Does Cold Temperature Affect the Level Gauge on a Propane Tank?
Propane is like the majority of other types of materials in that it is affected by cold temperatures. The propane gas contracts as the temperature does down. That reduced level of gas in the tank is reflected by the gauge which reflects the level on the tank. Often, this happens whenever a homeowner checks the gauge in cold weather conditions and sees the amount of the tank level before and after delivery. Depending on the weather, the level on the tank may not go up as much as anticipated.

Propane Tank Level Gauge
The gauge on a propane tank shows you what fraction of the tank is full. Usually, tanks are not filled over 80% in order to allow the gas to expand during hot days. Like for example, a 500 gallon tank, at a reading of 80 percent at normal temperatures reflects approximately 400 gallons of propane inside the tank. This is roughly the amount that can be stored.

Normal Temperatures
The web site Propane 101, that is operated by the propane industry, considers an exterior temperature of 60 degrees to be the reference or baseline point. Like 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 would contain approximately 250 gallons of propane. If the temperature that same day is a lot lower than 60 degrees, the gauge would read lower. In the same way, if the temperature is much higher than 60 degrees, the gauge would actually read higher due to the expansion of the gas.

Effect of Contraction and Expansion
The energy contained or amount of energy contained within a tank would not change as the gas either expands or contracts, based on the propane industry web site. 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 will be given approximately 424 lbs. 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 accurate if the temperatures were near 60 degrees at the time of delivery. If the delivery happened during colder weather conditions, these chillier temperatures would result in a smaller increase reading on the propane gauge.