Propane Tank Size Chart: Dimensions, Weight, BTU - LearnMetrics (2024)

In many cases, you will also have to convert lb of propane to gallons of propane. You can check here how much a gallon of propane weighs in detail; we are going to use a simple 1 gallon of propane is equal to 4.25 lb of propane conversion.

Example 1: How many gallons of propane are in a 100 lb tank? 100 lb holds 80 lb of propane. Given that 4.25 lb of propane equals 1 gallon, this means that a 100 lb tank of propane contains 18.82 gallons of propane.

Example 2: How many gallons of propane are in a 20 lb tank? 20 lb tank holds 16 lb of propane. That means that a 20 lb tank contains 3.76 gallons of propane.

Let’s now focus on key specifications of the 5 most common propane tank sizes. Let’s start with the 3 large residential propane tank sizes:

100 Gallon Propane Dimensions, Weight, BTUs

100 gallon is one of the most common horizontal residential propane tank sizes. It doesn’t necessarily be underground; most homeowners keep it in the basem*nt or in the garage.

Dimensions of 100 gallon propane tank are 50-inch width (4 feet and 2 inches) and 28-inch diameter (that means 2 feet and 2 inches width and height).

You can fill a 100 gallon tank with a maximum of 80 gallons of propane. That’s the 80% rule; if it were filled to 100%, the tank would present a safety risk at high temperatures.

How much does a 100 gallon propane tank weigh when empty? 212 pounds, on average. Of course, it depends on the metal the tank is made out of; 100 gallon aluminum propane tanks are lighter than steel ones, for example.

How much does a 100 gallon propane tank weigh when full? 552 pounds, on average. Here you have to take the tare weight of the empty tank and add the weight of propane.

1 gallon of propane weighs 4.25 pounds. You can fill 80 gallons of propane in a 100-gallon tank, that’s an additional 80×4.25 = 340 pounds. Full 100 gallon tank weighs 212 lb + 340 lb = 552 lb.

Now for the BTU content calculation. Here is the simple conversion we can use:

1 gallon of propane = 91,500 BTU

How many BTUs are in a 100 gallon propane tank?

We need to multiply 80 gallon of propane with 91,500 BTU:

80 gallon × 91,500 BTU per gallon = 7,320,000 BTU

There are 7,320,000 BTU in a 100 gallon propane tank. If we were to use this tank to produce 10,000 BTU/h of heating output, we could run such heating output for about 1 month (30 days and 12 hours, to be exact). You can check how long does a 100 gallon propane tank last here.

250 Gallon Propane Dimensions, Weight, BTUs

250 gallon propane tank is a semi-big size propane tank for home. It can hold 200 gallons of propane (80% safety rule). Let’s look at the dimensions:

250 gallon propane cylinder is 7 feet and 8 inches long (92 inches) and has a diameter of 30 inches (width and height are 2 feet and 6 inches). Its total weight when empty is 483 pounds, on average. You can check the full in-depth article about 250-gallon propane tank size here.

When you fill a 250 gallon with propane to the full, it weighs 1,333 pounds. The 200 gallon of propane adds 850 pounds of weight to the full weight of the 250 gallon propane tank.

How many BTUs are in 250 gallon propane tank?

18,300,000 BTUs in total. You can calculate the BTU content of 250 gallon tank by multiplying the max. volume of propane (200 gallon) with 91,500 BTU per gallon propane energy content.

With 18,300,000 BTU content, 250 gallon propane tank can run a 10,000 BTU/h heater or furnace for 76 days and 6 hours. You can check how long does 250 gallon propane tank last here.

500 Gallon Propane Dimensions, Weight, BTUs

500 gallon is a large residential propane tank for homes. This big tank can be installed in the basem*nt, in a large garage, or, in many cases, it can be an underground propane tank.

It holds a maximum of 400 gallon of propane. Empty 500 gallon propane tank weighs about 949 pounds. If you add 400 gallon of propane (1,700 lb), the weight of a full 500 gallon propane tank is 2,649 pounds.

How many BTUs does a 500 gallon tank contain?

All in all, it contains almost 50 million BTUs (45,750,000 BTUs, to be exact). That’s enough to run a 10,000 BTU/h heater for more than half a year (190 days and 15 hours). You can check how long does a 500-gallon propane tank last here.

20 lb Propane Tank Dimension, Weight, BTUs

20 lb is the most common BBQ propane tank size. You can also use it to power propane a variety of propane heaters or even propane generators.

20 lb propane tank dimensions: It’s 18 inches long with a 12-inch diameter. Given the 80% safety rule, you can fill a total of 16 lb of propane in a 20 lb tank.

The weight of the empty 20 lb propane tank is about 13.5 pounds. Aluminum 20 lb propane cylinders can be lighter, steel ones will be heavier.

How much does a full 20 lb propane tank weigh?

The full 20 lb propane tank weighs 29.5 pounds, on average. You need to add the weight of 16 lb of propane to the empty weight (13.5 lbs) of the 20 lb propane tank to get the total.

All in all, a 20 lb propane tank packs quite a lot of BTUs. How many BTUs does it contain exactly?

20 lb propane tank contains 344,470 BTUs. That’s enough to power a 10,000 BTU/h heater for more than a day (34.4 hours, to be exact).

100 lb Propane Tank Dimension, Weight, BTUs

100 lb is a bigger vertical propane tank size. It’s a 4 feet long cylinder with a 14.5-inch diameter.

Empty 100 lb propane tank weighs 67 pounds. If you fill it up with 80 lb of propane, it will reach a full weight of 147 pounds.

That 80 lb of propane gives the 100 lb propane tank 1,722,350 BTU content. This is enough for a 100 lb propane tank to last for 7 days and 4 hours when powering a 10,000 BTU/h appliance.

We hope all of this information on propane tank sizes will help you. If you need additional help, you can pose a question in the comments below and we’re try our best to answer it.