How to Know How Much Gas is Left in Your Propane BBQ tank

Shaking your gas container to determine left-over amount is ABSURD. But it will NOT cause an explosion.

If you are like me, you are probably grilling today, right? There is nothing more annoying than running out of gas in the middle of a grilling session, so before you fire up your gas grill, trust me, you want to check the fuel level in the propane tank. If your grill does not have a built-in fuel indicator, here are three other ways to check it yourself.

1 – The warm water and cool hand Method

Yes, you can have an estimation of the level of propane in your tank by using a little bit of water. This method is not the most accurate, but it sure can give you an idea. Here is how:

  1. Disconnect the tank from the grill and stand it upright.
  2. Fill a small container with hot tap water.
  3. Pour the water down the side of the tank.
  4. The gas inside the tank will quickly absorb the heat, leaving the tank cold below the fuel and warm above it. Slide your hand along the side of the tank and feel for a cool spot.

2 – Weight Method

If you’ve dealt with propane tanks for a while now, I am sure you can approximate when it’s time to get it refilled simply by picking it up. But to have a better idea of how much gas is left, you will need a scale.

The majority of the propane grill tanks come with two numbers printed on the handle. First, there is the water capacity (WC) and then the Tare Weight (TW : the weight of the tank when it’s empty). Most grilling cylinders weigh around 18 pounds (8 kilograms) when empty and hold about 20 pounds (9 kilograms) of propane.

Pounds of propane remaining =

[tank weight in pounds] – [“TW” tare weight: 18 pounds]

For example, TW is 18 pounds, so we know that the weight of the propane tank empty is 18 pounds. If you weighed your tank at 22 pounds and the tare weight was 18 pounds, then you have 4 pounds of propane. If you would like to know how much grilling time you have left with 4 pounds, let’s have a look at the next point.

3 – Cook time Method

First, you must start with the Weight Method explained on the point above. So, let’s say we have 4 pounds left in our propane tank.

A full tank contains 20 pounds of propane. The weight of propane divided by 4.2 will convert the units into gallons, so around 4.7 gals. Now, keep in mind that, on average one gallon of propane produces approximately 92, 000 BTUs of power.

To complete the formula, you will have to know the BTU/hour of your grill. Once you have that information, you are all set to start calculating:

  1. First, we must convert our quantity of propane left, from pounds into gallon for an easier conversion moving forward (4.24 pounds of propane = one gallon). So, 4 pounds / 4.24 = 0.94 gal
  2. Now you need the BTU per hour of your grill. (For example, let’s say your grill spend 64,000 BTU per hour.) 92,000 BTUs for one gallon of propane/64,000 the burn rate of your grill = 1.44 hours
  3. Finally, divide the total gallon of your tank by the hourly burn rate of your appliance to see how many hours of fuel you have left. 0.94 gals./ 1.44 hours = 0.65 hours left.

Now you know that you have about half an hour of grilling to go. If you are using only the half burner; you can double this time.

Remember…
You don’t need to grill blind, know how much propane is left in your tank using these simple tricks, or just get a backup tank.
Enjoy!