Does Cold Actually Affect the Level Gauge on a Propane Tank?
Like the majority of other types of materials, propane is affected by cold temperatures. As the temperature declines, the propane gas contracts. That reduced level of gas inside the tank is reflected by the gauge which reflects the tank level. Usually, this occurs whenever a homeowner checks the gauge in cold climate and sees the amount of the tank level before and after delivery. Depending upon the conditions, the level on the tank might not rise as much as expected.

Propane Tank Level Gauge
The gauge on a propane tank shows you what fraction of the tank is full. Usually, tanks are not filled more than 80% so as to allow the gas to expand during warm temperatures. For example, a 500 gallon tank, at a reading of 80% at normal temperatures reflects approximately 400 gallons of propane inside the tank. This is around how much is able to be stored.

Normal Temperatures
The propane industry operates the popular web site Propane 101, which considers the propane reference point to be an exterior temperature of 60 degrees. Like for example, if the gauge reads 50 percent of capacity on a day when the temperature is close to 60 degrees, then a 500 gallon tank would have about 250 gallons of propane. If the temperature that same day is much lower than 60 degrees, the gauge would read lower. Similarly, if the temperature is much higher than 60 degrees, the gauge will actually read higher due to the expansion of the gas.

Effect of Expansion and Contraction
Based on the information given by the propane industry web site, the amount of energy contained inside the tank does not actually change as the gas contracts or expands. The amount of propane itself has not changed, but just the density of the gas has changed.

Cold-Weather Delivery
If a homeowner orders 100 gallons of propane to be delivered, they would be given 424 lbs. of propane. If the homeowner has a 1000 gallon propane tank, they could expect the gauge to go up by 10% with the delivery of 100 gallons. These numbers will be correct 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.