Second LP tank

So I have this crazy idea....
Whole house is on LP on a 500 gallon tank and LP prices are stupid in the winter.
Has anyone gotten a second tank so they could buy LP when it is cheaper (right now) and just hold it until the price skyrockets in February? The difference in a 80% fill is $280 for last year's price swing ($2.16-2.80 / gal). I can rent a 500 or 1000 gallon tank for $75 a year and i suspect I would have them just tee in the second tank before the HP regulator; or after with a second HP regulator.
Feedback is welcome. Thanks!!!

First of all, I'm jealous of your handle. Why didn't I think to use Calvin?


Out here, all our propane comes in by ferry, and the island has no roads (only boardwalks), so there are no delivery trucks. We use cushmans for most deliveries around here, even the propane guy. So it's comes in 75lb tanks...

They set 'em up 5 on each side of an automatic switch: it draws on one side, until those 5 are empty; then it switches over. So you can replace the five inactive tanks, without interrupting the service.

Am I making sense?

Just went out back & took some pictures...



ps - just looking at what you pay. Again, jealous. Each 75 pounder costs us 82$! The price of living on a roadless island, I guess...

making total sense... That's exactly what I want to do, just bigger / less tanks. So this isn't totally unheard of...
I guess the other things to consider are the maximum I can have in regards to distance to the house (30') and the size of the truck... the truck that services me is 3000 gal. they wouldn't get many of my neighbors before having to refill the truck....

So it's a single regulator for all the tanks? (I've got a 10# regulator at the tank and a 12"wc regulator at the house) I'm assuming I can tee the tanks before the 10# regulator and leave both tanks on or use the tank valves to switch over.

As for Calvin... I just happend to be in the right place at the right time when Terry set up the new site... I'm member #10. Got (almost) first dibs on handle.

Wow. I thought I was paying a lot for propane at 1.74/gal this year. Every year seams to go up (1.65 2006). I pre-buy every year, which helps.

If you own your own tank, putting a second one out there shouldn't be a problem. If your rent your current tank and have a contract with the company to use there LP it might be an issue.

Tim

Spaceman Spiff said:

So I have this crazy idea....
Whole house is on LP on a 500 gallon tank and LP prices are stupid in the winter.
Has anyone gotten a second tank so they could buy LP when it is cheaper (right now) and just hold it until the price skyrockets in February? The difference in a 80% fill is $280 for last year's price swing ($2.16-2.80 / gal). I can rent a 500 or 1000 gallon tank for $75 a year and i suspect I would have them just tee in the second tank before the HP regulator; or after with a second HP regulator.
Feedback is welcome. Thanks!!!

Click to expand...

I am thinking about the same thing for different reasons. The best supplier of propane I have found charges $0.10 more if the fill is less that 500 gallons. I have a 1000 gallon tank. That is about 880 gallons capacity. I don't want to go below 500 gallons or so in case of power failure (backup generator).

I got propane Monday and asked them about multiple tanks and the said - no problem. For my scenario I would probably add a second tank and keep it turned off until there is an outage. They just tie the high pressure pipes together. On regulator.

UPDATE: I'm going to do the dual tank thing... They'll deliver the 500 gallon tank for me and fill it (for a mere $1.90/gal).

I don't mind doing the installation of the tee, but all I can find is 12" POL whips. Should I transition to something else like protected PE or black pipe? Or should I just give the gas company my $350 and watch the show... The domes are going to be about 8' apart with 5' between tanks. Thanks!!!