[tonyp22]

I’m thinking about doing this for a home I’m about to purchase in Orange County. The neighborhood currently does not have natural gas, and it’s anyone’s bet if they ever will. I prefer gas for stovetop cooking, and when the hot water heater needs to be replaced would prefer to put that on gas as well. And if I have the money for it, I’d consider adding a gas fed emergency generator to cover power outages.

I’m wondering if a 250 gallon tank would be sufficient, or if I should consider a 500. Also wondering if an underground tank would be either necessary or worth it. I’m also curious as to what the installation cost might be.

[markjames68]

I didn’t do it but was close in Collier County. If you are thinking about a whole house generator definitely go for a 500 gallon. If you have no HOA or other restrictions you can put it where you like but an underground tank is cleaner looking but takes extra steps.

Keep in mind a 500 gallon above ground tank weighs around 1000 pounds and is 10’ wide by 3’ in diameter. The added cost for a below ground tank (not including installation) is probably only a few hundred as it needs to be coated.

Also note that they only fill them around 80% fill to allow for expansion. So a 250 would only be filled to 200. As propane doesn’t go bad there’s no major deal other than cost in going bigger.

[tonyp22]

Thanks Mark. Yes, I have a HOA and the tank would have to be placed either out of view or underground. There’s a nice spot right behind the house where I could place one if above ground, but then the lines would have to be run from the rear of the house to midway up (for the stovetop) and to the front garage for the hot water heater. Seemed like a long way to go. Not sure if that would be an issue.

[Dax13]

[quote=tonyp22;57700703]I’m thinking about doing this for a home I’m about to purchase in Orange County. The neighborhood currently does not have natural gas, and it’s anyone’s bet if they ever will. I prefer gas for stovetop cooking, and when the hot water heater needs to be replaced would prefer to put that on gas as well. And if I have the money for it, I’d consider adding a gas fed emergency generator to cover power outages.

I’m wondering if a 250 gallon tank would be sufficient, or if I should consider a 500. Also wondering if an underground tank would be either necessary or worth it. I’m also curious as to what the installation cost might be.[/QUOTE

FYI: If you are definitely going for the generator, in addition to water heater and cooking, I would go with the 500, 250 is the absolute minimum. Cook only will only need a 100lb cylinder. Cook and water heater would need a 120 gallon tank. If you are going with anything over a 120, consider buying the tank, as opposed posed to renting. Florida law requires that a leased tank can only be filled by the owning company. You will not be able to price shop, and propane is NOT a regulated utility so prices are discretionary. If you own your tank, you call the shots.

Dax

[tonyp22]

Ah, something of which I was not aware. Thank you Dax.

[Compression]

Those tanks gotta be pricey to buy, just by looking at the price of the smaller ones (20lb and 40lb)

I'm wondering if you can buy the larger tank used, and have it recertified. I know the small tanks have to be recertified every ten or twelve years.

As for the hot water tank, I'd suggest you go gas tankless (on demand) when the time comes. I did over ten years ago and never looked back. The savings are huge.


CN

[markjames68]

[quote=Dax13;57703647]

Originally Posted by tonyp22

I’m thinking about doing this for a home I’m about to purchase in Orange County. The neighborhood currently does not have natural gas, and it’s anyone’s bet if they ever will. I prefer gas for stovetop cooking, and when the hot water heater needs to be replaced would prefer to put that on gas as well. And if I have the money for it, I’d consider adding a gas fed emergency generator to cover power outages.

I’m wondering if a 250 gallon tank would be sufficient, or if I should consider a 500. Also wondering if an underground tank would be either necessary or worth it. I’m also curious as to what the installation cost might be.[/QUOTE

FYI: If you are definitely going for the generator, in addition to water heater and cooking, I would go with the 500, 250 is the absolute minimum. Cook only will only need a 100lb cylinder. Cook and water heater would need a 120 gallon tank. If you are going with anything over a 120, consider buying the tank, as opposed posed to renting. Florida law requires that a leased tank can only be filled by the owning company. You will not be able to price shop, and propane is NOT a regulated utility so prices are discretionary. If you own your tank, you call the shots.

Dax

Excellent point about purchasing.

As OP has an HOA I would definitely go buried (and will likely need ARC approval). Also, I seem to recall that given temperature and pressure a 500 gallon was the minimum recommended for a whole house unit. They also burn 2-3 gallons per hour on average, so with a 500 gallon you’d get around 200 hours or 8-9 days.

No point getting a 250 if you only get 3-4 days out of it. For Irma I was out for 9 days.

[Dax13]

[quote=markjames68;57708666]

Originally Posted by Dax13

Excellent point about purchasing.

As OP has an HOA I would definitely go buried (and will likely need ARC approval). Also, I seem to recall that given temperature and pressure a 500 gallon was the minimum recommended for a whole house unit. They also burn 2-3 gallons per hour on average, so with a 500 gallon you’d get around 200 hours or 8-9 days.

No point getting a 250 if you only get 3-4 days out of it. For Irma I was out for 9 days.

You are correct about 500 gallon for a whole house generator. It all depends on the size of generator you want and what your needs are. Check around for package deals from propane suppliers as well as generator dealers. I know that propane suppliers can offer great combo deals and can coordinate with the generator installer. You will need both as well as an electrician for proper installation. Summer is a slower time up until a hurricane starts to form.

Dax

[tonyp22]

I'm reading all this with great interest. Appreciate it.

[Schaefer687]

We purchased a 500 gallon tank last summer for our whole house generator. We purchased it from Lowe's and they contract out to a different company for installation. It happened to be the same company we were talking to, so we were comfortable with them doing the installation. Actually cost us a $1000 less than if we had done the entire thing directly with the company. We took out a Lowe's credit card and we're able to pay it out over 2 years, same as cash. Cost a little over $8000.