Does Cold Temperature Really Affect a Propane Tank Level Gauge?
Propane is similar to the majority of other types of materials in that it is affected by cold temperatures. The propane gas contracts when the temperature does down. That reduced level of gas inside the tank is reflected by the gauge which reflects the tank level. Often, this comes into play whenever a homeowner checks the gauge in cold weather and sees the amount of the tank level before and after delivery. Depending upon the conditions, the tank level may not go up as much as expected.

Propane Tank Level Gauge
The propane tank's gauge shows you what portion of the tank is full. Typically, tanks are not filled more than 80% so as to enable the gas to expand during warm days. Like for instance, a 500 gallon tank, at a reading of 80% at normal temperatures reflects roughly 400 gallons of propane in the tank. This is around how much is able to be stored.

Normal Temperatures
The propane industry operates the popular web site Propane 101, that considers the propane baseline point to be an exterior temperature of 60 degrees. For instance, 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 day is much lower than 60 degrees, the gauge would read lower. Also, if the temperature is a lot higher than 60 degrees, the gauge would actually read higher since the gas expanded.

Effect of Expansion and Contraction
The amount of energy contained or energy contained within a tank would not change as the gas either expands or contracts, according to the propane industry website. The amount of propane itself has not changed, but just the density of the gas has changed.

Cold-Weather Delivery
If a homeowner orders 100 gallons of propane to be delivered, they would receive 424 lbs. of propane. If the homeowner has a 1000 gallon propane tank, they can expect the gauge to go up by 10% with the delivery of 100 gallons. These numbers will be correct if the temperatures were close to 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.