Propane Safety
Please take a moment to read the important Propane safety information you and your family should know. Share this information with your family to help keep everyone safe and to reduce the risk of serious and potentially fatal injury, fire, or explosion.
Carbon Monoxide Safety
Carbon monoxide, known by the chemical formula “CO,” is a poisonous gas that kills approximately 500 people in the United States alone every year. Of that number, about 200 people were killed by carbon monoxide emitted from a consumer product, like a stove or water heater. You can’t hear, taste, see or smell it. It’s nicknamed the “silent killer’ because it sneaks up on its victims and can take lives without warning.
Oil Safety
These days, oil heat is not only cost-effective, clean, and comfortable, it is the safest source of heat. Oil will not burn in a liquid state; if you were to drop a match into oil, it would extinguish as if it were dropped in water. The biggest dangers of oil heat – leaks – result from old heating systems, particularly oil tanks. The best way to keep your system running smoothly and cleanly is to keep it regularly maintained.
Call BEFORE You Dig
Want to avoid spending a day in the dark? It’s as simple as 8-1-1. Call 811 from anywhere in the country a few days prior to digging, and your call will be routed to your local One Call Center. Tell the operator where you’re planning to dig, what type of work you will be doing and your affected local utilities companies will be notified about your intent to dig. In a few days, they’ll send a locator to mark the approximate location of your underground lines, pipes and cables, so you’ll know what’s below – and be able to dig safely.
Remember, always call 811 before you start any digging project! You’ll avoid injury, expense, embarrassment – and a very inconvenient day in the dark.
How to tell how much propane is left in your tank
- Check the level of your propane tank without a gauge – Fill a container with hot water from the tap. You don’t need boiling hot water to do this test, so just use the hot water side of a faucet and you will be set to go. Away from the valves of the tank, pour the water down the side, starting at the top. You are going to let the water just run down the side of the tank and drip off back to the ground. Pour all of the water you have onto the tank – it should take a few seconds to complete this part of the job.
- “Feel for the Line” – Once the water is poured, take your hand and place it on the side of the tank where you have poured the water. By quickly running your hand over the metal tank, you should notice there is a significant temperature difference at some point along the way. Part of the tank is going to feel warm, while part of the tank will feel cold. The warm part of the tank will be where there is air behind the metal, while the cold part of the tank is where the gas remains. So, by finding the point where warm metal turns to cold, you can figure out exactly how much gas remains inside.Once you find the ‘line’ between hot and cold, look at that spot in comparison with the tank as a whole. Do you have half of your tank left? More? Less? Whatever the case, you will now know within a very small margin of error how much propane remains.
- Be Smart – It is always important to keep in mind that propane, as a compressed gas, should be kept in a tank which is in good physical condition. If your tank is showing signs of age, you may wish to consider a replacement at some point in the near future.