Does Cold Temperature Truly Affect a Propane Tank Level Gauge?
Like nearly all other kinds 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 tank. Often, this occurs whenever a homeowner checks the gauge during cold weather conditions and sees the amount of the tank level before and after delivery. Depending on the climate, the level on the tank may not rise as much as expected.

Propane Tank Level Gauge
The propane tank's gauge shows you what percentage of the tank is full. Normally, tanks are not filled more than 80% in order to enable the gas to expand on warm days. For instance, a 500 gallon tank, at a reading of 80% at normal temperatures reflects about 400 gallons of propane inside the tank. This is about the amount that could be stored.

Normal Temperatures
The propane industry operates the popular website Propane 101, which considers the propane reference point to be an exterior temperature of 60 degrees. Like for instance, if the gauge reads 50% of capacity on a day when the temperature is near 60 degrees, then a 500 gallon tank would contain roughly 250 gallons of propane. If the temperature that same day is a lot lower than 60 degrees, the gauge would read lower. Also, if the temperature is much higher than 60 degrees, the gauge would actually read higher due to the expansion of the gas.

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

Cold-Weather Delivery
The homeowner who orders 100 gallons of propane will receive approximately 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 would be accurate if the temperatures were close to 60 degrees at the time of delivery. If the delivery happened during colder weather, these chillier temperatures will result in a smaller increase reading on the propane gauge.