Is There A Difference Between The Little Propane Tank And The Big One? (specific Heater)?
I’m wanting to run a 15,000 to 30,00 BTU, propane/Lp blue flame wall mounted heater and wanted to know if I had to have the big tank or if I could run of the smaller ones like you see at gas stations? I heard something about you could if it wasn’t that cold but I do live in SC so it doesn’t get extremely cold here much.
It depends on how often you want to fill it up.
The stationary ground models require a service delivery. Shop around for prices carefully. Many propane companies require yearly contracts, but that includes leasing the tank from them. It may or may not be cheaper per unit for such a service if your volume is low due to the minimum charges.
A fill up at a gas station has little commitment, except some time and hassle for filling up, but you are then subject to volatile price fluctuations, which has varied substantially in the last two years.
The problem with using a small tank on a large heater, is this.
Since the propane is liquid in the tank, it evaporates as it leaves the tank and in doing so it absorbs heat like in an air conditioner. you’ve probably seen frost on a propane tank under certain circumstances. the fact is that if you draw off too much gas too fast from a small tank, it will actually freeze up. and of course if its frozen you get no gas to the heater.You could hook up a manifold with several small tanks, and draw off all of them at the same time to get around this. Most campers use two tanks at a time.
The bigger you go the better you will be. You can put a 20 pound bottle on it and it will work problem is you will see a service station often and you pay more for it. Get a 150 pound tank and fill it once a year and pay bulk rate price. Small bottles are convienent as long as you spare their use.
The only difference is that the small ones run out faster.