Does Cold Temperature Affect the Level Gauge on a Propane Tank?
Propane is similar to most other kinds of materials in that it is affected by cold temperatures. The propane gas contracts as the temperature declines. That reduced level of gas in the tank is reflected by the gauge that reflects the tank level. Often, this happens whenever a homeowner checks the gauge during cold weather conditions and sees the amount of the tank level before and after delivery. Depending upon the weather, the tank level might not rise as much as expected.

Propane Tank Level Gauge
The propane tank's gauge shows you what fraction of the tank is full. Normally, tanks are not filled over 80% in order to allow the gas to expand during warm temperatures. For instance, a 500 gallon tank, at a reading of 80 percent at normal temperatures reflects around 400 gallons of propane in the tank. This is about the amount that could be stored.

Normal Temperatures
The web site Propane 101, which is operated by the propane industry, considers an exterior temperature of 60 degrees to be the reference or baseline point. For example, if the gauge reads 50 percent of capacity on a day when the temperature is near 60 degrees, then a 500 gallon tank will contain about 250 gallons of propane. If the temperature that day is much lower than 60 degrees, the gauge will read lower. Similarly, if the temperature is a lot higher than 60 degrees, the gauge would actually read higher due to the expansion of the gas.

Effect of Contraction and Expansion
The amount of energy contained or energy contained within a tank would not change as the gas either expands or contracts, according to the propane industry web site. 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 pounds 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 accurate if the temperatures were close to 60 degrees at the time of delivery. If the delivery took place during colder weather, these chillier temperatures would cause a smaller increase reading on the propane gauge.