Francesca Knowles wrote:
A five pound tank holds about a gallon, is much smaller- and, weirdly, is much more expensive to buy than a twenty pounder!
Economy of scale. How many 20 pound tanks do they sell for every 5 pound tank? Think about it.
If it costs $10,000 to set up the equipment, that has to be amortized over the entire run. If they make 1,000 tanks, they have to increase the cost by $10 just to cover equipment setup.
Now, if they produce 1,000,000 tanks, they only have to add 1 cent to the price of each tank to cover the equipment setup.
Fixed costs divided by number of pieces sold. VERY few 1 gallon tanks are sold, but 5 gallon tanks are sold by the truck load.
Francesca Knowles wrote:
A five pound tank holds about a gallon, is much smaller- and, weirdly, is much more expensive to buy than a twenty pounder!
And some places (Costco) want to charge as much to fill it as they do the twenty pounder. So they don’t get to fill either my five-pound or my thirty-pound cylinders.
:B
Thanks for the "is my face red" update, O.P.!
FYI:
Weight is the most accurate measure of how much propane is in the bottle- I use a bathroom scale to check mine.
Per tank size:
If you're using a garden-variety bulk tank about the size of the ones at cylinder exchanges, you were right the first time. That would be a "five gallon", more commonly referred to as a twenty pounder.
A five pound tank holds about a gallon, is much smaller- and, weirdly, is much more expensive to buy than a twenty pounder!
Thanks for the "is my face red" update, O.P.!
FYI:
Weight is the most accurate measure of how much propane is in the bottle- I use a bathroom scale to check mine.
Per tank size:
If you're using a garden-variety bulk tank about the size of the ones at cylinder exchanges, you were right the first time. That would be a "five gallon", more commonly referred to as a twenty pounder.
A five pound tank holds about a gallon, is much smaller- and, weirdly, is much more expensive to buy than a twenty pounder!
