Written on: September 27, 2021
Are you purchasing—or moving into—a home that uses propane heat and appliances? Congratulations! You’re making a great, energy efficient choice. While going from electric to propane power may seem like a hard switch, with a little bit of understanding, you should have no problems being comfortable both inside—and out. Here, we’ll look to clear up some of the mystery around various tank sizes and their proper applications in your home or for your local business.
One of the most important factors to consider is both the square footage of your home, and the number of people that are currently living there. These numbers will best dictate the amount of propane that is used from all the collective gas-powered appliances in your home. As you’d expect, a house with more people in it will use more propane—this comes from the number of showers being taken, to more cycles from the clothes dryer, and more food cooking on the stove throughout the day.
In line with that, the more propane powered appliances you have throughout your home, the quicker you’ll use propane as well. So, if you have a propane range, tankless water heater, propane dryer and built-in gas grill, you’ll certainly go through propane much faster meaning a larger tank size may be more beneficial in the long run.
Tanks come in different sizes depending on the square footage of your home, as well as the factors we just discussed above regarding appliances currently in your home. Let’s look at the different tank sizes and applications for their capacity:
100-pound Propane Tanks: We lease and install two of these size cylinders, placing them in a fixed, permanent spot. This is for homes with only one low-usage propane appliance such as a range, fireplace, space heater or grill.
120-gallon Propane Tanks: These tanks typically store enough propane for homes that use propane for two or more propane appliances like ranges, clothes dryers, space heaters or fireplaces.
250-gallon & 500-gallon Propane Tanks: You need a tank in one of these sizes if you have three or more propane appliances such as water heaters, ranges, and clothes dryers. This size would be right for homes that are approximately 1,000 to 1,200 square feet. This higher capacity will allow for lesser frequency of fill-ups than with a smaller tank.
1,000-gallon Propane Tanks: These tanks are largely used in commercial or industrial applications. But they are also used for large residential homes that use propane for several indoor and outdoor appliances as well as high-usage equipment like pool heaters.
Propane tanks can be placed both above ground and below ground depending on your preference. The benefit of underground tanks is that they are out of sight on your property and don’t take up yard space. You’ll need to also be aware that underground tanks differ from above ground tanks. In other words, you can’t just bury an aboveground tank! This will require an additional cost in initial setup and installation—and may require special permits as well.
If you want to enjoy the benefits of propane in your South Florida home, you’ll need a propane tank. That’s where Pico Propane’s decades of experience in serving our neighbors is used to your benefit! We safely and expertly install, maintain, and repair propane tanks of all sizes, and do both aboveground and underground installations, plus provide reliable delivery year-round.
Our propane experts will work with you every step of the way to ensure you have the right size tank and that it is installed to meet all regulations and standards for propane safety. Ready to get started? Become a Pico Propane customer today for outstanding propane tank installation, service, and delivery!