Propane Tank Storage

[HD08Rocker]

Ok So I have been searching everywhere for a suitable tank to make my storage out of. I believe I have finally found some. Due to my space limitations I am going to have to use 2 or 3 tanks to get my water volume up. How do I calculate how much storage I need? Where can I find instructions on how to prep the tank and make it into storage? I know I will need to have an in and out. I believe I need to feed thehot in the top. Then I would go out the bottom to the top of the next tank? Is there any other pipes that need to be welded onto the tank?

 

[ozzie88]

Ok So I have been searching everywhere for a suitable tank to make my storage out of. I believe I have finally found some. Due to my space limitations I am going to have to use 2 or 3 tanks to get my water volume up. How do I calculate how much storage I need? Where can I find instructions on how to prep the tank and make it into storage? I know I will need to have an in and out. I believe I need to feed thehot in the top. Then I would go out the bottom to the top of the next tank? Is there any other pipes that need to be welded onto the tank?

I had to put 4 tanks in also,I have 4 85gal.and two 35gal. tanks hooked up in a row,all 1 1/4 inch black pipe,first one goes into bottom [which is all returns also] and out top next goes into top but pipe goes down to bottom inside tank then a short pipe for out,get ful circulation that way,the last tank has DHW coile heat also,then back into boiler, it all works fine each tank I put a drain and air bleeder on top.And fitting for temp gauges,ALWAYS use BLACK pipe not cast fittings when welding to tank.
Wash them out good,bleach dont hurt,then fill some with water or blow air into tank while welding. This is photo of 3 other are behind boiler

 

[ozzie88]

Here a tank I made for a guy you see both 1 1/4 pipes go into top but I have one going 30inch down into tank and one 6inch down,get good circulation, [this one has DHW coil] you can hook more tanks up in a loop it works fine,

 

[Clarkbug]

Ok So I have been searching everywhere for a suitable tank to make my storage out of. I believe I have finally found some. Due to my space limitations I am going to have to use 2 or 3 tanks to get my water volume up. How do I calculate how much storage I need? Where can I find instructions on how to prep the tank and make it into storage? I know I will need to have an in and out. I believe I need to feed thehot in the top. Then I would go out the bottom to the top of the next tank? Is there any other pipes that need to be welded onto the tank?

I had the same problem with space limitations. I ended up with 3 220 gallon tanks,and they are piped differently than what you mentioned and different than Ozzy. Not that its wrong, just what I had that worked for me. I have my hot from the boiler going into the top manifold, and cold back to the boiler from a bottom manifold. The key is to pipe it so the flow stays balanced across all of your tanks.

Storage calculations? Well, what size boiler do you want to put in? How long do you want to go between firings of the boiler?

Prep of your tanks will depend on what was in them first. Mine were already used in a boiler system, so I shook the scale out of them and was good to go.

 

[maple1]

We don't know what your space limitations are - so based on that, I'd say fit as much as you can into the space you're limited to. The piping should be able to be arranged around what you need to do after that.

 

[ozzie88]

I had the same problem with space limitations. I ended up with 3 220 gallon tanks,and they are piped differently than what you mentioned and different than Ozzy. Not that its wrong, just what I had that worked for me. I have my hot from the boiler going into the top manifold, and cold back to the boiler from a bottom manifold. The key is to pipe it so the flow stays balanced across all of your tanks.

Storage calculations? Well, what size boiler do you want to put in? How long do you want to go between firings of the boiler?

Prep of your tanks will depend on what was in them first. Mine were already used in a boiler system, so I shook the scale out of them and was good to go.

Like you said the key is to pipe it to have ballance across tanks. Water always takes easy route,so that why I went to a loop systom I know all tanks are getting water and hot, with a manifold I just think you need some more valves to make it work even?? I,m no expert and have not put tanks in with a maniflod so guess I,ll shut up,lol. Talk with some more guys on here all i know is this worked good for me, Some of these things there is 2-3 ways to do something and they all work,just to each his own,

 

[ozzie88]

I had the same problem with space limitations. I ended up with 3 220 gallon tanks,and they are piped differently than what you mentioned and different than Ozzy. Not that its wrong, just what I had that worked for me. I have my hot from the boiler going into the top manifold, and cold back to the boiler from a bottom manifold. The key is to pipe it so the flow stays balanced across all of your tanks.

Storage calculations? Well, what size boiler do you want to put in? How long do you want to go between firings of the boiler?

Prep of your tanks will depend on what was in them first. Mine were already used in a boiler system, so I shook the scale out of them and was good to go.

Like you said the key is to pipe it to have ballance across tanks. Water always takes easy route,so that why I went to a loop systom I know all tanks are getting water and hot, with a manifold I just think you need some more valves to make it work even?? I,m no expert and have not put tanks in with a maniflod so guess I,ll shut up,lol. Talk with some more guys on here all i know is this worked good for me, Some of these things there is 2-3 ways to do something and they all work,just to each his own,

 

[stee6043]

"How much storage" is a pretty common question around these parts. And the answer is always site-specific. Most folks with an average home will need to shoot for 1,000 gallons, typically. Here's why:

Assume we want to heat with water between 190 and 150 in temp (a 40 degree change).
That temp swing allows us 330,000 useable btu's from 1,000 gallons of water.

My experience would suggest that an average heatload for an average home in an average winter location should fall somewhere between 15,000-25,000 btu/hour. This is NOT peak load, this would be a typical winter day for us typical Americans living in a typical house someplace that gets a bit cold.

So...if you're consuming 20,000 btu/hr on average you should be able to squeak out 16 hours of heating from 1,000 gallon tanks. For the average working Joe this is a pretty good number. Start a fire at 6PM, burn it until 2AM...heat until 6PM the next day on storage, rinse, repeat.

If you want to get by on 500 gallons for the same load, obviously you're only getting 8 hours of heat from the tanks.

There are so many variables within these discussions it's very difficult to even remotely guess at somebody elses application. The scenario above very closely matches my setup. I believe it also jives with what a lot of other users on the forum experience.

 

[Clarkbug]

Like you said the key is to pipe it to have ballance across tanks. Water always takes easy route,so that why I went to a loop systom I know all tanks are getting water and hot, with a manifold I just think you need some more valves to make it work even?? I,m no expert and have not put tanks in with a maniflod so guess I,ll shut up,lol. Talk with some more guys on here all i know is this worked good for me, Some of these things there is 2-3 ways to do something and they all work,just to each his own,

Yeah, the balance was tricky, and now that its in I see a different way I would have hooked it up. With having different sized tanks like you did, I dont see any other option other than to run them in series like that.

 

[mikefrommaine]

I always heard for multiple tanks to pipe it "reverse return" Which keeps the supply and return pipes the same length. Helping to get balanced flow.

(broken link removed to http://www.plumbingengineer.com/may_12/designers.php)

 

[Clarkbug]

Thats definitely the easiest way. Keeps the pipe friction losses consistent, so the flow self balances.

 

[BoilerMan]

I always heard for multiple tanks to pipe it "reverse return" Which keeps the supply and return pipes the same length. Helping to get balanced flow.

(broken link removed to http://www.plumbingengineer.com/may_12/designers.php)

Man Mike, I was gonna say that.

TS