Re: Buy or "borrow" a propane tank

[firefighterjake]

So I have a decent sized propane tank to supply gas for my domestic hot water heater and oven. I started out with a local, family owned company . . . which eventually was bought out by a regional business which immediately raised the rates.

I could deal with the slight increase in rates, but the other day I received a letter detailing all kinds of new charges on top of the cost of the propane ranging from a haz mat safety fee of $12 per delivery, delivery fee, fuel fee, credit card processing fee, minimum fuel usage/rental fee and minimum delivery fee.

I think it may be time to consider another supplier.

My question though . . . do most folks own their own propane tank so they can shop around for prices or is it generally just as affordable to go with a company that provides a tank as long as you only use them for the fuel? I realize that while they may not have a "rental" fee they do have a different price structure for the propane vs. if I called them up and asked them to pump into my own tank.

Thoughts?

 

[mustash29]

Going to be there a while? I'd buy a tank. What's it going to cost for upkeep in the long run, coat of paint every 5-10 yrs?

 

[zrock]

Since your not needing a large volume I would go buy a few 100lb tanks and be done with it. Then u have one in use and a spare

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[xman23]

I'm curious what happens, as I am looking at propane. I think you need to investigate what all the local vendors will let you do. A friend had an in ground 1000 gal vendor owned tank. He could't buy it. His contract had a removal fee. No other supplier would fill it. The last I heard he was paying them a premium price.

 

[Don2222]

Since your not needing a large volume I would go buy a few 100lb tanks and be done with it. Then u have one in use and a spare

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X2 plus if you take the tank yourself to be refilled, then you save Big Buckos!!
The only draw back is the tank must be recertified for safety after so many years, if not then they can refuse to fill them,

 

[AlbergSteve]

We've got a two burner propane cook top and a Napoleon space heater/stove in the MIL's suite. Neither gets used very much so I've been using 20 and 35 pound tanks. We get about 6 months out of 100 pounds of propane. If the MIL spends more time here, we'll buy a couple of 100 pound tanks. Filling them at Costco is about a third of the price of our local suppliers.

 

[Highbeam]

I'm curious what happens, as I am looking at propane. I think you need to investigate what all the local vendors will let you do. A friend had an in ground 1000 gal vendor owned tank. He could't buy it. His contract had a removal fee. No other supplier would fill it. The last I heard he was paying them a premium price.

I wonder if that guy couldn’t just leave the in ground tank empty and put another in on the surface.

 

[Bad LP]

So I have a decent sized propane tank to supply gas for my domestic hot water heater and oven. I started out with a local, family owned company . . . which eventually was bought out by a regional business which immediately raised the rates.

I could deal with the slight increase in rates, but the other day I received a letter detailing all kinds of new charges on top of the cost of the propane ranging from a haz mat safety fee of $12 per delivery, delivery fee, fuel fee, credit card processing fee, minimum fuel usage/rental fee and minimum delivery fee.

I think it may be time to consider another supplier.

My question though . . . do most folks own their own propane tank so they can shop around for prices or is it generally just as affordable to go with a company that provides a tank as long as you only use them for the fuel? I realize that while they may not have a "rental" fee they do have a different price structure for the propane vs. if I called them up and asked them to pump into my own tank.

Thoughts?

I have A.E. Robinson up north and don't see those charges. Last fill was 12-26. They own the 500 gallon tank and it has been painted once in the 13 years its been in service.

 

[Dix]

Must be Paraco, or one of it's cousins

I just went through the same thing last January, Jake. Paraco bought out Bay Bottle (I'd leave a check in a baggie on the tank for Bay to just refill, and life was good !)

New company needs to do "tests" before bringing new tank / refill. They were a no show 3 times (3 days missing from my vacation time ) So, I run out. Now, they were charging me another fee because I ran out. Hello, you were a no show 3 times, WTF did you expect? Customer service sucked. I just said "Enough, come get your tank" .... them "well, we'll have to charge you for that"..... Me ... "No, you are done". No charge to remove their tank.

Called a local family company, had a tank in 3 days, no monthly / yearly charges, except for a minimum charge of 1 100 pound tank a year. And propane was 3/4 of the price.

 

[xman23]

I wonder if that guy couldn’t just leave the in ground tank empty and put another in on the surface.

This was last year. I don't think he could get his own tank because they said insurance issues. I think you maybe stuck with a vendors tank and fills. When he got this tank for free I said there's a catch.

 

[firefighterjake]

Thanks for your input everyone.

I'm about 90% sure of what to do.

After talking to a local (two towns over) family owned company that I purchase heating oil from I'll be buying a tank from them (although the employee mentioned I might save some money by getting a tank from Home Depot or Lowes -- their tanks however have a life time guarantee).

Did some rough figuring and in the last couple of years I've paid an average of $4.90 per gallon . . . by buying a tank (no minimum fill ups) I'll be paying around $2.20 a gallon (current price). I figure the pay off will be in less than 2 years. If I chose to have them supply a tank I still would have been paying a lot less as they charge $3.70 per gallon for the amount that I use on an annual basis from my current company.

 

[blades]

Wow that's pricy. It was $1.44/gal propane last fill and it is their tank. I am on a pre-buy program, capped rate that it won't exceed/gal. (1.59/gal) So far this season the rate has been less than the capped price. The only take away is that I have to purchase apx 500 gal.- I am at just shy of 400 now. So that does not look to be an issue. Wood stove installed between the two fills, based on that - cut usage by 50%. As the heating season progresses I will have a better idea on usage as the stove wasn't installed until apx middle of Nov. My statement shows none of any extra charges. Generally a used propane tank goes for about $1.00/ gal. in my area. I do not remember if the co-op charged me to pick up there tank. I do remember all kinds of grief with them about changing the account over to myself when I bought the place last year, so I just went with another local suppler, with no grief about changing the tank to theirs ( there was a charge for that but minimal). I believe the fill before cost was$1.42/gal . Current propane vendor did not want to sell a tank ( 500 gal). I believe that as long as I am purchasing propane from them there is no rental fee.
There seems to be a current thing going around with suppliers of various things - base pricing is ok but then they add all kinds of charges to that after the fact, utility co., waste disposal co, land line phone co are three very good examples of gouging the public with add on charges. one of the reasons they do this is to get around various regulations that affect the price of the particular commodity itself. No regulations on the addition charges.