I have a few tanks. I homebrew beer and have two “cajun cookers” for that, plus a gas grill. I have four tanks. I generally make sure I have at least two full tanks for a brew session, plus one on the grill, plus a full one in reserve. I will wait until I get two, maybe three empties and take them to the gas place for a refill. If the gas guy tells me he can’t fill it because it is out of date, I swap it at the Blue Rhino. I’ve never had a problem doing this, but I generally leave the wrapper on.
I know the gas man does a proper fill; he weighs the empty tank and fills by weight. I’ve weighed Blue Rhino tanks and they are light. I suspect they fill to the low end “for safety reasons” (it is safer for their bank account). The gas man charges $12 -$14 a tank. Blue Rhino wants $18-19 around here for exchange.
Where I live, exchange is more expensive, plus they don’t fill the tanks all the way.
I have a 50 gal tank for the kitchen stove that gets filled more or less annually. My supplier fills my three BBQ tanks when they come out to refill the bigger one.
Exchange places will even take pre-OPD (1998 or so) tanks off your hands in the exchange. I did this when I bought a camper with pre-OPD tanks (no idea how the previous owner managed to fill them, though).
FWIW, tanks aren’t destroyed after 12 years; they’re only destroyed if they can’t be recertified. The same thing goes for all gas/liquid tanks.
As bump said, once you have one, you can refill or swap, whichever is easier.
As someone who refills specialty tanks regularly, I know you can find a big difference in price per gallon at different fillers, as in > $1/gallon different. It’s not that big of a deal for a little grill tank once a summer but when you have 6 x 11 gallon tanks that may be refilled once or twice a week that price difference adds up.
Remember, to not leave it in your closed-up car for the day if you’re doing the refill/swap before/after work.
Also, if you refill your tank, you can have some fun with yellow paint & make it a lego head.
Yeah, it sucks when the kiosk isn’t working. But I just take my canister into the store, and immediately someone runs over to tell me I can’t take it in there. I tell them “I’m not leaving it outside for someone to steal” and then they quickly go with me and swap it.
Be aware that the exchange places do not put as much propane into the tank to keep the price down.
The place that I get my tanks refilled fills to the max safe limit and it costs little more than an exchange tank with 25% less propane in it.
Also (unless you run you tank empty every time), when you exchange it you’re giving propane back to Blue Rhino. If you get it refilled, you only pay to top up the tank.
Lots of good points for either option. I’m leaning toward buying a non-exchange tank because I’ve heard they are often under-filled. (I’ve heard this elsewhere as well.) ISTM that the combination of the ‘convenience charge’ plus the cost of gas being paid for but not actually in the cylinder will be more than the $10 or $15 extra for an ‘owned’ cylinder over the life of the cylinder.
FWIW, Mrs. L.A. voted for grilled oysters on the half-shell for the inaugural use of the new grill.
I don’t think the Blue Rhino tanks are under-filled from a legal point of view, the label clearly states that they have 15 pounds of propane. It’s like if at the grocery store they used the same egg cartons as always, printed ten eggs on the box, and sold it for the same price as a dozen. Not illegal, and if you assumed there’d be twelve eggs in there, too bad for you.
I have two tanks and I get them refilled. It’s about $12 per tank to get them refilled, and $35 for an exchange where I live. $40+ every time I go through two tanks is enough for me to drive a few miles further and spend an extra 10 minutes having them filled.
Most people in this thread are saying that it’s a minor difference for them. Are the prices in my area out of whack, or am I just more sensitive to them?
Replacement is around $20 here. A refill runs about $15. The difference has been less. There’s a Blue Rhino less than a mile from my house. The refill stations are further away and have more limited hours so exchanges are quick and easy. If I was using more propane maybe I’d go for the refills, but likely time will be a bigger factor than cost for me.
The best time/place to exchange is 9:45pm at the big blue hardware chain. The outdoor/garden entrance is closed, they don’t want you to bring the empty they the building (despite not having is issue of bring the full one through in order to pay for it. :smack:) Nor do they don’t want you to leave the empty one outside.
Over the years, not only did I acquire spare tanks, but have given them to neighbors & family members, too.
Around me, exchanges cost 17 - 20 bucks, and a refill costs 20.
For the exchange, you get 5lbs less propane (note: they used to put in 18 lbs, but slowly they have been reducing the amount in the tanks and marketing it as “for safety” which is BS)
If it’s convenient for you to get the refillable ones, do it. There’s a hobby shop near me that does it and I like giving them business. I can look at cool stuff in the shop while I wait for someone qualified to come and fill it. Outside of one of those kiosks, I’d say the convenience factor is about the same.
Also: get 2 tanks. I have inherited a second and third tank from people who were moving and leaving their grills, and I have definitely run out of propane while cooking…it sucks.
As an alternative to 2 tanks you can get a propane cylinder adapter so you can use the little bottles for blowtorches and lanterns. 2 tanks are better, but sometimes that little gizmo comes in handy.
This is absolutely untrue, at least where I live. Blue Rhino only puts 15 lbs. of propane in a 20-lb. tank. So, they are selling you a 3/4 full tank at a price that is quite a bit higher than I pay to have 20 lbs. put in my tank. In fact, on a price per lb. basis, I am paying less than half as much as a Blue Rhino swap. Same goes for the other big propane trading company, whose name I can’t recall.
FWIW, I paid $12 to have my 20 lb. tank refilled at my local hardware store. Lowe’s and other retailers charge $20 for the 15 lb. Rhino swap.
Now, propane tanks have dates on them now, and refillers are supposed to stop refilling the tanks after so many years - 5, I think. At that point, I bite the bullet and swap it at a Blue Rhino place to get a newer tank. I look at the date stamp to make sure it still has several years left on it. Having said that, my local refiller has been telling me for a couple of years that my tank has expired, but he’ll refill it “one more time”. I’m on my third or fourth “one more time”.
I have 2 tanks, and an adapter to go the other way, although I don’t need it. I have a lot of small bottles around, every time I do some plumbing work I get a fresh bottle but usually get the job done with a partial tank.
A couple more things. First, if you grill some in the winter, be aware that propane’s price goes up in cold weather, because the dealer is also selling to folks who use it to heat their homes. Supply and demand, ya know.
Many tank exchange places will let you heft, or even weigh, several tanks to pick the heaviest one. Some convenience store workers won’t leave the register, so they give you the key to the cabinet.
In my area (Ontario, Canada), Costco propane refills are way cheaper than the tank-swapping price: I think it’s something like $10 vs. $20+. It didn’t take many refills at that price to pay for the tank.
Blue Rhino says it plainly on their site: “In 2008, to help control these rising costs, Blue Rhino followed the example of other consumer products companies with a product content change. We reduced the amount of propane in our tanks from 17 pounds to 15 pounds.”
I take my tanks to the local gas station, where I get an honest fill. Oddly enough, different states have different ideas of honesty. To do it by weight involves weighing the tank, subtracting the tare weight (16-17 pounds for the empty tank) and figuring how much more is needed to bring the weight of the propane to 20 pounds. Every place I’ve ever been to in California uses the bleed screw method - they crack open the bleed screw and pump in propane until liquid propane starts to spray from the bleed., indicating the liquid level has reached the maximum safe capacity.
Notice that “20 pounds” up there? And notice how Blue Rhino says they only sell you 15 pounds? An exercise for the educated consumer is to compare the unit prices. One gallon of liquid propane weighs 4.2 pounds. If BR only puts 15 pounds in, you’re getting a bit under 3.6 gallons. Around here, a gallon of propane costs $1.99 - $2.49. On the expensive side of that range, 3.6 gallons will cost $8.89 vs $20 for an exchange.
