Here's something to consider in making your decision:
- Home Depot or places that exchange empty for filled tanks charge $23 for the exchange.
- These 20 lb tanks that are sold at exchange locations are filled with 4 gallons of propane (apparently for safety reasons) A lot of times your getting less than 4 gallons of propane.
- If you take your own tank to a refill station, it will be filled to anywhere between 4.5 to 4.7 gallons of propane.
- I pay $2.99 per gallon of propane when filling my own tank at a refill location ( $13.50 per refill)
- You will be paying an extra $9.50 each time you exchange your tank, plus you will only be getting a maximum of 4 gallons of propane if your lucky.
- Most folks don't wait till their propane tank is empty to exchange it so you will also be giving away propane each time you exchange your tank.
-If you do a lot of grilling, it's a good idea to have 2 propane tanks. A full one as a back up as they will always tend to run out at the most inconvenient time.
- Propane tanks have an expiration date of 12 years after the manufacture date stamped on the collar. After those 12 years, it can be exchanged or inspected for re-qualification for another 5 years.
Whenever my propane tanks get close to the 12 year mark, I go to Home Depot and exchange it. I go through the tanks until I find one that has a brand new manufacture date. The employees who unlock the cage usually don't care as long as you explain to them the reason why your looking at several tanks.