Need basic info on Buying/leasing propoane tanks

[austi012]

Hi,

Might be buying a farm this weekend. The house needs a new LP tank, as the old one was sold at auction.

Should I buy or lease? How much does one of those things cost? Where should it be located in relation to the house, is there a minimum required distance?

Thanks

[GaryM]

I just arranged for a 250 Gal propane tank. Rental is $3 a month. I'm sure the rental/lease price would vary with tank size.

Location must be 10Ft or more from the house and no further than 80Ft from the drive or other hard service for the delivery truck. They don't want to drag the fill hose too far I guess.

Don't know if those requirements are State or Nation Fire Code.

Call around to the suppliers in your area and see what they say.

[TimSullivan]

In our area you can negotiate a tank for free. Just agree to buy from the supplier for five years at the going rate. After five years you can keep the tank and go to another supplier if you wish.

I had our's buried next to the garage. It looks like there is a sub surfacing in the grass.

[Stoneheartfarm]

In our area, they set the tanks for free, any charge is worked into the price of the propane. When we looked into buying our own, the price was around $1000.00. I've since found cheaper places, but by then we had already called the local gas company and had them set the tank.

They will probably set it in the location of the old tank.

Steve

[mysticokra]

In North Alabama the cost of rental does not compare to the risk of ownership. One bad valve that results in a lost tank of gas would pay the rental for years. Generally, rental does lock you into the vendor for gas supply, so shop their gas prices as well as rental price. Our guys also pressure test the lines, paint the tanks occasionally, and provide testing of any gas unit for free.

[chrisjbell]

Don't buy one. The rental fee per year is pretty low ($25 here), and you probably can negotiate no fee. If you want to change suppliers, get a new company to come in and swap out your old tank with one of theirs then call your former company and tell 'em to pick theirs up.

I keep meaning to switch companies. My neighbor did, and I actually called my old company to tell 'em I was leaving. They begged me to stay, and I did (theres no emoticon for "sucker", is there?). But I feel dumb every time I pay the bill since part of their "sales talk" was to tell me that the other companies just buy from the one I'm with but since they buy in bulk they can resell for less. I think I'll make that call tomorrow [img]/forums/images/icons/blush.gif[/img]...

[Slamfire]

When we moved in the tank was provided for no charge with one fill a year. Now it has risen to two fills a year. It's ok though the rental is only $45/year if you don't buy enough propane.

[banjoppd]

i have a 250 tank at my place. i put it on a concrete slab instead of blocks. just curious. do ya'll notice that propane burns quite dirty. i have soot on my burners on the stove. is that normal. wondering what it will do as far as the life of the appliances. my stove water heater and dryer are hooke to the tank. should i stay with propane or switch to electric. i plumbs my house for both.

[Bird]

I'm certainly no expert, but I thought propane was pretty clean burning. Sounds to me as if you either have the wrong orifice in your gas appliances or some adjustment is needed to get the right air/gas mix.

[WVBill]

That is my wife's biggest complaint with Propane. She gets soot deposits on the bottoms of her pans whenever she uses the stove.

There's no soot build-up in the oven/broiler or in the water heater or furnace that I can see so it's just the cooktop.

I had the propane company and appliance guy check and the stove is adjusted correctly and has the right orifices.

We have the burner grates that are quite high and the conclusion is "that's normal" with this kind of burner grate. [img]/forums/images/icons/crazy.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/icons/confused.gif[/img]