Propane gas tank size – dimensions and weight (size charts included)

Propane is portable and clean-burning. The use of a liquefied gas gives more shots per cylinder, compared to the compressed gas. With propane, you can set up small or large propane tanks as you feel like it. The best part? It’s portable. What are the sizes of Propane gas tanks? or what is a standard propane gas tank size for residential use? What size of propane gas tank is needed to live off the grid? Learn all about it in the below Propane gas tank size chart.

Proper and correct Propane gas tank size tables are made up of:

  • Propane tank dimensions (length, diameter, height, width).
  • Propane tank weight.
  • the propane content and BTU content in 1 tank

How many BTUs in a 20 lb to 100 gallon propane tank?

The answer would be around 7.500.000 BTU

How long will a 100 gallon propane tank last?

The answer depends on the need of energy in your house, and your house sqm/sqf. Depending on these 2 parameters it will last between 28 en 60 days.

The use propane gas tanks

Propane tanks are used for storing propane which in turn can be used for things such as home heating, hot water, dryers, fireplaces, generators, and pool heaters. The more common uses of propane includes.

1. Residential Application: Since propane is not heavy and it burns clean and leaves little residue, it is a good choice of heat production. Hot water heaters, cold weather water heater, space heaters, pool heating, backyard grills, 

2. Refrigeration: This one seems ironic to the first, but one of the industrial uses of propane is as a refrigerant. A cooling element in several equipment.

3. Metal Melting: Now we jump again to the other side of the spectrum. Propane burns at 1980°C and therefore is hot enough to fuel fires that melt several metallic elements. This property is also the primary reason why propane is the first go to fuel in soldering.

4. Equipment powering: Have you ever heard of a filling station being referred to as a gas station ? The “gas” being sold is always propane. Propane is heavy enough to contain enough biochemical energy, yet light enough to easily transport large volumes. This make propane an alternative fuel for light machinery. Lawnmowers, forklifts, backup generators, mobile industrial smelters, tumble dryers, and countless machinery uses propane as essential fuel.

5. Commercial Application: These tanks can be up to a foot in diameter. Dry cleaning, crop drying, pilot lights, and many more commercial propane applications exist.

How To Choose The Right Size Propane Tank

Propane is usually stored in reinforced canisters, the dimensions of the canisters make them adequately a tank. 

Small, portable propane cylinders are called DOT propane cylinders, are used for grills, water heaters, and propane fireplaces. They can be 20-pound propane tank (9 kilograms) to 100-pound propane tank (45 kilograms) and they comfortably contain 5 gallons to 25 gallons of propane respectively. The 20lbs tank is the most popular tank size and it’s better know by its nickname “patio” because of its use for patio heaters. As a general rule, a medium-sized grill on high heat will use approximately two pounds of fuel per meal. Going by this rule, a 20lb propane tank will provide 18-20 hours of cooking time on a medium grill.

Large propane tanks are called ASME tanks. They are not portable and their installment is typically hands-on. They are aboveground propane tanks. Larger tanks can be used to heat home and power home appliances such as stoves and water heaters. Popular sizes among large tanks include the 420lbs tank and the 500-pound gallon tank. These tanks can respectively hold 100 gallons and 400 gallons of propane with comfort. Large stationary propane tanks like those used to heat homes are slightly more difficult to choose. A smaller home requires less propane than a larger home, however, if your home is heavily propane based; then the highest average propane consumption are always around 3.75 gallons per hour.

Larger propane tanks above the ASME are underground tanks. The underground tanks include the 500-gallon propane tank and the 1,000-gallon propane tank.

In order to understand things properly, we must know that 1 liter of propane weighs 0.51 kilograms. Meanwhile, 1 gallon of propane weighs 4.11 pounds (2.21 kilograms). The quantity of propane that you need will decide the tank size that you choose. The dimensions of propane tanks are always measured in centimeters and they are always a measure of height by diameter. If you see any tank that you desire to know its dimensions, just follow the steps below.

How To Measure A Propane Tank

You will need a long flexible measuring tape.

1. Stretch the tape from the base of the tank to the top of the tank. Ignore the handles and measure only the part of the tank that actually contains Propane. This is the height of the tank.

2. Wrap the measuring tape around the tank and note down the two numbers where the tape overlaps.

3. Subtract the lower number from the higher number. Eg. If the two numbers are 34 and 49, then 49 – 34 = 15. This is the circumference of tank.

4. Divide the circumference by 3.142 and you will now have a number known as the diameter. Eg. If the circumference is 15, then 15 ÷ 3.142 = 4.77 . This is the diameter of the tank.

The dimensions of the tank is height by diameter (Eg. 12 × 4.77). Sometimes you might have to round the numbers to whole numbers. Also, if the tank is long sideways and is on its side, then just replace the “height” by “length”.

Standard Propane gas tank size chart

Propane Tank Size:Length (Inches):Diameter (Inches):Width (Inches):Height (Inches):Empty Weight:
1 lb8 inches4 inches4 inches4 inches1.3 pounds
2 lb10 inches5 inches5 inches5 inches2.1 pounds
3 lb10 inches7 inches7 inches7 inches3.7 pounds
1 gallon12 inches7.6 inches7.6 inches7.6 inches5.9 pounds
5 lb12 inches8 inches8 inches8 inches6.7 pounds
2 gallon18 inches8.8 inches8.8 inches8.8 inches7.8 pounds
10 lb18 inches9 inches9 inches9 inches9.8 pounds
11 lb12.4 inches12.2 inches12.2 inches12.2 inches10.4 pounds
3 gallon13 inches12.2 inches12.2 inches12.2 inches10.9 pounds
15 lb18 inches10 inches10 inches10 inches11.8 pounds
4 gallon18 inches11.6 inches11.6 inches11.6 inches12.7 pounds
20 lb18 inches12 inches12 inches12 inches13.5 pound
5 gallon20 inches12 inches12 inches12 inches 14.8 pounds
25 lb21 inches12 inches12 inches12 inches15.1 pounds
6 gallon24 inches12 inches12 inches12 inches17.2 pounds
7 gallon24 inches12.4 inches12.4 inches12.4 inches18.9 pounds
30 lb24 inches12.5 inches12.5 inches12.5 inches19.2 pounds
33 lb26.75 inches12.5 inches12.5 inches12.5 inches23.3 pounds
40 lb27 inches14.5 inches14.5 inches14.5 inches27.4 pounds
10 gallon27 inches15.1 inches15.1 inches15.1 inches31.8 pounds
50 lb27.4 inches15.1 inches15.1 inches15.1 inches34.1 pounds
60 lb44.1 inches12 inches12 inches12 inches37.3 pounds
15 gallon44.7 inches12 inches12 inches12 inches39.7 pounds
80 lb46 inches12 inches12 inches12 inches43.2 pounds
20 gallon46 inches12.5 inches12.5 inches12.5 inches50.1 pounds
100 lb48 inches14.5 inches14.5 inches14.5 inches67 pounds
25 gallon48 inches15 inches15 inches15 inches69 pounds
120 lb48 inches16 inches16 inches16 inches75 pounds
30 gallon48 inches16.8 inches16.8 inches16.8 inches81 pounds
150 lb48 inches18 inches18 inches18 inches101 pounds
40 gallon48 inches19 inches19 inches19 inches118 pounds
200 lb48 inches19.6 inches19.6 inches19.6 inches127 pounds
50 gallon50 inches21 inches21 inches21 inches139 pounds
60 gallon50 inches23.1 inches23.1 inches23.1 inches156 pounds
80 gallon50 inches25.3 inches25.3 inches25.3 inches178 pounds
420 lb50 inches27.9 inches27.9 inches27.9 inches206 pounds
100 gallon50 inches28 inches28 inches28 inches212 pounds
500 lb52 inches28.8 inches28.8 inches28.8 inches254 pounds
120 gallon52 inches30 inches30 inches30 inches260 pounds
150 gallon85 inches25 inches25 inches25 inches298 pounds
200 gallon88 inches27 inches27 inches27 inches387 pounds
250 gallon92 inches30 inches30 inches30 inches483 pounds
300 gallon100 inches30 inches30 inches30 inches591 pounds
400 gallon112 inches32 inches32 inches32 inches794 pounds
500 gallon120 inches37 inches37 inches37 inches949 pounds
750 gallon160 inches39 inches39 inches39 inches1,365 pounds
1,000 gallon190 inches41 inches41 inches41 inches1,760 pounds
2,000 gallon288 inches55 inches55 inches55 inches3,400 pounds

Size Chart For Propane Tank

The chart below shows some common propane tank sizes of propane tanks on the market including their dimensions. The quantity of propane that they can contain is shown in kilograms and pounds.

Tank SizeDimensionsPropane (Kg)Propane (Pounds)
Micro17×1524.5
Mini20×2136.6
A39×274.510
Patio50×27920
B54×321226.5
C71×321840
D91×322453
E125×3845100
EE130×5390200

Different Propane Tank sizes explained

types of propane gas tank size you need for living off the grid explained by ArizonaHotHomestead

Conclusion

Propane companies readily produce common sizes. The efficiency of propane appliances depend on the propane tank dimensions. Delivery trucks can provide a refill service for an ample sized tank used for residential purposes. The largest tank sizes such as industrial propane tank sizing for industrial applications like commercial cooking might be connected to a propane depot.

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Picture in this post by Alison Pang on Unsplash

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