Living with a propane tank

Most propane advice in print comes from the industry's own group, the Propane Education & Research Council (PERC). The brochures linked here are older print pieces republished by state agencies, and one carries a 2006 copyright. If you follow the links you will see valve steps this manual leaves out on purpose. Here, people get out first and nobody touches a valve.

8-1.1 How do you read the tank gauge?

The gauge shows the percent of propane in the tank. Call your supplier when it falls toward 20 percent, and don't let it sit below that. The same brochure advises a regular delivery schedule, which takes the watching off your hands.

As ordinary practice, read the gauge on a set day each week through the heating season and write the number on a calendar. If the gauge sits under a lid and you aren't sure what you are looking at, ask the driver to show you at the next delivery. Look only. Everything else under that lid belongs to the supplier.

A tank won't read full after a delivery. Suppliers leave room for the propane to expand, and the limits published for different containers don't give one number that this manual can state for home tanks. Ask yours how full they fill. While you have them on the line, ask who owns the tank and what your contract says about it, and put the number on your house card, §1-1.

8-1.2 What happens if the tank runs empty?

Running out is a safety event, and the fix is a phone call. PERC says it can create fire or explosion hazards: an open appliance valve or line can leak when the system is recharged, air and moisture in an empty tank cause rust that weakens the odor, and pilot lights go out.

PERC says that "in many states" a retailer or qualified technician must run a leak check before the gas goes back on. This manual couldn't confirm Colorado's own wording, so ask your supplier what they do.

Pilots can go out early. A Colorado fire district warns that pilots may go out while gas is still on as a tank nears empty. PERC strongly recommends a qualified technician light any pilot that has gone out, and says repeated outages may signal a problem you shouldn't try to fix.

If the pipes are at risk while you wait, go to §7-1 for what protects them and §E-4 if one has already frozen.

8-1.3 Snow, brush and the driver's path

Heavy snow and ice on the equipment matter, since PERC says they can cause damage leading to a leak. Carefully clear loose snow with a broom, not a shovel. Touch nothing, and call your supplier if anything looks wrong or is frozen in place.

• Keep a walkway and the tank area clear for the delivery driver.
• Keep the area within 10 feet of the tank free of leaves, brush, rags and other things that burn.
• Keep drifts back from outside appliance vents. CPSC said in February 2026 to clear snow from them.
• If you see nests, snow or ice in a vent pipe, that is a technician's call. See §E-2 for what a blocked vent can lead to.

8-1.4 Why can you miss the smell?

Your nose is a good alarm with some known faults. Propane is odorless until odorant is added, and people describe the added smell as rotten eggs, skunk spray or a dead animal.

That smell can weaken. NIOSH says odorant can fade through soil, concrete, drywall, wood, and new pipes or tanks, and it names odor fade as a key factor in a 2019 propane explosion that killed one firefighter and hospitalized six. PERC adds air, water or rust in a tank as causes. People also miss it because of colds, allergies, smoking, cooking odors, age, odor fatigue or being asleep, and gas can collect in a basement or attic out of range.

So treat even a faint odor as the real thing. Once responders clear the house, have your retailer or a qualified technician check the whole system before anyone uses an appliance.