You know what I’m talking about — almost every Wal-Mart, Big Box Hardware Store, and even many convenience stores have those cages where you can exchange your 5 gallon propane tank for a “full” tank.
So, is it a good deal to exchange your tanks?
The short answer is No.
In this post, Are We Out of Propane Again? I took a deep dive into propane tank capacities and how to weigh your tank to determine how much propane is left. Also at the beginning of that post, is the picture below, showing three 20# (5 gallon tanks) in the foreground. And those three tanks were empty.
These 5 gallon tanks are what come with the typical outdoor grill and also on many campers. We need four tanks (one each) to run our large patio BBQ, our patio Weber Q, our patio stove, and one of our fire pits. The three tanks in the picture are our backups when a tank runs out of gas.
Numbers are your friend
In my area most of the “Exchange” places sell an exchange tank for just under $20 (convenience stores are more) and almost all of them sell the Blue Rhino product. So I headed off to Lowes to exchange our three tanks for $19.97 each. And I knew ahead of time it wasn’t a good deal. So let’s look at some numbers.
Buying propane from a bulk propane dealer
These are the places that fill your tank. Where I live the average price is $3.45 per gallon. If you remember from the “Are we out of propane again” post, a 5 gallon tank (a.k.a. as a 20# cylinder) holds approximately 19.88 pounds of propane, which is about 4.7 gallons. At $3.45 per gallon, it would cost $16.22 to fill an empty tank. However, a lot of places have a 5 gallon minimum, so they will charge $17.25 to fill a partially empty 20# tank. In the first example, bulk is $3.75 cheaper than the Blue Rhino, and if there is a minimum charge it is still $2.72 cheaper to refill your tank. Given that I had three tanks, the exchange cost for me was $11.25 more than if I had taken three tanks to the U-Haul store less than a mile away.
But wait, it gets worse!!
The true cost of exchange tanks
Tank a closer look at the Blue Rhino tank picture at the top of this post… I’ll enlarge it for you…
The Blue Rhino Tank doesn’t have 20 pounds of propane in it, or 19.88 pounds of propane either; it ONLY HAS 15 POUNDS OF PROPANE. That’s almost 25% less propane than what a bulk propane dealer will put into an empty tank.
Now, from the earlier propane post, propane weighs 4.23 pounds per gallon; so if we divide 15 pounds by 4.23, we now know the Blue Rhino tanks have 3.55 gallons in them. So, to add insult to injury, let’s figure out how much I paid per gallon:
$19.97÷ 3.55 gallons = $5.63 per gallon
THAT’S $2.18 PER GALLON MORE THAN THE AVERAGE PRICE IN MY AREA!!
OMG, I must be stupid!
Check out what Blue Rhino’s website says about the 15 pound net weight:
Inflationary pressures, including the volatile costs of steel, diesel fuel, and propane, have had a significant impact on the cylinder exchange industry. In 2008, to help control these rising costs, Blue Rhino followed the example of other consumer products companies with a product content change. We reduced the amount of propane in our tanks from 17 pounds to 15 pounds.
To ensure our consumers are properly notified, Blue Rhino clearly marks the amount of propane contained in our tanks, right on the package. Blue Rhino also notes the amount of propane contained in our tanks on our display signs.
Aha, they used to put in 17 pounds until 10 years ago; and that was almost 3 pounds less than a full cylinder. The sad part is very few people even know they are buying an exchange tank that is only 75% full. Caveat emptor.
Why would I do such a dumb thing and exchange 3 tanks?
Obviously, I could have and should have calculated the difference before hand. And I did… actually a long, long time ago. I’m not rich, and I am retired with plenty of time to drive an extra mile to buy in bulk. Did I forget this or am I getting senile?
No, no, and no.
One of those tanks was added to our 1992 Starcraft tent trailer in 2003. The other two came with our 2006 Fleetwood Niagara tent trailer. One tank was 15 years old, the other two 13 years old. Propane tanks now expire (new DOT regulation in 2017) 10 years from their manufacture date (the date is stamped on the tank). There are several methods of recertification and it is too lengthy a subject to get into regarding the different methods of recertification and timelines for each type (I used to sell propane). Try and find someone locally who is licensed to rectify tanks — it usually isn’t easy — and there is a cost of course. The other option is to buy a new tank.
Where I live I can buy a new tank for around $30 when they are on sale. However, for $19.97 per tank I got a newer tank and 3.55 gallons of propane, which was a good deal, in my opinion. When these tanks need to be refilled, I won’t be exchanging them, I’ll just take them to a bulk propane dealer. I can do that?
In case you read or heard that Blue Rhino tanks cannot be refilled by other propane dealers, that apparently is no longer true. It used to be that you could not take a Blue Rhino tank to a bulk re-filler because Blue Rhino used a proprietary (TS2) valve. My experience is that is no longer the case and these tanks can be filled anywhere.
Hint:
If you go the Blue Rhino (or AmeriGas) route to exchange an expired tank, check the tanks in the retailer’s store and get a newer one. The ones I got today were only 2-3 years old.
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