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Be careful about making a change. The people who owned my property before me got rid of their big tank because the stove is the only thing that uses propane, and they put in a small tank outside the kitchen wall. The man of the family was a big guy and easily lugged the "small" tank to the gas station that sells propane. I, however, am short and fat and old and could no way pick up the tank to take it to be filled. The big companies wouldn't come fill the little tank. The gas station guy said he'd come fill it if I called him to do so, but then that gas station changed ownership and the new people wouldn't come out. If I could just have found a handyman to do this it would have been great, but handymen who aren't drunks are rare and precious jewels and I've never found one yet worth a durn. The upshot was that I ran out of propane and so couldn't use my stove. I gave up on it, got an electric stove, and went all electric.
So, just beware making a change that won't be supportable long term. Make sure that if you buy your own tank that one of the area propane firms will actually come out and fill it.
Just go with the $120/yr guy. And get all that vegetation cleared up around it, maybe put down plastic and gravel to make a clean area for the guys to work. This sounds like the simplest, least hassle way to deal with this. It sounds like your suppliers are gouging you. We have a company here that does the same thing. Most people here have underground leased tanks, and their supplier does unauthorised refills and then charges them for it. And their price per gallon is twice what the other providers charge, but people are locked into these long leases, and nobody wants to dig up an underground tank. People have had to put padlocks on their tank covers to keep them from filling it whenever they want. Most propane outfits will come out to replace a 100 lb tank when it's empty. This is a standing tank about 4.5 feet high and about 18" in diameter. They sell at Home Depot for $155, but for something that size, I'd just go with the company's tanks, unless you want to haul your own tank somewhere to refill it.
We own our own 500 gallon underground tank, and we have it filled once a year. It services our propane back-up for our heat pump, our stove, our tankless water heater, and our dryer. When we lived in CA we leased a 250 gal tank. The company you buy your propane from will usually lease you the tank. The annual lease cost on our 250 gallon tank (which was about 5-6 feet long and 3-4 feet high) was less than $100 a year (plus the cost of the gas). If you are rarely there, you should just have it filled annually if the tank is large enough for a year's worth of gas, or go on a "will call" type plan. You could monitor the level of propane when you are there by checking once a month or so, and then just call for a refill when needed. Never let the tank go below 30%.
When we bought our home, it had a huge, empty propane tank 8' from the house--in front of a foundation vent. All it was for was powering two unvented fireplaces/logs.
In our state, LP tanks are not to be within 10' of a house and not close to any foundation vent. They're also not to be within 10' of a property line.
I had the tank (rented) removed and the lines capped off. I have no desire to use any unvented gas appliance, and we're all electric with the heat pump and hot water heaters.
If you go with a 100# LP tank, the LP gas company can refill it in place if it proves too heavy for you to move on a rolling cart.
You can switch to something as small as a barbecue tank, but the slightly larger ones last longer. At our last house, we had two of the larger ones, took them in for refill about once a month to power water heater, stove, and dryer. We had a smaller one for backup.
Now we lease a 200 gallon tank for $7 a month. It's less work, and only needs filling twice a year.
You will probably need a plumber to set up the new tank connections.
If you're not there all the time, you run the risk of theft with the smaller tanks. Do you have an outdoor shed where you can lock them up?
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