Does Cold Truly Affect a Propane Tank Level Gauge?
Like 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 tank. Normally, this comes into play 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 conditions, the tank level might not rise as much as anticipated.

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

Normal Temperatures
The propane industry manages the popular website Propane 101, which considers the propane reference point to be an exterior temperature of 60 degrees. Like for instance, if the gauge reads 50 percent of capacity on a day when the temperature is close to 60 degrees, then a 500 gallon tank would contain around 250 gallons of propane. If the temperature that same day is much lower than 60 degrees, the gauge would read lower. In the same way, if the temperature is a lot higher than 60 degrees, the gauge will actually read higher since the gas expanded.

Effect of Contraction and Expansion
The amount of energy contained or energy contained in a tank would not change when the gas either contracts or expands, based on the propane industry web site. 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 will be given 424 pounds of propane. If the homeowner has a 1000 gallon propane tank, they could expect the gauge to go up by 10% with the delivery of 100 gallons. These numbers would be correct if the temperatures were close to 60 degrees at the time of delivery. If the delivery took place during colder weather conditions, these chillier temperatures would result in a smaller increase reading on the propane gauge.