If your propane tank is empty, you have to refill it. How much does that cost? To address the refill costs, we have designed a calculator that will tell you how much does it cost to fill a propane tank. On top of that, you will also find a chart with propane tank refill costs for 100-gallon, 250-gallon, 500-gallon, and 1,000-gallon propane tanks.
Fully filling a propane tank can cost anywhere from $160 to $6,400.
Why such a big interval? We need to be aware that the cost to fill a propane tank depends on only two factors:
- Size of your propane tank. How much is it to refill a propane tank obviously depends on how big a tank you have. Example: It will be cheaper to fill a 250-gallon tank than to fill a big 1,000-gallon residential propane tank.
- Price of propane per gallon. The higher the propane cost, the more you will have to pay to refill a propane tank. You can check the current propane costs on the EIA website here. We made the calculations on how is it to fill a propane tank if the cost of propane is $2.00/gallon, $2.86/gallon (US national average), $3.00/gallon, and $4,00/gallon and gathered them in the chart below.
Here is a vital thing you need to account for when calculating how much it costs to refill a propane tank:
Propane tanks hold at most 80% of the specified tank size. You never put 1,000 gallons of propane in a 1,000-gallon propane tank; at most, you can fill it with 800 gallons of propane. This is done for safety reasons. If you would fill a propane tank to 100% of its specified capacity, you would risk a high outward pressure on the inner walls of the propane tank at higher temperatures (propane expands at higher temperatures).
Considering all this, here is the step-by-step how to determine the refill cost of any propane tank:
- Multiply propane tank size by 0.8 to adequately determine the amount of propane. This accounts for that 80% filling rule; a 1,000-gallon tank can be refilled with 800 gallons of propane, a 500-gallon tank can be filled with 400 gallons of propane, and so on. Here you will get the amount of propane that goes into your propane tank.
- Multiply the amount of propane by the price of propane per gallon. If you fill 200 gallons of propane in a 250-gallon tank, you just need to check what is the price per gallon of propane in your area. Let’s say that propane costs $2.86/gallon. That means that 200 gallons of propane cost $572.00; this is how much you will pay to refill a 250-gallon propane tank using that price per gallon of propane.
Here is the propane tank refill cost formula:
To help you out with all these calculations, we have designed a Propane Tank Refill Cost Calculator. You just input the size of propane tank you want to fill and the price per gallon of propane, and the calculator will automatically calculate how much it is to refill your propane tank.
Further on, you will also find a calculated chart for refill costs for the smallest 100-gallon and biggest 2,000-gallon propane tanks if the price of propane is between $2.00 and $4.00.
Let’s start with this easy-to-use refill cost calculator, and you can consult the chart further on:
Propane Tank Refill Cost Calculator
Here you can insert any propane tank size from 0 to 2,000 gallons (you can check the most common propane tank sizes here) and any propane price from $1.50 to $4.50. The calculator will automatically calculate how much it is to fill a propane tank.
You can also play around with the numbers and see how the refill cost changes if the price of propane changes.
Here is the calculated chart of how much it would cost to fill different propane tanks at different costs of propane:
How Much To Pay For Propane Tank Refilling? (Chart)
| Propane Tank Size (Gallons): | Refill Cost (At $2.00/Gallon): | Refill Cost (At $2.86/Gallon): | Refill Cost (At $3.00/Gallon): | Refill Cost (At $4.00/Gallon): |
| 100 Gallon | $160.00 | $228.80 | $240.00 | $400.00 |
| 250 Gallon | $400.00 | $572.00 | $600.00 | $800.00 |
| 500 Gallon | $800.00 | $1,144.00 | $1,200.00 | $1,600.00 |
| 750 Gallon | $1,200.00 | $1,716.00 | $1,800.00 | $2,400.00 |
| 1000 Gallon | $1,600.00 | $2,288.00 | $2,400.00 | $3,200.00 |
| 1500 Gallon | $2,400.00 | $3,432.00 | $3,600.00 | $4,800.00 |
| 2000 Gallon | $3,200.00 | $4,576.00 | $4,800.00 | $6,400.00 |
Using both the calculator and chart, you will get a good idea of how much it would cost to refill your propane tank. If you have any questions regarding these calculations, you can use the comments below and we will try to help you out.
You can also consult how much does it cost to fill a 500-gallon propane tank here. We have made a more details calculation for this tank.
I know propane is more dense at lower temperatures and I believe the industry bases density on 60 degrees (or is it 66?) and adjustments are made for higher or lower temps. But if my 250 gallon tank holds 200 gallons (80% max fill) and I get my tank filled when it’s at 20% (50 gallons in tank) and they add 60% to come up to 80%, shouldn’t that be roughly 150 gallons delivered? How much more (additional gallons) can be put in tank when the temperature is only 10 degrees Fahrenheit? Would it just be a few gallons more at the lower temp? Because my local company shows 172.9 gallons delivered for my tank at 20% to slightly above 80% on a ten degree day. I feel like 22.9 gallons more than 150 is more than would be expected even at 10 degrees (it’s around a 15% difference in gallons expected to be delivered (or roughly 11% of actual tank capacity additional gallons delivered).
Please let me know if their measuring equipment on their truck is mis-calibrated or if that is in line with what would be expected for 60% capacity of 250 gallon tank at 10 degrees Fahrenheit.
Thank you for your help!
I look forward to hearing from you!
Hi John, a very insightful question. Industry bases density on 60F, you are right. The temperature correction factor for 10F is 1.123 (based on industry tables). That means that you are getting 12.3% more propane at 10F vs 60F.
Here is a theoretical calculation: At standard 60F temp (1 bar pressure), 60% of the 250-gallon tank should be 150 gallons. Now, if you the propane is at 10F, these 150 gallons would weight (due to 12.3% higher density) the same as 168.45 gallons. The volume counter will of course say you put in 150 gallons in both cases. But due to lower density at 10F, you are getting 18.45 gallons basically for free.
You have the real-world numbers: The numbers from local company shows 172.9 gallons, so 22.9 gallons disparity here. If you compare that to theoretical calculation of 18.45 gallons, you are in the same ballpark.
Propane companies of course are aware of this density changes, and will try to offset the difference as precisely as possible (well, we hope). So, those 22.9 gallons are added based on industry propane temperature density tables.
Hope this helps, a lot of people are not aware of just what kind of difference temperature makes here.
Thank you so very much for your reply! Now I know that I am NOT overpaying for an incorrect reading (miscalibration).
My delivery guy is a great guy, although I’m a newer customer, we get along like old fishing buddies and we were visiting while the tank filled and it actually went to about 81 or 82% which would account for the slight difference in your very accurate calculation vs the delivery ticket amount.
Thank you again for your quick reply; I greatly appreciate your response.
Have a safe, joyful and peace filled Christmas with your family.
Hi John, thank you so much. You guys have a great chemistry, on the next re-fill you can ask him how they account for these temp-density changes, I’m sure he’ll be more than ready to explain everything. ๐