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My home is heated with a propane heater, which is fed by a 20-gallon barbecue grill-sized tank connected with rubber tubing that feeds the heater from outside through a crevice in a window.
It does fine most times except in extreme cold, as in below 23'F or so, it doesn't get enough gas to stay lit; typically it will light, but not with a strong flame, and it can't stay lit. Once it "warms" up to 30 or so, the behavior stops.
This morning, with it a whopping 17 degrees, it wouldn't even light at all. I actually had to resort to using other tubing with another tank located right smack in the living room--yes, that practice has always been highly discouraged and regarded as unsafe, but when it's 23 degrees for a HIGH and you woke up to find your living room had dropped to a temperature of 43 because the electric heater you thought you had left on for overnight was in fact off, you will do ANYTHING to warm it up in there.
What in the world would make the heater refuse to light when it's cold? I assume it's from the rubber tubing contracting as it gets cold? If that's the case, how do people with propane heaters make it work, do they have to bury the tubing underground or such? For the record, the heater has been cleaned and serviced, so it's not a case of it needing cleaning out etc.
"Keeping Your House Operating During A Cold Alaskan Winter
Propane fueled appliances can stop working because of extreme cold. Liquid propane boils (changes into gas) at minus forty-four degrees Fahrenheit and liquifies at the same temperature. When the contents of a propane storage tank reach that temperature, gas cannot get to your appliances. The propane has changed to liquid.
There are a number of steps which you can take to cold-weather protect propane systems:
Sheltering and insulating the propane tank and line is the most practical approach to prevent propane freezeup.To beat even the coldest weather, install an explosion proof light that can be turned on when needed for heat. A small, insulated frame shelter is adequate. Heat stripping can also be used. A commercial product similar to electric heat tapes, but designed for propane tanks, is also available.
Loose snow piled all around the propane tank often proves to be an effective insulation.
If you have a permanent bulk propane tank, bury it to protect its contents from periods of severely cold weather.
To prevent propane regulator and line freeze up, insulate the system. See the suggestions for sheltering and insulating oil fired supply systems"
Yes, this is an inherent problem with using a 20-gallon barbecue grill-sized tank, located outside in below-freezing conditions, to feed a propane heater. If your heater is designed to run off the little tanks, it may need the higher pressure supplied by a BBQ tank, and so is even more sensitive to the pressure drop from the cold. Plus a bigger tank takes longer to cool down, either from environment or during use.
The lower the temperature of the tank, the lower the gas pressure (PSI); it doesn't need to get down to -44 for the pressure to be inadequate to run your appliance. As mentioned, you could make a little shelter with a light bulb inside to keep the tank cozy, or buy a dedicated tank heater blanket.
I see the same issue at below zero and my buddy heater. The gas pressures change and seem to have more not less pressure so the buddy heater can’t keep it lit just blows its own flame out. Reconnect same tank to a stove burner shows the problem clearly it lights fine but you see the pressure is too high and lots of yellow flame .
The only times I have had problems with propane heat is when the regulator is acting up. In freezing rain, it would freeze up and the heat would not work. The tank and regulator should be covered/sheltered. I was told to use warm water on the regulator to free it up. You may need a new regulator. For a tank that small, I think they are fairly inexpensive.
I see the same issue at below zero and my buddy heater. The gas pressures change and seem to have more not less pressure so the buddy heater can’t keep it lit just blows its own flame out. Reconnect same tank to a stove burner shows the problem clearly it lights fine but you see the pressure is too high and lots of yellow flame .
Cold temperature lowers the pressure in the tank, but can also mess with the regulator in strange ways.
A new regulator and a much bigger tank will nearly always solve cold weather problems with gas pressure.
Remember Science 101. When cold, gas contracts. You got to warm that tank.
Actually it's Science 102 that matters here. The vapor pressure decreases with temperature. According to the plots it's still around 40 PSI at 0 degrees F. Apparently this is not enough for OP's regulator + supply line.
> I assume it's from the rubber tubing contracting as it gets cold?
No, that has nothing to do with it. However be careful about the rubber tubing becoming brittle.
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Yellow is always bad!
