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Does Cold Temperature Truly Affect the Level Gauge on a Propane Tank?
Propane is like most other kinds of materials in that it is affected by cold temperatures. The propane gas contracts as the temperature does down. That reduced level of gas inside the tank is reflected by the gauge that reflects the level on the tank. Usually, this happens whenever a homeowner checks the gauge during cold weather conditions and sees the amount of the tank level before and after delivery. Depending on the climate, the tank level might not go up as much as anticipated.

Propane Tank Level Gauge
The propane tank's gauge shows you what fraction of the tank is full. Typically, tanks are not filled more than 80% in order to enable the gas to expand on warm temperatures. 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 which is able to be stored.

Normal Temperatures
The website Propane 101, that is managed by the propane industry, considers an exterior temperature of 60 degrees to be the baseline or reference point. For example, if the gauge reads 50 percent of capacity on a day when the temperature is close to 60 degrees, then a 500 gallon tank will have around 250 gallons of propane. If the temperature that day is much lower than 60 degrees, the gauge will read lower. Similarly, if the temperature is a lot higher than 60 degrees, the gauge will actually read higher because the gas expanded.

Effect of Contraction and Expansion
Based on the information given by the propane industry website, the amount of energy contained in the tank does not really change as the gas contracts or expands. 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 be given approximately 424 lbs. of propane. With the delivery of 100 gallons, the homeowner with a 1000 gallon propane tank can expect the guage to go up by 10%. These numbers would be accurate if the temperatures were near 60 degrees at the time of delivery. If the delivery happened during colder weather conditions, these chillier temperatures will result in a smaller increase reading on the propane gauge.

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