Propane Usage Calculator

This calculator turns an appliance's BTU per hour rating into gallons of propane per hour and per day, then works out how long the tank has left and what it costs. Pick an appliance or type its rating, say how many hours a day the burner actually runs, choose a tank size and how full it is, and add your price per gallon. Tank capacity follows the 80 percent fill rule, so a 500 gallon tank holds 400 gallons and a full tank's float gauge reads 80 rather than 100. Nameplate ratings assume the burner runs flat out, so a thermostat that cycles will use less than this.

Burner Ratings In
A North American data plate reads BTU per hour; most of the rest of the world reads kW. One kilowatt is 3,412.14 BTU per hour. This sets the box below and the energy rows in the result, which switch from million BTU to kWh.
Volumes and Weights In
Every volume and weight in the result follows this, and so does the water capacity box below. The tank names in the list above do not change, because a 20 lb cylinder and a 500 gallon tank are what those products are called everywhere they are sold -- the list carries the kilogram cylinders and litre tanks sold elsewhere as separate entries instead.
Price Quoted In
Propane is sold by the gallon in the United States, by the litre in Canada, by the pound where cylinders are exchanged, and by the kilogram in most of the rest of the world. Pick whichever your bill is written in; the cost rows come out in dollars either way.
Burner run time, not hours switched on. A thermostat cycles, so a furnace that is on all day may only fire for a few hours of it.
Both markets are in the one list, because these are different products rather than the same tank in two units: a cylinder is named by the kilograms of gas it holds outside North America and by the pounds inside it, and a bulk tank by its litres of water capacity outside and its gallons inside. Pick the tank you actually have; the unit choice below does not change these names.
A full tank is 100 here. The float gauge on the tank shows a different number: it reads 80 when the tank is full, and the equivalent gauge reading is given in the result.
Leave blank to skip the cost rows. Propane is not a regulated price and varies hugely by region and by season.
Widget
Related Tools
Electricity Cost Calculator Tank Volume Calculator Furnace Size Calculator Firewood Calculator