge.

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