On Wed, 26 Jan 2011 12:29:55 -0600, Hell Toupee
wrote:

On 1/26/2011 7:50 AM, SMS wrote:

The tank exchanges are for people that are either lazy or clueless.
You can take your tank to a gas station that sells propane and get a
full tank for the same, or a lower, price than the tank exchanges. You
also get to give your $ to a local business rather than to Home Depot
or Wal-Mart, or Walgreen's.

There are areas - particularly urban ones - where one's options for
getting propane are very limited. The tank exchange may be all that's
available.
I live in a city where no one heats with propane, so there are no
large-scale distributors of it. No gas stations that sell it - except
for a few who offer the tank exchanges. I'm lucky enough to have in my
vicinity a small hardware store that fills tanks, and also an RV
repair shop that fills tanks - but in most of the city, the only
option is a tank exchange. If all you're doing with the tank is using
it for a gas grill or patio heater, I can see where it's not going to
be a big enough deal to bother driving a distance to get a tank
filled. Just grab one from the exchange and be done with it.

Around us, many of the U-Haul truck rental places sell propane (not an
exchange; they fill your tank). It's metered (sold per pound or
gallon; I can't remember), so you don't lose out if the tank isn't
empty. The total price for a full tank is generally less than any
exchange price I've seen.

Josh