As the weather gets chillier and you’re using more propane to keep your eastern North Carolina home, it becomes even more important to regularly check your propane tank gauge to see how much propane you have left. This is especially important if you are a will-call customer.
If you don’t know how to read your propane tank gauge, don’t worry. We’ll explain it here. And it’s actually quite easy, so you’ll feel comfortable doing it yourself when you’re done reading this post.
The first thing you do is look for a round dial that looks like a speedometer with the numbers 0 to 95 on it. This is the propane tank gauge, and it will be on or near the top of your propane tank. Check out the photo here for an example of what it looks like.
The numbers on the gauge indicate the percentage of how much your tank is filled, not the number of gallons of propane in the tank.
Something you may not know is that propane tanks are never filled to 100 percent of its capacity. They are filled to 80 percent for aboveground tanks and 85 percent for underground tanks. The remaining empty space in the tank is there to allow for propane gas to safely expand as temperatures change. For example, if you have a 320-gallon propane tank, it will only be filled to around 256 gallons of propane. This is commonly called the 80/20 rule.
Now that you know where your propane tank gauge is and how to read it, there’s something else you need to know and that is when to contact Parker Gas to request a propane delivery. Don’t let your propane tank gauge get below 25 percent full before contacting us. This is especially true in cold weather or ahead of a cold snap. If you request a delivery when your propane tank gauge is at 25 percent or a little higher, that gives us enough time to schedule a propane delivery to your home before you run out, which can lead to a lot of hassle and expense with emergency propane delivery, the mandatory leak and pressure test and re-starting your propane appliances.
The best way to avoid that? Sign up for our automatic propane delivery! We calculate your propane needs based on your prior propane usage along with current weather conditions. We’re accurately able to predict when you’ll be needing a propane delivery and schedule it before you run low.
Another bonus is that automatic delivery customers save 10 cents per gallon!
You can get even more peace of mind with our TankWatch wireless tank monitor. It tracks your propane usage in real time and alerts us (and you) when you need a fill-up of your propane tank. And with the Parker Gas app, you can check your propane tank levels from your smartphone wherever you are!
Get in touch with us to find out more about propane delivery from Parker Gas and become a customer today!