On Thu, 17 Dec 2015 22:55:01 -0000 (UTC), "M. Stradbury"
wrote:

I just bought a house with a 1,000 gallon propane tank owned
by the house and property tax is paid on the tank which is
a California-only thing I hear.

They just filled the tank up to 85% (they wouldn't fill further
they told my wife, otherwise it could blow up, they said).

They told me the price is $1.45 per gallon of propane plus
about a twenty dollar "hazmat" fee whatever that means, for a
total price a bit over a thousand dollars for the fill.

They said they "inspected" the system (which was existing), and
they inspected the tank which is on on four-inch thick concrete
slab bolted down by straps for earthquakes), and they charge $100
for that inspection (my wife let them in the house but she doesn't
know what they did).

I never had propane before.
I don't begrudge them anything.

But, I also don't know what's normal.
Is this normal stuff?

I have a 500 gal tank. They only fill mine to 80%. But they can not fill
any tank to 100%. Even those 20lb tanks for your BBQ grill are only
filled part way. In the sun, they expand, so if they were filled 100%,
they would at least release gas, if not explode.

I dont know anything about your CA tax or what the Hazmat fee does.
That's local to your area, I assume...

I'm charged for inspection too, and if the tank gets completely empty,
they do it again, and charge me again. My fee is $50, and if you ask me,
that's too much for spending 10 minutes looking at my pipes, tank, and
regulator. They used to come indoors and light my furnace pilot light,
but the last time they did that was years ago. They know I can light it,
and I'm not always there when they deliver the gas. But they made me
sign some disclaimer in order to light it myself, and they shut off the
tank valve, so I have to turn it on. (Which makes sense because some
things. like a gas range would release gas into the home is the pilot
was not lit).

If I ONLY use propane, I have to get a fill mid winter. 500 gal is not
enough for a whole winter for me. But I now use a pellet stove, and hope
I can make it thru a winter on one tankful. This is my first year with
that pellet stove, so I am not sure???

If I did not OWN my tank, it would cost me over $100 a year to lease a
tank from them. I paid around $1000 for my tank about 8 years ago, so
it's about paid for itself. Before that, I was leasing one from them,
and because of that, I was limited to ONLY get my gas from that company.
Now I can shop for the best price.

Your price per gallon is about 16 cents (per gal) lower than I paid last
summer, but gasoline is way down now and LP (propane) is a petroleum
product. I'd probably pay about the same as you now...

Two winters ago, propane was almost $5.00 a gallon. That hurt !!!
(It had something to do with a shortage). That's what caused me to
invest in the pellet stove.