Alternatives to propane delivery

Question

We live on a hill and our driveway can be challenging. We have had delivery companies refuse to use our driveway. We use propane for hot water and for cooking and generally have the large tank filled 3-4 times a year. Is there anything that we can take somewhere and have filled when we need to that is on a smaller scale or is that impossible.

Answer 1

There are two factors at odds with each other. One is that you must use a sufficiently large propane tank so that the vaporization of the liquid can keep pace with the demand even in the coldest weather. The other is that there are rules that limit the size of the vessel that may be used for propane transportation, above which certain hazardous materials permits, inspections, certifications, or placarding may be required.

Per the information at hazmatschool.com and lpgasmagazine.com, propane may be carried inside an enclosed vehicle subject to two limits: no more than 90 pounds total weight of propane, and no more than 45 pounds in any single tank. Tanks of this size are too small to meet the vaporization rate requirement for home appliances though.

Both sites indicate that householders may transport up to 1000 pounds of combined weight of propane and tanks on an open vehicle (truck bed) or trailer; above this level placarding would be required. (propanespecialty.com)

So, yes, you could get up to maybe a 500 gallon tank and mount it to a trailer so that you can transport that yourself. You would not be able to transfer the propane into your main tank, though; instead you'd need to set up pipe, valves, and hoses so that the mobile tank could be connected as needed.

Other DIY-level alternatives are to modify the driveway or lay pipe so that the existing tank can be moved to a more accessible location.

Answer 2

If sticking with propane, evaluate your use over the winter .vs. your present tank size, and either upgrade your tank size or add a second tank (generally if you have a 1000 gallon tank additional tanks is the way to more capacity) until it will safely carry you from a Fall fill to Spring without needing any winter delivery. If you can manage enough capacity for the full year, you may get a better price on a single Summer fill.

Or, change "fuel" to electricity and don't require delivery at all. But depending on local factors that may not work for you.

The "old" way was 200lb tanks with a manifold to join as many was needed, but that was largely before delivery by tanker to a refillable fixed tank was a standard method, so the supplier had a truck with a lot of tanks on it and they collected empties and dropped off full ones. I'm dubious whether that's still a practical method at this point in time, but I haven't shopped propane in a while. IIRC it would be pairs of tanks connected to a valve that used from one tank and raised a red indicator when the first tank was empty. You'd manually switch the valve to the other tank and the empty could be swapped out for a full one, and switching the valve switched the indicator as well, so each tank would be "used up" before starting on the "reserve" tank, and the new full tank would then become the "reserve" with the valve switch.

Answer 3

I know next to nothing about propane, tanks, and regulations (beyond getting a new tank for the grill once a year) so I'm just spitballing an idea here:

• Get a small tank (maybe 100 gallons) and place it conveniently near the bottom of the driveway, hidden behind bushes/trees/fence/whatever to make it aesthetically pleasing.
• Pipe this tank to the main tank by the house with buried pipeline.
• Profit!

The propane company fills the road-side tank, which includes filling the tank by the house and all the pipe in between. You draw from the house tank, essentially keeping the road-side tank as an emergency buffer (i.e. you've got x gallons in reserve over current capacity).