Spring is here, and it’s the perfect season to clean and address any service issues with the propane for your Columbia, Maryland, home. Maintaining your home’s propane will not only improve safety, but also ensure you’ll have it when you need it most. Check out these simple spring cleaning and maintenance tips.
Know and Understand Your Propane Volume
One thing you may not know about reading your propane levels is the correlation between the gauge readings and the temperature outside. When the temperature outside is warm, the propane in your tank will expand. This expansion leads to increased volume in your tank. When the temperatures drop, you will lose volume, leading to lower readings.
The base point for the temperature and volume correlation is 60 degrees. When the temperatures are below 60, you can expect more in the tank than what the gauge reads. When the outside temperature is above 60, the reading will show you have more than you really do. Understand your propane volume so that you can properly judge how much propane is remaining.
Check to See if You Are Close to Needing a Refill
You should keep on top of your propane service so that your tank never runs dry. Understand the filling process, how much you’re using, and peak order times that can delay delivery. The first thing to understand is that for safety purposes, your propane company will never fill your tank more than 80% to allow for expansion and temperature variations.
Knowing your tank’s starting point, you can judge how much you’re using in a month. If they fill it to 80%, and you’re down to 60% after three months, then you used around 20%. Since propane costs can widely fluctuate during the year, it’s good to know how close you are to needing a fill so that you can take advantage when the prices are lower. You also want to know your propane level so that you can have enough to get you through the season.
Clean Around Your Unit
Keeping the area around your propane tank free of debris is essential, especially during the spring and summer seasons. Clear a perimeter of at least 2 feet around the tank of tall grass, brush, branches, or other types of overgrowth, and keep it maintained throughout the year. This step will also make accessing the unit to check the gauges easier.
Clean Your Propane Tank
Since your propane tank lives its life outside, it’s bound to get fairly dirty from its encounter with the elements. It’s not likely to get all of the debris off of the tank unless you pay to have it sandblasted, but you can remove a lot of the loose dirt from the surface by simply using water and detergent. Whenever washing, just be cautious not to remove any paint.
Schedule Your Maintenance Service
To ensure that your propane and all of your propane appliances are functioning properly, it’s crucial to have regular service. Annual maintenance will help keep your propane appliances in good condition.
During your service visit, your technician will inspect the appliances and check the connectors to see if they are worn and need replacing. They will also check that all of your connections are safe and up-to-date with current regulations. In addition to checking the connections, your technician will also thoroughly check your propane water heater, looking for built-up sediments, worn parts, or signs that it may need to be replaced soon. Having regular service will not only ensure all your appliances are safe, but also extend their longevity.
Get a jump on your spring cleaning by caring for your propane tank and appliances and having them properly maintained. Need to schedule annual service for your propane tank? Want to ensure the connections on your appliances are up-to-date? Contact us at 888-474-3391 today. One of our Griffith Energy Services Propane specialists will schedule your service.
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