Alternative Energy
A Primer on Propane for The Practical Prepper
A Note from ‘Above Average’ Joe: I had the absolute pleasure of speaking with Gaye on the phone last week for the better part of an hour.
After speaking at length, I think it is safe to say that Gaye and I both share the same ideals and are working towards the same goals.
I want to take a moment to welcome her as a contributor to Survival Life and look forward to working with her much more in the future.
With that being said I want to jump right in to her first article:
Propane for the Practical Prepper, Part 1:
This article covers the basics of propane as an important prepping energy resource. The subjects include safe propane handling, storage, assembling a stockpile of bulk tanks for long term storage at the lowest possible cost and refilling the smaller one pound canisters that are commonly used with portable camping gear, for about 1/5 the cost of new. We’ll also examine a variety of entry-level propane appliances and their suitability in a survival scenario.
Why Propane?
For convenience, value, air quality and long term storage stability, nothing beats propane.
Firewood is cheaper, if you have access to it and you don’t count the value of your time. But, when you’re burning all day and every day, it isn’t all that convenient if you have to go out and cut/gather it yourself. The stuff is heavy, especially if you’re hauling it a long distance. And, how are you at swinging an ax for hours at a time?
If you’re short on survival labor, which is a fair probability, having the option to cook with propane for an extended time, at least until things settle out, will let you channel that considerable fuel-wood time and energy into other important tasks, such as hunting and growing food, or warding off predators. Also, the ease of using propane allows the delegation of cooking etc. to a lesser-able member of your party, allowing all to contribute to the general welfare.
A Hedge Against Inflation
From an investment standpoint, the prices of both propane and the hardware/appliances that use it are directly tied to monetary price inflation – the “hidden tax” that steadily gnaws away at the purchasing power of your hard-won savings. Inflation is currently being deliberately manipulated to keep it low for now, but some price categories, like food, are still skyrocketing, with wages not keeping up. And, the economic stage is strongly set for hyper-inflation in the not-too-distant future.
So, one of the best investments in pre-inflationary and inflationary times (aka hedges against inflation) is hard goods and consumables, like food, that you’ll be using anyway and that will surely cost even more in the future. In other words, to combat inflation, the best place to store your surplus wealth is in tangible stuff, not pieces of paper, or electrons. For sure, no matter how the future shakes out, the retail prices for propane and propane hardware won’t be getting any cheaper, and they probably will go up by a lot.
Properly stored, both fuel and hardware will last indefinitely without degrading, ready to use on a moment’s notice. For all intents and purposes, unlike food, there’s no limit to its shelf life.
So, you’ll save money in the long run, anyway, by stockpiling consumables. But, if the grid goes down, there won’t be any more propane available to buy at all and the value of your investment will go way up. So, the larger your stockpile and the smaller the appliances that use it, which use less fuel, the longer it will last you.
If you play your cards right, you can stockpile at least a year’s worth of cooking and minimal lighting fuel for an average family (10 full five gallon bulk tanks that are equal to 200 small green canisters) for about $200, and do so $20 at a time.
Safety First!
If not handled with respect, Propane is DANGEROUS! As in dynamite dangerous and AK-47 dangerous. As in blowing up your whole house into kindling dangerous. This isn’t vegetable oil. So, treat it with prudent caution and always, always, always read, understand and follow the safety directions that come with every propane product.
Never store tanks of propane indoors or in any other sealed environment. Especially, if you see, smell or hear a gas leak, shut off the source immediately and then fix the problem before you continue. If you can’t shut it off, move away, warn others and cross your fingers. Otherwise, you’ll very likely go up in a cloud of smoke and all your hard-won prepping will have been for naught.
On the plus side, propane has been used as a consumer product for nearly 100 years and stringent government regulations require hardware designs that are fairly, if not perfectly, fool-proof. So, it’s not like you’re handling nitroglycerin. But, unless you really know what you’re doing, don’t try to modify or override the hardware safety features.
Unlike gasoline vapors, pure propane is nontoxic, though it’s certainly not healthy to breathe it and you should avoid it as you would with wood smoke. However, as with all combustion, there’s a real risk of oxygen depletion in a sealed room and proper ventilation should be an ongoing consideration. If you find yourself starting to gasp for air, triggered by a buildup of carbon dioxide, that’s an early warning sign that the oxygen is running low and it’s time for some fresh air, no matter how cold it might be.
Unlike natural gas, propane is heavier than air (1.5 times as dense). In its unburned state, propane vapor sinks and pools at the floor level. So, simply opening a couple of high windows to vent a leak may not be enough: You need to open a door or something else at ground level to let the heavy unburned vapors “drain” outside to disperse.
Liquid propane, say from a broken hose or leaking tank valve, will flash to a vapor at atmospheric pressure and the vapor appears white due to moisture condensing from the air. A big cloud of propane in the open air will blow up with the slightest spark, even static. So, you want to avoid coming even close to these.
Those basic risks described, however, if you treat propane with respect and understanding, there is no better fuel to stockpile for long term storage and multiple uses in survival situations, at least where you are not on the run, and while it lasts. Especially, when you use propane for just vital things like cooking and night lighting, the use rate is surprisingly low and a little propane will go a long ways.
What is Propane?
Propane is a gaseous byproduct in the refining of both oil and natural gas. It can be compressed into a liquid at relatively low pressures and will readily convert back into a burnable vapor under any conditions which humans can tolerate. First synthesized in 1910, it has been in commercial production since the 1920′s and the technology of using it at the consumer level is very well refined.
90% of all propane used in the US is from US sources, with 70% of the remaining amount coming from Canada. So, using propane fuel doesn’t fund jihad by our enemies and the money remains within the US economy, which are two of the reasons why I like it, beside the many practical prepping utilities.
Propane combustion is much cleaner than gasoline and other liquid hydrocarbons, though not quite as clean as natural gas combustion. Environmentally, it’s usually greener to cook with propane than with electricity. With a perfect burn, attainable only in theory, the only by-products are heat, carbon dioxide and water vapor. So, it can be used for indoor heating applications, but use a stove that provides a very high combustion efficiency and, especially, a low-oxygen sensor that will shut it down if the O2 gets low.
Convenience and Labor Savings
Another way to look at propane is as a serious labor saving device. In a self-subsistence scenario, your greatest critical shortages are going to be labor and the energy to power it. With propane in your resource inventory, the large amount of work that would normally have to be expended gathering and processing fuel for a cooking fire can then redirected into other critical tasks, such as growing food etc.
When cooking is less labor-intensive, it can also be assigned to the lessor-able in the party, such as older folks with more enthusiasm than physical stamina, while they simultaneously babysit and teach the young ones how to cook, freeing up the parents to work elsewhere.
The easiest way to implement propane into your prepping strategy and to start climbing the learning curve is to start looking for ways to incorporate it into your day-to-day life. It doesn’t much matter where you start, but probably the best place is cooking. So, if you don’t already have one, start shopping for a camping cook stove
To develop your proficiency in advance, fire up the camping stove and cook at least a few meals with it, perhaps practicing your prepper cooking recipes at the same time. Maybe hold a “grid-down weekend” drill, where you live off nothing but assembled resources, in order to test your resources and quickly determine what’s missing. You’ll be killing at least three prepping proficiency birds with one stone: Propane, using your portable stove and subsistence-style cooking from stored food.
Propane on the Run
An empty bulk tanks weighs 19 pounds and, when full, will weigh 39 pounds. So, they’re not exactly ideal to bring along when running for your life on foot. However, if mobility is mandatory until you reach your safe haven (you do have one lined up, don’t you?), simple single-burner stoves can be quite small and compact.
When combined with wok cooking, which includes stir-fry, steaming and soups/stews etc., you can feed a feed a lot of people with very little fuel. Asian folks, where fuel is always in critical shortage, have been using woks to cook for countless years as the most fuel-efficient way to prepare food over a tiny flame.
For truly minimalist propane use, such as in your bug out bag, a good choice is the Coleman PefectFlow 1-Burner Stove that screws directly onto the top of the canister.
Between the stove and fuel canister, you’ll add about two pounds to your load. But, you’ll also be able to boil a lot of questionable water for drinking, instant soups, coffee etc. which will also help cut the chill, and heat some quick meals whenever you can stop running for a few minutes.
Adding a small Cantonese style hammered steel lightweight wok
Costs
All things considered, propane as a backup energy supply is dirt cheap. There’s a huge amount of high cost technology involved in the production of the gas and storage containers that you won’t be able to replace on a DIY level. Since propane is a byproduct of other processes, the market price doesn’t reflect its true cost to create it, as with, say, solar panels.
As for cost per heat unit, propane is cheaper (and a lot safer to use) than any of the liquid fuels, though not quite as cheap as piped-in natural gas, none of which will be available in a grid-down situation.
The market price range will generally fluctuate along with the rest of the hydrocarbon market, so stock up shortly after gasoline prices go down, after the propane dealer has had a chance to catch up to lower their prices, which they are frequently not in a hurry to do, unless prices are going up.
For the first couple of bulk tanks in the stockpile, at least, I wouldn’t stress too much about waiting for prices to drop to rock bottom. Even a 50 cents/gallon price difference is still only $2.50 for a bulk tank and I’d hate to get caught in the dark and cold because I delayed and tried to save a little pocket change. Once you’re basically prepared with a couple of bulk tanks, you can then start extending the time that you acquire the balance of your stockpile on a timely and cost-effective basis. Even one bulk tank, with sparing use, should keep you going comfortably for a month of grid-down.
Just to make things confusing, propane is sold in two different measurements: In pre-filled container form, it is sold by the pound of fuel. But it’s sold by the liquid gallon in bulk form. One gallon of liquid propane weighs just over four pounds, or will fill four green one pound canisters.
Since refilling, either by the dealer or the prepper, is never 100% to a container’s capacity, your results will likely vary a little from the measured theory, but this is close enough for long term planning,
A brand new empty 20 pound (aka five gallon) bulk tank, the kind that your outdoor barbecue uses, will cost you about $25-$30. It must then be filled with 5 gallons of propane (currently $2.59/gallon at the farm co-op near my home in the Seattle area), which will cost another $12.95. So, the total cost for a brand new full bulk tank will run about $40.00.
If you obtain your propane by trading in your tank for a pre-”filled” tank at the local store, it’s going to cost you about $18-$25. The higher price in the above recent photo at the local Walmart is if you don’t have a trade-in tank. The lower price is if you do: A difference of about $26, or about the price for a brand new tank. Some propane kiosks will also charge a higher price if your trade-in tank is “non-OPD,” which we’ll cover a little later. You wan to avoid these like the plague.
But, the tank that you receive in trade won’t be full, because the suppliers deliberately do not fill it to capacity. To me, this is on a par with watering the booze. The shortage can vary from 2 pounds (10%) up to 5 pounds (25%) so, in order to figure out how badly you’re being ripped off, check the new tank’s label for the net weight in pounds and subtract that from 20. Around here, trade-in tanks are often 3 pounds (15%) light, so I’ll use that figure.
Trading in is a very costly way to buy propane, at least if that’s your only intent. On a trade-in basis, assuming a $20 trade-in price for the tank, each gallon of propane is going to cost you $ 4.71/gallon, which is a lot more than $2.59 in bulk, especially when you’re talking about five gallons per tank and multiple tanks in the stockpile. If the shortage is greater than 3 pound, you’re paying an even higher price for the fuel.
Propane prices, whether bulk or trade-in and besides market fluctuations, will also often vary by a great deal within the same region. It all depends on where you buy it. I have found that the cheapest place to buy bulk propane is at the local farm co-op. The most expensive is at gas stations near freeway interchanges that see a lot of RV traffic, where the price can be double the co-op’s price. For trade-ins, Walmart has always been about 10% cheaper than other outlets, and that’s one reason to trade in your tanks there. So, shop around and find the best bulk prices in your area.
Another reason to not buy brand new tanks, if you’re going to be trading them in, is that you will lose that shiny new tank, getting a used one back. On a practical level, this doesn’t really matter. But, the idea of trading new for used still grates on me.
One Pound Canisters
A brand new 1 pound small green propane canister will run anywhere from about $2.50 to $7.50. $3.00 is about average locally, so I’ll use that figure. A gallon of propane in one pound canisters is going to cost you about $12.00. So, while this is certainly convenient, it’s also very expensive. Fortunately, these small canisters can be refilled many times for about 65 cents each and we’ll detail how to go about refilling later in this article.
Hardware
Something worth mentioning is to not confuse one pound propane cylinders and hardware with butane-powered ultra-light gear, which are primarily designed for backpacking. A tiny 4 ounce tank and stove might be great in your bug out bag, but this is not a good ongoing fuel source: The tiny tanks won’t last long, bulk butane is difficult to find in the best of times and there is no easy way to refill the tanks. The way that the tanks connect to the hardware is different than propane, too, so there’s no chance of mixing up the two.
One other caveat is that bulk propane tanks require…
Continue reading the article on BackdoorSurvival.com
A Primer on Propane for The Practical Prepper-Part II
DIY Propane Torch
Electrical Backup for a Gas Furnace
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Ron Yong
April 29, 2013 at 7:40 AM
Propane can be used to power a small electrical generator. A propane powered generator cost a little more than a typical gasoline powered generator. Propane stores forever unlike gasoline which goes stale.
It is also safer to store several 20# tanks of propane than gasoline.
And when disaster strikes I never have seen long lines of people trying to purchase propane.
Coitus
April 29, 2013 at 7:56 PM
Know this about propane of natural gas… propane is more efficient in that it produces more BTU’s than natural gas per cubic ft. of fuel. Don’t believe me, go on line and check the percent difference and you will see why lots of folks use propane for heating, cooking, and water heaters.
Enjoy… this is one worthy article and helps tremendous if/when you are forced to “run for the hills”. Matter of fact, yuh just might want to have a “stash” of propane at your get-away.
Frank
May 2, 2013 at 11:35 AM
Add-on propane carburetors are available for generators as after market conversions.
william mills
April 29, 2013 at 8:06 AM
Great article on using propane as a fuel source. Can I also assume that you would recommend a whole house generator that uses propane as the fuel source??
John Barrett
April 29, 2013 at 9:16 AM
Firewood also produces smoke that may be visible for miles. It will draw people who are looking for food, shelter, etc., and endanger you and your family.
With propane, the drawing distance is limited to the range of the cooking odors.
farmer bud
April 29, 2013 at 10:55 AM
I want to help people who want knowledge of survival, I HAVE A LOT OF KNOWLEDGE TO SHARE! I AM, not in to GUNS, I went to Arizona and created a hideaway in a small;l town where it was not the cold that was my big problem but the heat and the water!
I have collected a lot of information, I would like to share it with any one who is serious about being a prepper, I now live in Oklahoma! TORNADO ALLY, gives me the excuse for getting ready for natural disasters. i have married a lady who thinks all this is unnecessary! so it is a lot harder to do my thing, after digging a pond (in Arizona) by hand it was about 10:00 at night (i was outside by the pond which was for rain water) laying on my back watching the stars thinking that at 75 I should teach other younger people how to do this rather than doing it myself for myself! I always said that water and oil do not mix, but all of a sudden I realized that it takes both to make most things run. (cars, planes, and trains) so now I have both , my sweetheart that I met in the 7th grade through the 11th grade, 55 years later I married her and now I live in Oklahoma! I have info to give to people FREE!
I love your article on propane and suggest people use this method, (I wondered why I kept all the propane bottles, from old RVs and all their water tanks for water storage (easy to build decks over them same with propane bottles outside but no one sees them, and no one knows they are there! I had a years supply of water for two people plus enough for my dog (soljar) also! ( figured 2 gallons a day for each person and the dog) now I will add a years supply of propane, thank you for the info!
CAN I BE ANY HELP TO ANY ONE?
FRED
April 29, 2013 at 7:38 PM
ARE YOU ABLE TO CONVERT AUTO ENGINES TO PROPANE, EFFICIENTLY ,AND LEVEL OF MECH. ABILITY…???????
CG
April 30, 2013 at 12:34 PM
HELLO :
My wife and I are seriously looking to get back to the country and ‘retire’ again- we are beginning the search for that locaiton (state) and environment now.
We are both interested in and practicing moderately active Survival routines & lifestyle too. We have been wondering about the possibility of a rational ‘group’ we might even be able to “add” all of our Heatlh Care skills and knowledge to (as a former doctor and nurse).
Could you let me know more about yourself and all, and approx where you are living at now ( ?- or intending to be/stay ?). I would be happy to begin simply and we can start a discussion from there.
We both have other extensive skills and knowledge from our ‘jobs’ and lives as well. I am in So. Utah and she is going to her family for a while in central Minnesota (oldest of 8 on their dairy farm there).
I am open to discussing more once we know more about one another too.
Please reply to me at this email and send me your direct address, and phone number – I will call you after I send a confirmed receipt of your email, along with my own phone number too.
Thanks much,
Carl A.
Michele Stock
April 30, 2013 at 1:23 PM
I would like to get in touch with Farmer John who lived in Arizona and now in Tornado Alley. I have questions on how to convert a swimming pool of water into drinkable water in case of an emergency (we are older and now live in Arizona) We do have a brand new gasoline powered generator that I would sell and buy what kind of generator? Are there solar powered generators? We are getting solar panels for the whole house. How can we solar power the pool and air conditioning? I like the idea of buying a Buddy propane heater package and all the propane, we have the backyard for storage for all of that. I do not know where to begin actually. We are too old to get out of dodge, so we would just hole up with our weapons and food and try to stay alive as long as possible. I cook on a propane grill every night now even though I have a kitchen with everything. Thanks
Michele
TopsInAmerica.com Tim
May 3, 2013 at 3:49 PM
I’m ready to receive brother. And help in anyway possible.
Gabriel
February 20, 2014 at 10:24 PM
Yes, count me in …… I am learning “off the grid ” survival skills our ancestoors possessed.
Thanks …… G.
* Please email me at above address.
Wayne
April 29, 2013 at 12:04 PM
You are not being ripped off by the tank not being full. Safety standards mandate that the most any tank should be filled is to 80% of capacity. This allows room for gas pressure changes when the ambient temperature outside the bottle goes up. It also allows for pressure changes if the bottle is transported to higher elevations. This allows room for the gas to expand under these varying conditions.
Larry B
April 29, 2013 at 12:24 PM
Great article, here is some additional information that may be useful.
20# LP tanks are not filled completely (by volume) to allow room for expansion of the liquid if it is heated by ambient sources. A pressure relief valve is incorporated into the shutoff valve of a 20# LP tank and it will open to release some vapor if the pressure exceeds the safe limit of the tank. This can be very dangerous if it occurs in an enclosed space, like a hot auto or trunk, even if it was properly filled.
The tank should be able to hold 20#, while still retaining the required expansion space. Many fill stations are manually operated and the person filling the cylinder will stop the filling short of 20# to avoid the possibility of overfilling the tank, as it isn’t easy to remove excess propane unless it is vented to the atmosphere, which is both wasteful and dangerous. Theoretically a fill station should charge based on the amount of propane actually added to a tank, since it may not have been completely empty when filled.
MN_in_CA
April 29, 2013 at 3:08 PM
BTW an AK-47 is not inherently dangerous by itself. When making such blanket assertions to a device only illustrates a haphazard method of thinking about guns.
This article should have included cautions about getting tanks with overpressure protective relief valves. Which if damaged or not installed will actually create a hazardous condition. Even more so than the aforementioned AK-47. Which is inert at all temperatures extremes.
Allen
April 29, 2013 at 4:10 PM
I keep a variety of small appliances that use these fuels I have accumulated over the years so that I have options and redundancy. A few ideas on Propane and Butane use and some questions:
Something that most people already have is a Barbecue Grill. Many have a burner on the side for pots, skillets etc. These can be used, outdoors of course, as an alternate cooking area. If you plan on buying one consider that burner option. You can often find them used very cheap and sometimes even free. A lot of people wear the grill out but rarely if ever use the side burner. A turkey Fryer stand is very cheap and any kind of pot or pan can rest on top as well.
I agree with the author that the small butane and other camping stoves are not as good for long term use as propane due to the limited storage of the fuel, but they are convenient and I have a couple that I keep around along with a half a dozen canisters of fuel. I rotate these occasionally and use the old ones first for camping etc. Also keeps me familiar with their use and a good test that they still work. Look in fall/winter for deals in stores.
Shop for portable heating devices in the spring. I have found some up to 75% less than original prices. I am talking about new items. Scrounging around big box, camping, hardware stores etc can really pay off. =Near Yard sale prices for new stuff. Similar deals can be found online. Probably last years or the year before models, but so what if it still works better than what you have now or you desire back-ups?
Be careful on swapping out tanks. Many have been used in the manufacture of Meth. Regardless of what part of the country you are in this stuff is endemic. Of course they could have been misused in other ways as well. I skimp on a lot of stuff, but I buy my tanks new and know their history. I feel they are less likely to malfunction as well if I do this. These seem to be reverse of last note as most are sold for summer, cook-out season not heating, so look in the fall/winter for deals.
Freeze down. As these appliance work they cool and condensate the tank. Where I live it sometimes gets so cold the gas will freeze as well. I have seen the small ones do the same while camping, while in the field in the military etc. Lesson is if super cold (when you probably need them most) they may need to be kept warm somehow. Anybody out there have SAFE ideas on this?
Does anyone out there have experiences with the “Big Buddy”, or similar Propane heaters? I have one of the smaller ones and have contemplated getting a couple of the larger ones and the accessories to attach to larger tanks as some possible back-up heat sources and was just wondering if they were worthwhile?
Thanks and any advice is welcome.
Allen
carolyn
April 29, 2013 at 5:25 PM
I really appreciate this article on the use of propane tanks. I am not very familiar with the use of these tanks and want to learn all that I can. Two years ago I bought a barbeque grill and two new tanks for the very purpose of having something to cook on in case of of a grid down situation. Since then I have also bought them for birthday’s and Father’s Day gifts for my son and son-in-law. They are very comfortable with their use and do home cooking and camping frequently. My fear is how to properly store them. I live in Florida where the summer heat is brutal. Storing them in the outdoor shed is not feasible as the temperature is quite high. One is attached to the barbeque grill and is under a grille cover and that one really doesn’t give me cause for concern. The other is stored in my utility room. Basically it is outside of the main house, but still attached to the house. The temperature in there gets neither too cold nor too hot, but is closed up most of the time. Is this unsafe? My only other option would be to store them on an open carport which is under cover, but in plain veiw of the whole neighborhood. Any suggestions. Thanks, Carolyn
Chuck
April 29, 2013 at 6:19 PM
The small utility sheds that I am familiar with have too many gaps to be very airtight. We don’t worry about heating or air conditioning a utility shed if we are keeping tools and the barbecue in it. If you have gaps and spaces around your utility shed, I wouldn’t worry about gas build-up. On the other hand, I wouldn’t open the door and strike a march for light as soon as I opened the door. There is a difference between worrying about a possible danger and courting disaster.
On a really hot day, a piece of burlap soaked in water and laid over the propane take will cool it significantly and save the loss of propane from expansion. Keep the propane tank out of direct sunlight, of course.
Daniel Larsen
April 30, 2013 at 1:35 AM
I’m headed for large propane storage for all uses. Any laws against this? Say,100+ gal. tanks?
Chuck
April 30, 2013 at 2:53 PM
Check local building codes. Every political entity in the country has a different building code, so only someone familiar with the building code in your city or county could give you a correct answer. If your local building code allows it, you will probably need a permit. I would go to the expense of getting one to avoid problems with local code enforcement later on. If you are not allowed to store that much propane on your property, say, because you live in a city that doesn’t allow for propane storage in a residential district, then you will have to decide what to do. If it is not allowed and you do decide to install it anyway, be prepared for possible civil and/or criminal action if the installation is discovered by code enforcement or law enforcement.
richard1941
April 30, 2013 at 10:31 PM
Propane is an excellent fuel for intermediate term, but in a collapse scenario you will eventually use it all up and there will be no more. That is why I favor wood as a fuel.
As an alternative to propane, consider ethanol. It burns clean and you can even make it yourself if you need to. It is liquid and can be used as a motor fuel.
And if things get really unpleasant while you are surviving, you can drink a little bit of the stuff and worry less.
Sean
August 24, 2013 at 7:00 PM
Just a quick note, and this may have been mentioned, but the reason your tanks aren’t filled to capacity is because of expansion. If a tank is filled until the OPD stops it from taking in any more propane and the tank gets warm the propane will expand and begin to be released from that safety valve. You can imagine a customer who transports their propane tank inside of their trunk being surprised to open their boot and smell “leaking” propane.