Best place to find large Propane tanks

[sideways]

I'm looking to heat my 30 x 50 pole barn with a 75,000 Mr. Heater or REZNOR propane heater and want to maintain a low heat setting throughout the cold months (about 40-45 degrees). When I work in it, I'll turn the T-stat up to a more comfortable setting. I'm looking for a used propane tank - about 500 gallons or so or whatever I can find the best price on..and in the best condition. I think I'd rather buy something than pay the monthly rental which allows me to shop for the best price on propane and further increasemy savings. Any suggestions on where I can buy a good "used" tank of this size....or, any source for a well priced new one? I've seen a lot of discussion about the use of propane heaters, etc on this site but not much discussion on the tanks.....thanks in advance for your input...

 

[BillK]

side,
First thing you need to do is make certain that the local companies will fill a tank that size if it isn't thiers. We had Propane at my last location and to be perfectly honest with you, it just wasnt worth the hassle of checking around for a few pennies price break each time it needed filling. I really do not remember ever paying a "rental" fee though. I am pretty sure that Suburban Propane supplied the tank as long as we were buying the gas from them. I am pretty sure it was 500 gal.

 

[gluckmysock]

there is a used tank dealer not far from me. they are located in perryopolis, pa. i dont rememebr the name off hand but i will be going by there tomorrow and will look to see if i can find a number for ya

 

[Nick DL]

I don't know where to buy a used tank but in the past we had a rental unit. I would probably go this route in the future. When we had one, it was through Valley National Gases and we did pay a rental fee. The fee was lower if you used the tank, higher if not. The nice thing about the rental is that if their is a problem or the regulator or what not needs to be changed, they will take care of it since it is their property.

 

[trbomax]

Most propane distributers will supply the equipment free if you buy a minimum ammount of gas per year. Around here its 800 gal or so. they contract with you for fills at a "gaurenteed minimum price" but you must sign up during the summer. because they pre buy gas based on projected usage (sales).I have a company tank on the house and own 2 other tanks for other buildings on the property.I have shopped around for price and every time my home supplier will match or beat it,so I'm not so sure its worth the hassel to own your own tank(s).
If you own it you are responsible for the upkeep and maintanence on the tank,regulators and lines,as well as the intial cost if you cant install them yourself. Propane distributers will not fill randomly owned tanks untill they leaktest and inspect the installation. This will cost around $50 per system.Since I have a good working relationship with my propane guys,after I did my shop installs they came out and rebuilt the valves on the used tanks,leak tested the entire system,checked regulator pressures and purged them for $42,includeing spikeing the tanks with menthanol. I had already dumped the tanks,had them sandblasted,painted and did all my own pipeing. Out of all this I did end up with a very nice looking,well installed system done the way I wanted it done,so it was worth the investment to me. The tanks I bought on cl,had to go pick them up with the rollback ,$500 each.sandblasting,$120 each. Prime and paint (done by us) about $30 each. 100' of 5/8" copper tube to get as far as the building secondary regulator,$200. Personal time to do all this,about a week and a half.was it worth it? To me ,yes,but in the end remember there is no "free lunch" just because you buy a tank.

I couldnt find the rest of the install pics,so Ill take some of the finished product tomorrow.

 

[koditten]

trbomax:

I think you copied me or I copied you. The only thing I did different was that I mounted my tank on 3" x 3" tube steel skids. I did this so if I wanted to move the tank at a later date I could just drag it to its' new home. The tank skiis worked great when I decided to move the tank.

As you stated, not a real big difference in price if you pre buy the propane. I knew this going in, but I wanted to move the tank to more centralized location after all the buildings were done.

 

[trbomax]

trbomax:

I think you copied me or I copied you. The only thing I did different was that I mounted my tank on 3" x 3" tube steel skids. I did this so if I wanted to move the tank at a later date I could just drag it to its' new home. The tank skiis worked great when I decided to move the tank.

As you stated, not a real big difference in price if you pre buy the propane. I knew this going in, but I wanted to move the tank to more centralized location after all the buildings were done.

I built a 4x6 rack with posts3' in the ground.definitly overkill.

 

[D.J.]

turbomax; Did your propane company fill it? Gas code says the tank will be 10 feet from any building and any property line. Please check with your gas companies before building any kind of combustable "rack" to install a tank on. We would not fill this tank if it was setting on that structure, where I work.

 

[trbomax]

The "structure" was buried in crushed stone before the tanks were set.It was not an issue. tanks around here are commonly cribbed up with 4x6 and 6x6.Its 30' from the building.You cant even see it from the property line ,BUT) you do have a point. Most people dont know that (such as in my case) when you own multiple parcels of land,the line(s) defineing them are considered property lines,and as such any building is subject to setback requirements from them.

 

[sideways]

I guess I wasn't considering all the upkeep with the regulators, lines, valves, etc not to mention the ultimate responsibility of owning a tank...and, perhaps its foolish to fret over a few pennies either way regarding price. I was thinking (told) that's it was nice to be able to shop for the best price instead of being at the mercy of whoever is your supplier. I did understand though, that some companys would want to see proof of ownership and proof of a current inspection...not, that they would have to perform one each time they came to fill it. I'm going to have to rethink this after reading these insightful posts. Thanks everyone...you guys are the best...

 

[D.J.]

As long as the tank doesn't run out the initial leak check is all you will need from your supplier if their policys are like ours. The pressure is when the system is first installed and a leak check must be preformed when a break occurs in the system (accident or install of new appliance, etc.) or a run out occurs.

 

[Need4racin]

Check with some guys that do heat/ac on the side. They usually have old furnaces/tanks in their yard from when they converted someone to electric heat.

Offer $40 over scrap weight on them.

 

[58Yeoman]

I found my 120 gallon tank on CL, and it had 30% in it. I got it from a farmer who was going to a larger tank. I installed it myself, then had the propane guy check it out when he installed new regs on the house and 500 gallon tank that I own (it was time to change them out). He installed a dual reg on the 120 so I wouldn't need a reg on the shop. He told me that I didn't need to put the 120 10' away from the building, just the larger tanks. The 120 could've been right next to the wall. IIRC, I paid around $250 for the tank, and it was fairly new.

 

[2chipped]

Around here(coastal Ga) they bury the tank so the cover is @ ground level on all the newer homes. These are all new tanks.

 

[trbomax]

Check with some guys that do heat/ac on the side. They usually have old furnaces/tanks in their yard from when they converted someone to electric heat.

Offer $40 over scrap weight on them.

This might be a good shot,but do not buy any tank that does not have the manufacturers tag on it. They will be tack welded to the tank shell. When tanks are sold for scrap these tags can be removed for liability purposes. Without the tag,no one will fill it. The age of the tank does not mean anything either. Because it is a certified pressure vessel,it does not go out of test. The only way it could be disqualified for use would be rust or visual cracks. Obviously if it wont test for the gas co,it couldnt be filled either which is one of the reasons I sandblasted and then ran my own pressure test before continueing with the project.

 

[z28toz06]

check your local code. Usually you can buy the tank outright from the gas supplier. someone mentioned saving a few pennies per gallon. you better check that too. I saved over a buck a gallon shopping around. you definitely pay more when its their tank, plus the hassle of them coming to remove it if you switch suppliers. i put a 500 in the ground. It cost me about 900 at the time, but i saved that several times over since then. Now we get quoted x cents over "pipeline" cost. it fluctuates some, but its definitely cheaper. my wife got a bunch of people together too and got everyone a discount, both oil and gas. he got new customers and we all got a much better price.

 

[trbomax]

check your local code. Usually you can buy the tank outright from the gas supplier. someone mentioned saving a few pennies per gallon. you better check that too. I saved over a buck a gallon shopping around. you definitely pay more when its their tank, plus the hassle of them coming to remove it if you switch suppliers. i put a 500 in the ground. It cost me about 900 at the time, but i saved that several times over since then. Now we get quoted x cents over "pipeline" cost. it fluctuates some, but its definitely cheaper. my wife got a bunch of people together too and got everyone a discount, both oil and gas. he got new customers and we all got a much better price.

Over a buck/gal!! What are you paying? My last delivery was $2.82/gal

edit) It was 2.82

 

[hmbemis]

I'm sure this is a Mass thing... but around here home delivery is tough unless it's their tank. Also, I couldn't believe their rates for "low usage".

If I was getting central heating hooked up the rate was $2.909/G as of a month or so ago... which was relatively cheap to me, and they'd drop up to three 120G tanks for free.

If I was getting dryer, water heater and stove, that was low usage, $4.999/G! I guess the idea is that if you're only looking for a single 120G to be filled up every 6 months or so they want to kill you on the propane price to make up for the lost revenue.

 

[787B]

Sideways, just a sanity check on size and usage: I have a 30x30 house also in Maryland (Bel Air) with a 98,000 BTU condensing furnace. I own my two 100 gallon tanks up against my house. I go through maybe 4-500 gallons in a year. I'm not an expert, but a 500 gallon tank on an low-use 75k heater seems like overkill, and I'm not sure 75k is big enough for your 1500 sq-ft shop.

Regarding price, the difference is not pennies. I call around after every time my tanks get filled (auto-fill plan) to keep my supplier honest. I cancelled Suburban after they screwed me TWICE in a row by charging me nearly $1.00 over the going rate per gallon! I have about 5 suppliers willing to fill my tanks, and the price varies by $0.30-$0.50 per gallon amongst the four, with Suburban always a dollar or more higher than those. Aero Energy gave me the best deal at $2.39/gallon outright or $2.29 "pre-buy".

For your reference in Maryland:
Aero Energy 800-998-4311
Amerigas 888-626-3744
Southern States 410-557-7186
United Propane 443-871-5201

 

[rburke65]

Well, I am all electric and because of that I won't be heating my shop by electric. I did find this topic to be very interesting. I've learned a lot. Thanks guys. Maybe I could do propane.

 

[sideways]

rburke65 - you may be right, a 500gal tank may be overkill. My thinking was, the bigger the tank, the less times I had to hassel with getting it filled, so if I was happy with the price of the initial fill-up, I'd be happier for a longer time. I'm certainly open to a smaller tank and based on what I've learned from this thread, I'm better prepared now when I start looking around in earnest. I'll be making some calls in the morning...

 

[sideways]

Sorry - I meant 787B...

 

[787B]

I finally went back and tallied it up: In 2009 and 2010 I used almost exactly 614 gallons a year to heat my house. I used about 550 in 2008. I'm at 390 for 2011, which makes me think I missed a receipt somewhere.

So a 500 gallon tank on an occasional-use 75k heater here in Maryland would probably last you 1.5 to 2 years. That's not that crazy. It will limit you options a bit as it has to be located something like 50 feet from the building, while 100 gallons tanks can be right up against it. BTW, my 100 gallon tanks cost $200 each outright about 10 years ago from Suburban (not actually "my" tanks, so don't have exact date). They are used tanks.

Oh yeah, this can be useful too:
http://www.eia.gov/oog/info/twip/twip_propane.html