There are many other things that can be done, besides the boiling water trick, both to prevent a freeze-up and to recover from one, and this winter I have promised myself that I will try everything and write about the results.\u00a0 Why, you might ask?\u00a0 Well, two summers ago I converted our office to a propane boiler, and on at least four occasions last winter, I was awakened in the middle of the night by our security system monitoring agency, letting me know that the boiler had stopped working because the propane had “gelled”.\u00a0 Several dark, cold hours followed, with many promises made to myself of \u201cnever again.\u201d\u00a0 This year, I am going to win the propane game, and I\u2019m going to help everyone else win too, because it\u2019s really not okay that we have to go through this.<\/p>\n
But I may not win right away, because I\u2019m not going to try everything all at once. \u00a0If I were to do that, I wouldn\u2019t be able to figure out which trick made the difference.\u00a0 What is required here is a scientific approach.<\/p>\n
Second, I had High-Q POLARPAD\u2122<\/a> heaters installed, at not inconsiderable expense, on all three tanks.\u00a0 And I had them hardwired, as is required by the GNWT gas inspector (my understanding is that a regular plugin can be a source of sparks).\u00a0 I\u2019m sure the folks at High-Q mean well, but despite what their website says, their heaters are not, in my opinion, \u201ctough enough for the Arctic.\u201d\u00a0 Four trips to my subarctic office in the middle of the night, and four emergency visits by the good people at J&R Mechanical, suggest otherwise.<\/p>\n Third, during cold snaps I made sure to check my propane levels every Thursday to ensure that, if levels were low, I could be included with the regular Friday or Saturday propane deliveries.\u00a0 If you\u2019re not included in the regular deliveries, you may need to pay an extra fee for an emergency top-up.\u00a0 It is super important to speak with your propane supplier, develop a good relationship with them, and figure out their delivery schedule.<\/p>\n That was the extent of my year one plan, and it did not get the job done.\u00a0 So here are the changes I have made, or am about to make, for year two.\u00a0 First, I asked the experts at J&R Mechanical for advice.\u00a0 Always a good idea.\u00a0 They were pretty certain that the length of my fuel line and the location of my regulators was a problem.\u00a0 My plebian understanding of how regulators work is that they take the high-pressure propane from a tank and step it down, in two stages, to a pressure that can be used by a furnace or boiler.\u00a0 But this can be a problem if you step the pressure all the way down and then expect it to trickle through 30 feet of fuel line at -42 degrees Celsius.\u00a0 So what they did was to move the second regulator further from the tanks, closer to where the line goes into the building.<\/p>\n And my final step for this year was to purchase an insulated tarp.\u00a0 There is no doubt in my untrained mind that heating a propane tank with a POLARPAD \u2122 at -42 or colder without also insulating the tank, is a waste of electricity and time.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.century21yk.ca\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Propane-tanks.jpg\")
<\/a>Step one of the propane game is to have a plan.\u00a0 Last year, I thought I had a pretty good plan.\u00a0 First, I made sure I had three propane tanks, not just two.\u00a0 I don\u2019t fully understand why this is so important (feedback in the comments would be appreciated if anyone knows), but I know that it has to do with keeping the total pressure in your tanks high enough to push gas through the fuel line.\u00a0 Two tanks empty out more quickly than three, and that creates problems.\u00a0 If your tanks are below 50% at -42, you are going to have issues.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/a>Next, I purchased a remote temperature sensor, and I equipped it with lithium batteries (for cold weather).\u00a0 Two examples are pictured here.\u00a0 I don\u2019t imagine it will do much to warm my propane tanks, but it will tell me if the other measures I’ve taken are working.\u00a0 Plus, it’s just kind of cool.<\/p>\n<\/a>Another common means of insulating, or at least sheltering, propane tanks is to build a wooden \u201cwind-block\u201d around them, like the one pictured here.\u00a0 But from what I\u2019ve seen, these work best when there is also heat source present.\u00a0 In this case, the slightly warmer air from a crawlspace.<\/p>\n