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Does Cold Temperature Affect the Level Gauge on a Propane Tank?
Similar to most other kinds of materials, propane is affected by cold temperatures. As the temperature declines, the propane gas contracts. That reduced level of gas in the tank is reflected by the gauge which reflects the tank level. Usually, this happens whenever a homeowner checks the gauge during cold weather and sees the amount of the tank level before and after delivery. Depending upon the weather, the level on the tank may not rise as much as anticipated.

Propane Tank Level Gauge
The propane tank's gauge shows you what portion of the tank is full. Typically, tanks are not filled over 80% so as to allow the gas to expand during hot temperatures. For example, a 500 gallon tank, at a reading of 80% at normal temperatures reflects roughly 400 gallons of propane inside the tank. This is about how much could be stored.

Normal Temperatures
The website Propane 101, that is operated by the propane industry, considers an exterior temperature of 60 degrees to be the reference or baseline point. For example, if the gauge reads 50% of capacity on a day when the temperature is close to 60 degrees, then a 500 gallon tank would contain roughly 250 gallons of propane. If the temperature that 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 would actually read higher due to the expansion of the gas.

Effect of Contraction and Expansion
According to the information provided by the propane industry web site, 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
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 may expect the gauge to go up by 10% with the delivery of 100 gallons. These numbers will be accurate if the temperatures were close to 60 degrees at the time of delivery. If the delivery took place during colder weather, these chillier temperatures would cause a smaller increase reading on the propane gauge.

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