Will No One Sell Me Propane?

I seem to be stuck in an odd situation.

We bought a house several years ago that has a huge propane tank, but we only use it for cooking.
The former owner has no documentation on this tank. They never refilled it and had the house for 5 years. They don't know what company filled it last...or how long ago it was filled.

Well, it's finally run out.
The tank is older, so the label on it is faded.
Every propane supplier I call asks me if I own the tank.
When I say I own the tank, they ask for a bill of sale. I have no documentation on this tank, so they either stop responding or tell me they can't sell me propane.
On to the next supplier...same story.
And round and round we go. I'm out of gas. Will no one sell me propane?

They can't fill an un certified tank. You'll have to re certify or replace it most likely. The propane company should have offered a replacement tank. Obviously they are not marketing geniuses.

coaledsweat wrote:They can't fill an un certified tank. You'll have to re certify or replace it most likely. The propane company should have offered a replacement tank. Obviously they are not marketing geniuses.

How do you get a tank recertified? Say the former owners of this home bought the tank but there's just no documentation anywhere. Who do you contact to get a tank recertified?

Also the labels on the tank are faded...can't get enough info off there to identify anything.

themcd1998 wrote:

coaledsweat wrote:They can't fill an un certified tank. You'll have to re certify or replace it most likely. The propane company should have offered a replacement tank. Obviously they are not marketing geniuses.

How do you get a tank recertified? Say the former owners of this home bought the tank but there's just no documentation anywhere. Who do you contact to get a tank recertified?

Also the labels on the tank are faded...can't get enough info off there to identify anything.

Google propane tank re-certified for your location. Tank info is stamp near top by valve. It'll need to be re-certified if it's 12 yrs or older

TANK OWNERSHIP AFFIDAVIT
I ______________________________________________________________________, residing at
(PRINT NAME)
(PROPERTY ADDRESS / LOCATION OF PROPANE TANK)
verify, I wholly own the ________________________ gallon capacity propane tank(s)
located at / on the property identified above. I further verify, I do not have any contractual
obligations, service or supply contracts, with any propane company relating to the above
propane tank(s).
____________________________________ _______________________
(SIGNATURE DATE

Well that's intriguing. I'll give this a try. Thanks.

dcrane wrote:TANK OWNERSHIP AFFIDAVIT
I ______________________________________________________________________, residing at
(PRINT NAME)
(PROPERTY ADDRESS / LOCATION OF PROPANE TANK)
verify, I wholly own the ________________________ gallon capacity propane tank(s)
located at / on the property identified above. I further verify, I do not have any contractual
obligations, service or supply contracts, with any propane company relating to the above
propane tank(s).
____________________________________ _______________________
(SIGNATURE DATE

dcrane wrote:TANK OWNERSHIP AFFIDAVIT
I ______________________________________________________________________, residing at
(PRINT NAME)
(PROPERTY ADDRESS / LOCATION OF PROPANE TANK)
verify, I wholly own the ________________________ gallon capacity propane tank(s)
located at / on the property identified above. I further verify, I do not have any contractual
obligations, service or supply contracts, with any propane company relating to the above
propane tank(s).
____________________________________ _______________________
(SIGNATURE DATE

Where is the Red Button-------That was easy!

Hey, I got a call back from my local oil supplier who also sells propane. He left a message saying they need to inspect the tank. Progress!

If its like around here, they will want to do a pressure test not only on the tank, but the lines to your appliances as well. I own our tank and was calling around for pricing and a company we hadn't bought from already mentioned they 'needed' to do this. I guess its so they aren't liable for filling a tank that then leaks the propane into your house. But they wanted to charge a service fee for this so my belief is that is it a money grab, after I got done laughing at them I politely declined.

themcd1998 wrote:Hey, I got a call back from my local oil supplier who also sells propane. He left a message saying they need to inspect the tank. Progress!

that's it sir! your in like Flynn now as they say The relief valve is normally the only thing I ever see them replace (if they think its sketchy)... let the cooking begin

I ran into something similar. Bougtht a house with an underground tank. Went to get it filled and found out that it was leased tank, just happened to go to the company that leased it to the previous owner and they had record of it.

They want me to pay a lease fee (or get a fill up every year to waive the fee, but I only use 1/2 tank or less a year) My arguement that has stood up so far is I bought the house with an abandoned tank on the property, so it is now mine. I never signed a lease with them. At least once a year I get a bill and have to call and argue it though. I've told them if you really want your tank back come and get it, dig it up. (but you better be prepared to leave the ground as good or better condition than when you left) I really don't need a tank that size. House used to have propane heat, but not anymore. It is nice not to worry about filling it though.

oros35 wrote:I ran into something similar. Bougtht a house with an underground tank. Went to get it filled and found out that it was leased tank, just happened to go to the company that leased it to the previous owner and they had record of it.

They want me to pay a lease fee (or get a fill up every year to waive the fee, but I only use 1/2 tank or less a year) My arguement that has stood up so far is I bought the house with an abandoned tank on the property, so it is now mine. I never signed a lease with them. At least once a year I get a bill and have to call and argue it though. I've told them if you really want your tank back come and get it, dig it up. (but you better be prepared to leave the ground as good or better condition than when you left) I really don't need a tank that size. House used to have propane heat, but not anymore. It is nice not to worry about filling it though.

Yeah, I didn't want to get stuck in one of those leasing deals, because everything I've read on that said if you lease a tank from someone, you're locked into having them be your only supplier...so they can control the cost of the propane. I want to be able to shop it around. So if this process resulted in us hooking up with someone who leased a tank to this address, we were going to go with buying our own tank and just finding out what the cost would be to get this big old clunker of a tank removed.

I'm pretty happy with this local supplier for oil though. Every time I shop around with their prices, I find out that they're reasonable. So I'm hoping it's the same with their propane pricing.

We've also got a coal stove in this house and the first 2 winters of living here, we've been testing the cost of heating with coal vs oil. Haven't told the oil supplier yet, but we're switching back to coal only this winter. Even though the electric bill shoots up in February, it's still cheaper to use coal than oil. Plus the coal supply is local, so I don't have to worry about any bad storms interrupting the supply of oil from the gulf. We're in Monroe County PA. Does anyone know a decent cost for bagged rice anthracite around here? Will probably need 2-3 tons to get through the winter. Delivery truck can't get to the window where the coal bin is set up, so if we get loose coal they just dump it in our driveway and we have to shovel it into buckets and wheel it into the coal bin through a finished room in the basement. NOT fun and messy. With bagged, I'm hoping we can get them to put it into the garage on skids for us.

Old post and all,

but I was getting bagged delivered, and it was just dumped into the driveway.
I would set down a piece of plywood over the basement stairs (outside entrance) and slide them down.
Then stack them in the basement.
A big job with each 3 ton delivery....120 bags 50# each.

For the summer, I would load 6-8 single bags in my car each 3-4 weeks for DHW

There are some places that will deliver, but it may be a hard time, or heavy price
to find someone to deliver with a skid loader.
Many will have them on skids, but not with including a loader to set them in your garage.
Hope you have already found it or can for this winter.

Worse case, they can dump the bagged, and you can spend a weekend day to stack them up.
With all the work, bulk may just be easier?

Yes, old thread. We've already gotten 3 tons loose coal delivered to our basement bin.

Good to hear!