When I was managing the (resident) RV park north of Lake Tahoe, we sold propane on site for the extra revenue. While this was great for the bottom line, it was nearly a full-time job for one of my people (650-spaces).
At some point I decided this process was too labor intensive, so we called our propane distributor and had them truck out a supply of 100 gallon tanks. They would top it off on delivery and then service this new route once a month during the camping season (6,000+ elevation - we were open May thru October)… and the tank would last an average of 3-4 months depending on useage.
The park still made the same profit (on the resold gas - we would bill it back to them), but we cut the labor cost to nothing by having the propane company do all the work.
Anyway… the point of this little story is that your homebuyer can probably get the 100 gallon tanks (along with the cost savings and convenience) if they call around abit.
Consider joining your local landlord association if there’s one in your area. Assoc like the one I belong too buy the fuel as a group and get large discounts and service guarantees. My group buys over 2 million gallons of oil & propane and we get .45 shaved off the companies price. Helps the bottom line nicely
Philip, how big of a tank are you talking about? Is it for a rental property?
For those of my rentals that require propane tanks I usually just set up twin 25 gal tanks on an automatic switch-over manifold. This way when one tank gets low it switches automatically over to the other tank so the pilot lights in the mobile home don’t go out when the first tank is removed for refilling. One tank can then be put in the station wagon, pick up, or SUV and taken down for refilling.
I have always found that when I have to call a Propane company, I can’t shop for the best fuel price. My tenants have always appreciated this convienence and savings. Also many tenants just can’t scrape up enough money for a couple hundred gallons at a time, and the twin 25’s works great for them.
Maybe you live in the Northeast and you do things differently there, but here we can easily install the small tanks ourselves. Maybe in cold climates you need larger tanks.
Around here a person goes through about 400-500 gallons per year. I probably should go with the 250 gallon tank, so that cash strapped folks can afford to buy the minimum.(Sometimes 100 gallons for that tank)
Thanks, though, doc. That is the system my folks and their RV friends use in warmer climates. It might not be a bad idea for some uses here also.
Philip