LP Gas Tank Filling, Inspection & Reporting

How & Where to Install LP Gas Tanks (propane or bottled gas tanks) Above Ground
- LP Gas Tank Observations & Gas Tank Safety Recommendations
- How Does the LP Gas Company Fill the LP Gas Tank at a Building?

How & Where to Install above ground or buried LP Gas Tanks
LP Gas cylinder gauge reading guide
LP Tank safety tips for homeowners; how to describe propane tank or LP tank installation defects in home inspection reports

Questions & Answers about LP tanks or propane tanks at residential installations
References

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LP or Propane Gas Tank Installation: here we provide descriptions and photographs of unsafe gas piping, indications of unsafe or improperly operating gas appliances, gas meters, and other gas installation defects are provided. The photo above shows two 24-gallon LP gas tanks installed outdoors on a wobbly unstable base. This document also provides free sample draft home inspection report language for reporting defects in oil and gas piping at residential properties. Also see How to Report Defects in Oil Piping. DO not copy contents from InspectApedia to other websites.

LP Gas Tank Observations & Gas Tank Safety Recommendations for Home Inspectors & Home Owners

General safety warning: improper installation and even improper inspection and testing methods involving natural or "LP" gas can involve dangerous conditions and risk fire or explosion.

If you smell gas you should leave the building immediately and should do so without doing anything that could create a spark such as operating a light switch or telephone.

From a safe location, call your gas company's emergency line and/or your fire department.

Immediate LP or natural gas safety hazards: if there is evidence of an LP or natural gas leak at a building, gas odors, for example, you should:

Do not do anything that is likely to cause a gas explosion, such as lighting a match, operating an electrical switch, or even using a telephone in the building
Leave the building immediately
Notify other building occupants of the safety concern
Contact the local gas company and/or fire department

LP gas tanks [liquid petroleum gas tanks] are normally placed only outdoors, above ground or (if the tank is designed for it), buried below ground.

Where LP tank regulators can be exposed to the weather, especially in northern climates exposed to freezing weather, they should be protected from water and frost to prevent potentially dangerous damage to the LP gas pressure regulator, shown as the gray disk behind the right-most tank in this photograph of LP gas tanks in the Hudson Valley of New York. LP gas tank regulators are discussed at Gas Regulators for Tanks .

How Does the LP Gas Company Fill the LP Gas Tank at a Building?

At left our LP gas tank is being filled by an automatic delivery schedule. Photo courtesy of the author & Bottini Fuels, Poughkeepsie, NY.[9]

There are several ways your LP gas company will know when to make a delivery.

Automatic LP Gas delivery: the gas company monitors your usage rate and calculates when to make a delivery based on usage history; if you add or change gas fired appliances at your building you should discuss this modification with your gas vendor to keep deliveries on track.
On-Demand LP Gas delivery: you will have to watch the fuel level in your LP gas tank and call your gas vendor when the fuel level is low. Most gas companies prefer to make a delivery when the fuel level in the LP tank is below 20%.
LP tank swap-out: In some communities the LP gas company will also deliver smaller LP tanks to replace an empty one at your property. And if your LP gas use is only from a small portable LP tank then it's up to you to bring the tank to an authorized LP vendor for refill.

If your building uses piped-in natural gas, fuel delivery is continuous through the piping system and of course you won't have an LP gas tank at your property.

Watch out: if you have run out of LP gas entirely your fuel delivery driver may refuse to re-fill the tank unless provision can be made to assure that pilot lights in the building are also re-lit and that the building is safe from risk of a gas leak.

The fuel delivery driver will (or should) refuse to deliver LP gas if he is aware of unsafe conditions such as a leak or nearby open flames.

And since the LP gas delivery truck driver has to pull a heavy gas hose and nozzle from the truck to your LP tank, you don't want to run out of fuel in the dead of winter with deep snow-cover and no path cleared to the LP gas tank.

The LP gas delivery driver will print a receipt that documents the date, time, and quantity of LP fuel delivered to the building.

To protect customers from a dishonest LP gas delivery driver, the fuel meter will not print a receipt if the LP gas delivery truck has moved at all from the time of start of LP gas pumping. Our driver explained that otherwise, "in the old days" of older LP gas meters, a dishonest driver could drop off LP gas at multiple properties, billing just the last customer for fuel.

How to Install Liquid Petroleum Gas Tanks - LP or Bottled Gas Tanks

Specifications for Installing & Inspecting Above-ground LP Gas Storage Tanks - gas cylinders not filled on site

These LP Gas tank location clearances for above-ground gas tanks are given as measured from the tank's relief valve in any direction away from any potential source of ignition (of a gas leak) or where leaking gas could be drawn into a building window or other vent opening.

Gas tank distance from windows, crawl space openings, fan openings: Install the above ground LP gas storage tank at least three feet from a building window, crawl space opening, or through-wall exhaust fan opening
Gas tank distance from appliance air intakes: Install the above ground LP gas storage tank at least five feet from the air intake to any direct venting appliance (such as a high efficiency gas boiler)
Gas tank distance from air conditioners: Install the above ground LP gas storage tank at least ten feet from the nearest window air conditioner to avoid a possible gas leak ignition
Gas tank fill valve distance from building components: If the gas cylinders are to be filled on site, say from a gas delivery truck, the fill valve used to connect the gas hose from the filler truck must be at least ten feet from any exterior source of ignition and from building windows, vent openings, or air intakes.

Sample gas tank inspection report language: Safety: Install secure and level support for the LP gas tank at ... - if a tank tips over and breaks gas line it could be dangerous. This is an inexpensive item. This item should be handled promptly on establishing gas service for the house, preferably before tanks are filled.

Below we provide Installation specifications for Buried LP gas tanks.

Specifications for Finding, Inspecting, Installing Buried LP Gas Tanks

How to Find a Buried LP Gas Tank

Finding a buried LP gas tank should not be difficult at a property, since the top of the tank has to be accessible for filling and inspection. Look for the access cover, usually white steel on older LP gas cylinders or black plastic covering an access well on new buried LP gas tanks, as we mention next.

At some new properties you may first have to see and recognize the plastic access well and cover such as the buried LP gas tank cover shown in these photographs.

When the buried LP gas tank access cover is opened, the buried LP gas tank fill valve and regulator are plainly visible as should be a gauge indicating the remaining amount of LP gas in the tank.

How to Find & Read the LP Gas Tank Gauge Guide

The LP tank gauge is installed at a fitting either on the tank top itself or on a combination fitting at the tank top where the gas valves and connections are also installed. This Liquid Petroleum Gas Tank Gauge - LP tank gauge or bottled gas tank gauge shows us that it is intended for installation on a 200 Lb. LP gas cylinder, and that the tank is at about 40% full.

LP Gas tanks are normally filled before the tank is totally empty. The liquid petroleum gas delivery truck driver can assure that no contaminants have leaked into the tank if it is still under pressure. LP tanks are usually not filled to 100% of tank capacity, since doing so would risk sending liquefied LP gas out of the gas tank and into the regulator where it could cause damage or be unsafe.

The curved graph at the upper end of the LP gas gauge dial shows the effects of temperature on the LP gas stored in the tank and thus on the effective remaining amount of fuel in the tank.

Some smaller LP gas cylinders may lack a gauge. When a gas cylinder has no percentage-full gauge and we want to know if the tank is empty or nearly so, we gently rock the tank (be careful not to cause a gas leak). If the tank is heavy and hard to move it's probably nearly full. A bit of experience with pushing slightly on the tank just before and just after it has been filled by your LP gas delivery company can make it easy to have a general idea of the level of fuel in the tank.

Be sure that LP gas cylinders are not so loose or poorly supported that they can tip over - risking injury or even a gas leak and explosion!

Installation Specifications for Below-ground LP Gas Storage Tank

Install the below-ground (buried) LP gas storage tank at least ten feet from the nearest window air conditioner to avoid a possible gas leak ignition
Install the below-ground (buried) LP gas storage tank at least ten feet from the nearest crawl space vent opening.
Install the below-ground (buried) LP gas storage tank at least ten feet from the nearest building wall
Install the below-ground (buried) LP gas storage tank at least ten feet from the air intake to any direct venting appliance
Install the below-ground (buried) LP gas storage tank at least ten feet back from the property line
Install the below-ground (buried) LP gas storage tank at least ten feet from an "important building" [presumably we exclude things like garden sheds] or from abutting property that may later have a building constructed on it.

Above we provide additional installation specifications for above ground LP gas tanks and cylinders.

LP Gas Tank Home Safety Tips & Inspection Report Language Examples

Here are some LP gas safety recommendations and home inspection report examples:

LP Gas Cylinder that is Incompletely Buried

Propane Gas Tank Safety Recommendations: The liquid propane gas tank at ... is partially buried - this may not be a recommended building practice; accelerated rust may lead to failure of the container. Please review this question with the gas supply company.

Propane Gas Tank Safety Recommendations:Be sure that the safety relief valve and controls atop the LP gas tanks outside are protected from icing (for example from exposure to rain or gutter overflow). Iced controls can prevent proper operation of safety devices.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) About Installing, Filling, & Inspecting LP Gas Tanks

Question:

My gas company is making me pay to move the tank because of the air conditioner...They put it there, not me - Stephen 6/2/11

Reply:

Stephen,

Seems doubtful that the gas company installed the A/C unit. But even if that unit was installed previously and the LP tank has just now been recognized as a hazard, I'd be grateful that someone recognized and warned you about a safety hazard.

Question:

i would like to ask if there is a provision that requires a minimum distance of LP-gas pipe line away from any source of heat? - Randy 5/1/12

Reply:

Randy, "any source of heat" is not well defined. So no, not at that level of definition. After all, an LP tank is installed outside exposed to heat from the sun. But you can read some LP gas tank location and piping routing safety specifications at GAS PIPING DEFECTS as well as in the article above.

Question:

My lp tanks outside my mobile home are just a foot away from where my dryer vents outside at. I just bought this home and it was already like that. Is it safe? I have electric dryer. - Robin 1/10/2013

Reply:

The heat of a clothes dryer won't be a risk to an LP gas tank; but if the dryer is blowing lots of lint around I'd double check that the LP gas regulator vent is not exposed to lint-clogging from blowing debris - that would be, in my view, unsafe.

...

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Technical Reviewers & References

Related Topics, found near the top of this page suggest articles closely related to this one.

[1] U.S. Energy Information Administration - eia.doe.gov/
[2] U.S. Environmental Protection Agency - epa.gov/solar/energy-and-you/affect/natural-gas.html
[3] At Natural Gas.Org www.naturalgas.org/environment/naturalgas.asp#emission you’ll find a table of combustion products
[4] At geocities.com/rainforest/6847/report1.html is an interesting and detailed though not “neutral” report on the components and contaminants in the combustion of natural gas. You’ll see a long long list of emissions products, but look again – most of the contaminant levels listed are in the picograms.
[5] apvgn.pt/documentacao/iangv_rep_part1.pdf lists the components in natural gas exhaust from vehicles
[6] The Need Project, Manassas, VA: need.org/needpdf/infobook_activities/SecInfo/NGasS.pdf
[7] Kroschwitz, Jacqueline I., and Mary Howe-Grant (eds.). "Gas, Natural." In Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology. 4th ed., vol. 12. New York: John Wiley and Sons, Inc., 1993.
[8] Tussing, Arlon R., & Bob Tippee. The Natural Gas Industry: Evolution, Structure, and Economics. 2nd ed. Tulsa, OK: PennWell Publishing, 1995.
[9] Bottini Fuel is a residential and commercial heating oil distributor and oil heat service company in Wappingers Falls, NY and with offices in other New York locations. Bottini Fuel, 2785 W Main St, Wappingers Falls NY, 12590-1576 (845) 297-5580 more contact information for Bottini Fuel

Books & Articles on Building & Environmental Inspection, Testing, Diagnosis, & Repair

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The Home Reference Book - the Encyclopedia of Homes, Carson Dunlop & Associates, Toronto, Ontario, 25th Ed., 2012, is a bound volume of more than 450 illustrated pages that assist home inspectors and home owners in the inspection and detection of problems on buildings. The text is intended as a reference guide to help building owners operate and maintain their home effectively. Field inspection worksheets are included at the back of the volume. Special Offer: For a 10% discount on any number of copies of the Home Reference Book purchased as a single order. Enter INSPECTAHRB in the order payment page "Promo/Redemption" space. InspectAPedia.com editor Daniel Friedman is a contributing author.

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HOT WATER HEATERS - a detailed guide to all types of hot water sources, problems, inspection, repair
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LP Gas Tank Observations & Gas Tank Safety Recommendations for Home Inspectors & Home Owners

How Does the LP Gas Company Fill the LP Gas Tank at a Building?

How to Install Liquid Petroleum Gas Tanks - LP or Bottled Gas Tanks

Specifications for Installing & Inspecting Above-ground LP Gas Storage Tanks - gas cylinders not filled on site

Specifications for Finding, Inspecting, Installing Buried LP Gas Tanks

How to Find a Buried LP Gas Tank

How to Find & Read the LP Gas Tank Gauge Guide

Installation Specifications for Below-ground LP Gas Storage Tank

LP Gas Tank Home Safety Tips & Inspection Report Language Examples

LP Gas Cylinder that is Incompletely Buried

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) About Installing, Filling, & Inspecting LP Gas Tanks

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Ask a Question or Search InspectApedia

Technical Reviewers & References

Books & Articles on Building & Environmental Inspection, Testing, Diagnosis, & Repair

LP Gas Tank Filling, Inspection & Reporting