Does Cold Temperature Truly Affect the Level Gauge on a Propane Tank?
Like the majority of other types of materials, propane is affected by cold temperatures. As the temperature goes down, the propane gas contracts. That reduced level of gas inside the tank is reflected by the gauge which reflects the level on the propane tank. Often, this happens whenever a homeowner checks the gauge in cold weather and sees the amount of the tank level before and after delivery. Depending upon the weather, the level on the tank may not rise as much as expected.

Propane Tank Level Gauge
The gauge on a propane tank shows you what percentage of the tank is full. Normally, tanks are not filled more than 80% so as to enable the gas to expand during warm days. For example, a 500 gallon tank, at a reading of 80% at normal temperatures reflects around 400 gallons of propane in the tank. This is roughly how much could be stored.

Normal Temperatures
The web site Propane 101, which is managed by the propane industry, considers an exterior temperature of 60 degrees to be the baseline or reference point. For instance, if the gauge reads 50 percent of capacity on a day when the temperature is close to 60 degrees, then a 500 gallon tank will have around 250 gallons of propane. If the temperature that same day is much lower than 60 degrees, the gauge would read lower. Also, if the temperature is a lot higher than 60 degrees, the gauge would actually read higher since the gas expanded.

Effect of Contraction and Expansion
According to the information given by the propane industry website, the amount of energy contained inside the tank does not really change as the gas expands or contracts. The amount of propane itself has not changed, but just the density of the gas has changed.

Cold-Weather Delivery
The homeowner who orders 100 gallons of propane would be given about 424 pounds of propane. With the delivery of 100 gallons, the homeowner with a 1000 gallon propane tank could expect the guage to go up by 10%. These numbers will be correct if the temperatures were near 60 degrees at the time of delivery. If the delivery happened during colder weather conditions, these chillier temperatures would cause a smaller increase reading on the propane gauge.