Does Cold Temperature Truly Affect a Propane Tank Level Gauge?
Propane is similar to nearly all other kinds of materials in that it is affected by cold temperatures. The propane gas contracts when the temperature does down. That reduced level of gas in the tank is reflected by the gauge which reflects the tank level. Often, this occurs whenever a homeowner checks the gauge in cold conditions and sees the amount of the tank level before and after delivery. Depending on the conditions, the tank level might not go up as much as anticipated.

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

Normal Temperatures
The web site Propane 101, that is managed by the propane industry, considers an exterior temperature of 60 degrees to be the reference or baseline point. Like for example, if the gauge reads 50% of capacity on a day when the temperature is near 60 degrees, then a 500 gallon tank would contain roughly 250 gallons of propane. If the temperature that day is a lot 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 due to the expansion of the gas.

Effect of Expansion and Contraction
The amount of energy contained or energy contained inside a tank would not change when the gas either contracts or expands, 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
The homeowner who orders 100 gallons of propane would be given roughly 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 close to 60 degrees at the time of delivery. If the delivery happened during colder weather conditions, these chillier temperatures would cause a smaller increase reading on the propane gauge.