Does Cold Temperature Affect the Level Gauge on a Propane Tank?
Propane is like the majority of other types of materials in that it is affected by cold temperatures. The propane gas contracts as the temperature declines. That reduced level of gas in the tank is reflected by the gauge which reflects the level on the propane tank. Often, this occurs whenever a homeowner checks the gauge in cold weather conditions and sees the amount of the tank level before and after delivery. Depending on the conditions, the tank level may not rise as much as anticipated.

Propane Tank Level Gauge
The propane tanks guage will show what percentage of the gas tank is still full. Tanks are normally not filled over 80% full because this will allow for the gas to expand during hotter days. For instance, a 500 gallon tank, at a reading of 80% at normal temperatures reflects about 400 gallons of propane in the tank. This is around the amount that is able to 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. For instance, 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 same day is a lot lower than 60 degrees, the gauge would read lower. In the same way, if the temperature is much 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 in a tank would not change when the gas either expands or contracts, according to the propane industry web site. The amount of propane itself has not changed, but only the density of the gas has changed.

Cold-Weather Delivery
If a homeowner orders 100 gallons of propane to be delivered, they would be given 424 lbs. 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 accurate if the temperatures were near 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.