Most affordable way to refill propane tank?

[jnw]

We do outdoor stir fries on our 150K BTU propane burner.  The propane ran out the other day.  I bf went to exchange the empty tank for a full tank and it came to a whopping $32!  What the heck? It's been a few years.  Last I knew it was $14.99 out in front of walmart, for the tank exchange.

Any tips on where to get affordable propane? Should I be going to some refill station instead?

[Michael in ABQ]

Exchanging a tank at the automated station in front of a Walmart is the cheapest/easiest I've found. It's up to about $17 now but that's still better than $20-25 at a gas station or drug store. I tried getting a tank filled up at a gas station that had propane tanks and it was even more expensive.

[ixtap]

I get my 6lb tanks filled at U-Haul or construction/ lumber yards for $5-6 (it is a little over a gallon; your 20lb tank is about 4.5 gallons). If you know anyone who works at a business that uses them, as what they do. That reminds me, I need to fill the spare next week so we don't run out when we have company.

[sonofsven]

It depends on how much you pay per gallon. I believe that the Blue Rhino tanks are only 15 lbs of propane in a 20 lb tank.
I usually get about 4.5 gallons of propane in my 20 lb tanks.
I only use the exchange when my tanks are expired or otherwise not functioning properly.

[cool7hand]

+1 on making sure the vendor you use is actually filling the entire tank. Home Depot also doesn't fill the tank.

[seemsright]

We just take ours to the local corner gas station and have the tank filled. It is never more than $10. We run 2 of them and have to fill them often. We use one for our grill and the other for our portable fire pit.

[ChickenStash]

Maybe check for local propane distributors to see if they'll handle refilling the little tanks. Most metro areas should have a few but they might be in the more commercial/industrial areas of town. It should be a bit cheaper than swapping tanks and you can make sure it's properly filled.

[billygoatjohnson]

Shop around

I used to fill tanks at a gas station. I didn't weigh them, just filled them until it came out of the relief valve. I was 14 years old and not sure if this was correct. But it was always full and never blew up on me...

[sonofsven]

Shop around

I used to fill tanks at a gas station. I didn't weigh them, just filled them until it came out of the relief valve. I was 14 years old and not sure if this was correct. But it was always full and never blew up on me...

Yes, that's how you do it. A little bit of gas always escapes, and the filling pump goes by volume (gallons), not weight.
There's a 15 year old at the country store near me that fills them, so the tradition continues.

[jnw]

Found out from a local that he believes Flying J has the best prices in town for propane tank refills.  I called them and they said refills are $3.79 per gallon.  A 20lb tank holds 4.5 gallons so it would cost $17.06 to fully fill an empty 20 lb tank.

Others are saying that Walmart and the like are the best in town for tank exchange at around $20 for the swap.  But I guess they only really hold 15 lb of propane right? So cost per gallon for the propane, at Walmart, with the tank swap, is $20/(0.75*4.5) = $5.93 per gallon.   

So Flying J is $3.79 per gallon and Walmart is $5.93 per gallon; Flying J is only 64% the cost of Walmart propane.  Nice savings.  Will go to Flying J's from now on.

I still can't believe my BF paid $32 for a 20lb tank swap.. at the local gas station.  Ouch!

[ixtap]

Found out from a local that he believes Flying J has the best prices in town for propane tank refills.  I called them and they said refills are $3.79 per gallon.  A 20lb tank holds 4.5 gallons so it would cost $17.06 to fully fill an empty 20 lb tank.

Others are saying that Walmart and the like are the best in town for tank exchange at around $20 for the swap.  But I guess they only really hold 15 lb of propane right? So cost per gallon for the propane, at Walmart, with the tank swap, is $20/(0.75*4.5) = $5.93 per gallon.   

So Flying J is $3.79 per gallon and Walmart is $5.93 per gallon; Flying J is only 64% the cost of Walmart propane.  Nice savings.  Will go to Flying J's from now on.

I still can't believe my BF paid $32 for a 20lb tank swap.. at the local gas station.  Ouch!

Have you looked for some place nearby that generally fills for businesses, rather than campers? I paid $5.80 for 1.5 gallons this morning.

[jnw]

Found out from a local that he believes Flying J has the best prices in town for propane tank refills.  I called them and they said refills are $3.79 per gallon.  A 20lb tank holds 4.5 gallons so it would cost $17.06 to fully fill an empty 20 lb tank.

Others are saying that Walmart and the like are the best in town for tank exchange at around $20 for the swap.  But I guess they only really hold 15 lb of propane right? So cost per gallon for the propane, at Walmart, with the tank swap, is $20/(0.75*4.5) = $5.93 per gallon.   

So Flying J is $3.79 per gallon and Walmart is $5.93 per gallon; Flying J is only 64% the cost of Walmart propane.  Nice savings.  Will go to Flying J's from now on.

I still can't believe my BF paid $32 for a 20lb tank swap.. at the local gas station.  Ouch!

Have you looked for some place nearby that generally fills for businesses, rather than campers? I paid $5.80 for 1.5 gallons this morning.

No I don't know of any yet.  Looks like you paid $3.87 per gallon, about the same price as Flyng J's at $3.79 per gallon.   I'll keep looking but glad I found out about Flying J's.

EDIT: I just looked up Uhaul and it's $4.25 per gallon for refills.

EDIT #2:  just calculated how much it costs us per cook for outdoor stir fry.  We have a propane burner which probably burns at around 100K BTU at full blast -- or about 7 times more powerful than indoor burner.  We run it at full blast.  It turns out that 100K BTU uses about 1 gallon of propane in one hour.  Each cook takes like 4 mins.   So about 15 cooks per gallon.  $3.79 / 15 = 25 cents per cook.  Not bad.  Tastes wonderful.  (I thought I had 150K BTU burner but it might be just 100K.)

[nereo]

EDIT #2:  just calculated how much it costs us per cook for outdoor stir fry.  We have a propane burner which probably burns at around 100K BTU at full blast -- or about 7 times more powerful than indoor burner.  We run it at full blast.  It turns out that 100K BTU uses about 1 gallon of propane in one hour.  Each cook takes like 4 mins.   So about 15 cooks per gallon.  $3.79 / 15 = 25 cents per cook.  Not bad.  Tastes wonderful.  (I thought I had 150K BTU burner but it might be just 100K.)

That’s terrible for an indoor burner - especially since it’s gas. We have also used a large 12” exterior burner for stir fry, especially when it’s for a larger group. Less inviting in the winter though

[Dancin'Dog]

I'm a big fan of electric grills.  They never need expensive refills, don't blow out on windy days, and don't flare up.  They aren't very popular because people like "fire", but I've really enjoyed the ones I've had in the past. 


A couple of years ago we bought an electric smoker.  It was the cheapest model Lowes carried.  It doesn't replace a grill for burgers & steaks, but it's wonderful for ribs, chicken, butts, brisket, salmon, and makes really tasty smoked mac & cheese.  Of course, smoking is much slower than grilling, so you need to plan ahead & schedule it correctly. 

[jnw]

For grilling, smoking and barbecue we use lump charcoal and wood chunks.  We light up the charcoal chimney over the propane burner for 30 seconds, then about 8 mins later we pour the chimney into the pit loaded with lump and wood chunks.  Our grill is Weber 22.5” kettle and our bbq pit / smoker is the Weber Smokey Mountain 18.5”.

[jnw]

EDIT #2:  just calculated how much it costs us per cook for outdoor stir fry.  We have a propane burner which probably burns at around 100K BTU at full blast -- or about 7 times more powerful than indoor burner.  We run it at full blast.  It turns out that 100K BTU uses about 1 gallon of propane in one hour.  Each cook takes like 4 mins.   So about 15 cooks per gallon.  $3.79 / 15 = 25 cents per cook.  Not bad.  Tastes wonderful.  (I thought I had 150K BTU burner but it might be just 100K.)

That’s terrible for an indoor burner - especially since it’s gas. We have also used a large 12” exterior burner for stir fry, especially when it’s for a larger group. Less inviting in the winter though

I believe the highest btu for indoor burner is around 22K? Still the outdoor dwarfs these at 100-200k btu. Get much better stir fry outdoors because stir fry requires high heat to fry; indoors it is more of a stir braise.

[jnw]

For tank exchanges, why do these companies only put 15 lb of fuel in 20 lb propane tanks?  Is it to save them money or are they doing it for safety reasons?

When I refill the tank should I have them fill it to a max of 15 lbs, or is it safe to fill to the full 20 lbs?

[sonofsven]

For tank exchanges, why do these companies only put 15 lb of fuel in 20 lb propane tanks?  Is it to save them money or are they doing it for safety reasons?

When I refill the tank should I have them fill it to a max of 15 lbs, or is it safe to fill to the full 20 lbs?

It's to fool cosumers into buying what they think is a full jug.
Fill it up til it comes out the relief valve , about four and a half gallons.

[cool7hand]

For tank exchanges, why do these companies only put 15 lb of fuel in 20 lb propane tanks?  Is it to save them money or are they doing it for safety reasons?

When I refill the tank should I have them fill it to a max of 15 lbs, or is it safe to fill to the full 20 lbs?

It's the same practice as putting fewer ounces of chips in the same size bag

[nereo]

EDIT #2:  just calculated how much it costs us per cook for outdoor stir fry.  We have a propane burner which probably burns at around 100K BTU at full blast -- or about 7 times more powerful than indoor burner.  We run it at full blast.  It turns out that 100K BTU uses about 1 gallon of propane in one hour.  Each cook takes like 4 mins.   So about 15 cooks per gallon.  $3.79 / 15 = 25 cents per cook.  Not bad.  Tastes wonderful.  (I thought I had 150K BTU burner but it might be just 100K.)

That’s terrible for an indoor burner - especially since it’s gas. We have also used a large 12” exterior burner for stir fry, especially when it’s for a larger group. Less inviting in the winter though

I believe the highest btu for indoor burner is around 22K? Still the outdoor dwarfs these at 100-200k btu. Get much better stir fry outdoors because stir fry requires high heat to fry; indoors it is more of a stir braise.

For residential gas ranges, yes they typically max out at around 20k btu (many ‘power burners’ are 18k).  This is further reduced by the inefficiency of gas at higher levels, typically ~60%. Induction ranges go much higher with better efficiency, and are able to concentrate heat transfer to a more localized area.

[NorCal]

I've had good luck with pricing refilling at a local UHaul place.  I forget the exact pricing, but I want to say it was about 20% less than an exchange.

[jnw]

I've had good luck with pricing refilling at a local UHaul place.  I forget the exact pricing, but I want to say it was about 20% less than an exchange.

My local Uhual is $4.25 per gallon for refill.  Flying J's is $3.79 / gallon.  Locally, a typical 15 lb tank exchange is around $20 I've heard -- so the tank exchanges are $20/(0.75*4.5) = $5.92 / gallon.  So yeah Uhaul a lot better deal.   $4.25/$5.92 = 72% the cost of exchanging.  Flying J is 64% of the cost.

[Dancin'Dog]

I'm surprised that Amazon hasn't thought about screwing Blue Rhino out of the propane refill business.  It's probably against DOT regulations for their vans to carry the tanks. 

[Just Joe]

Tractor Supply was $3.79 or so per gallon recently.

[alsoknownasDean]

Found out from a local that he believes Flying J has the best prices in town for propane tank refills.  I called them and they said refills are $3.79 per gallon.  A 20lb tank holds 4.5 gallons so it would cost $17.06 to fully fill an empty 20 lb tank.

Others are saying that Walmart and the like are the best in town for tank exchange at around $20 for the swap.  But I guess they only really hold 15 lb of propane right? So cost per gallon for the propane, at Walmart, with the tank swap, is $20/(0.75*4.5) = $5.93 per gallon.   

So Flying J is $3.79 per gallon and Walmart is $5.93 per gallon; Flying J is only 64% the cost of Walmart propane.  Nice savings.  Will go to Flying J's from now on.

I still can't believe my BF paid $32 for a 20lb tank swap.. at the local gas station.  Ouch!

Aren't the gas stations/convenience stores usually more expensive?

I think it's just a general increase in the prices, I recently changed over my 8.5kg bottle for $30, but the previous swap (at a major hardware store chain) was $20 about a year ago.

[dcheesi]

For tank exchanges, why do these companies only put 15 lb of fuel in 20 lb propane tanks?  Is it to save them money or are they doing it for safety reasons?

When I refill the tank should I have them fill it to a max of 15 lbs, or is it safe to fill to the full 20 lbs?

It's to fool cosumers into buying what they think is a full jug.
Fill it up til it comes out the relief valve , about four and a half gallons.

FWIW, I just had a conversation with the residential propane tech who was inspecting the gas setup at our new house¹. He mentioned that, at least for residential tanks, they only fill to 80% because they need to leave "vapor space" in the tank. The markings on my gauge stop at 80, and he said they're in % units.

For the smaller tanks, 15lb/20lb is 75%, not that far from 80%. So maybe it really is at least a theoretical safety measure?

¹ It's on an island, so no natural gas infrastructure, hence propane. And I guess the previous owners didn't want to rely on the local electrical grid for heating etc.