Buying and Storing Extra Gas Cylinders for Emergencies

Propane cylinder valve.  Credit: tempus,sxc.hu.

It's summer here and it's also the 4th of July, which for a lot of folks in the USA means a day off with friends and family cooking outside.  It's always handy to have an extra gas cylinder (we use propane) in case you run out in the middle of a big cookout.

But as you know, preppers like to think ahead even more than that.  Extra cylinders are also good to have for short and long-term cooking and heating emergencies.

Smaller Containers

In the short-term, say a one to three day power outage, you may be grilling even if it's cold outside as you don't want the meat in the freezer to go bad, though you may be able to store meat outside if it's really cold and you have a secure space away from animals.  Coleman's, the well-known camping supply company, website states that both propane and propane/butane mixes don't perform as well in colder temperatures, so having a well-ventilated place in suggested temperatures (on canisters) to set up your grill in the winter is something else to consider.  Many people use the standard 20-pound  (5 gallons) propane cylinder for their home barbecue grills but larger ones are used too.  Smaller camp-sized grills and portable heaters often use the 16.4-oz cylinders.

Larger Gas Tanks

For those who can legally have large propane tanks on their property and have the space, I defer you to James Wesley Rawles' Survival Blog.  He has posts here, here, and here on fuel storage.  And also the residential propane tank page at Propane 101.  This is a great site for all kinds of info on propane.

Storage Safety Tips and Duration of Use

According to Propane 101, consumer propane cylinders are meant to be stored vertically on a flat surface in a well-ventilated area away from an area that can get wet.

It's hard to say how long one 20-pound cylinder will last for each household.  It depends on your use.  The one we have on our grill is about used up after nearly 2 years.  We do grill a lot during the summer but it's usually just for the two of us, so a family of four would have different usage.

I don't have experience with anything but propane, so again, I will defer you elsewhere to an excellent article from Backwood's Home Magazine online on the most common types of gas used in residences and how to store them properly.  I don't want to give you crap information based on lack of knowledge and have you blow yourself up.

Cylinder Cost

The initial cash outlay for a full 5-gallon cylinder where I live is around $55.  We then turn each empty cylinder in for a refill (much like bottled water) for about $20 (Wal-Mart prices, though we've noticed the gas stations have comparable prices).  We lucked out recently and got an extra empty cylinder for free through Freecycle which we promptly got refilled. Otherwise, we would have needed to save up a little longer to have an extra cylinder on hand.

You should be able to find the smaller cylinders for around $3, maybe even cheaper depending on the season.    You can find them at Wal-Mart and other big-box stores, some mom and pop stores, hardware stores and outdoor supply stores.  The cost of shipping when ordering online can be prohibitively expensive because of the weight of the cylinders.

Have fun grilling, prepping and stay safe.

© P.J. Deneen