Written on: March 20, 2023
Unlike the milk, eggs, and bread that you get at the grocery store, the propane Johnny Prescott delivers to your home does not have an expiration date.
That’s because propane doesn’t spoil or “go bad!”
Heating oil, kerosene, diesel, and gasoline can all become degraded over time. Such degradation will not only reduce the performance of these fuels but also have a negative impact on the equipment they are powering, such as your home’s heating system.
If a car is left parked for an extended period with a full tank of gas, the fuel will become chemically altered after around six months and thus won’t burn efficiently. Although diesel remains viable for a slightly longer duration, this extended shelf life does not exceed one year. And ethanol and bio-based fuels begin to degrade and evaporate after only a few months. With a shelf life of approximately 18 months, heating oil remains effective enough to still be used even if there are some leftover gallons from the previous winter.
Propane does not deteriorate over time, and with its storage in a tightly sealed tank, it is safe from any chemical or physical reactions. Therefore, when stored properly for long periods of time, propane will remain as effective as the day it was purchased. That makes propane a wise choice for various kinds of appliances and equipment in your own home. From water heaters that are used on the daily to those you only access occasionally like space heaters and fireplaces, propane has all sorts of advantages that can’t be beat!
This longevity and stability make propane ideal for whole-house standby generators. Other versions use gasoline or diesel and that could leave users in the lurch during power outages. Either the fuel inside the generator’s tank has degraded, or the users don’t have fresh fuel available.
With never-failing propane for your generator stored safely at your home in your propane tank, you can be assured that your standby generator will kick on when you need it!
This is something you should not worry about because propane’s freezing point is about -306°F. This temperature could only be produced in a laboratory setting because this freezing point is too cold to happen anywhere on Earth—including the South Pole.
Propane does have a boiling point of about -44°F. At this temperature, liquid propane can no longer turn into a gas. Now it is possible to reach that temperature but it would be very rare. For trivia buffs, our record low is -37°in the Concord area.
The main concern during extremely cold winters is not propane freezing, but a loss of pressure in your tank.
Like all liquids, propane contracts in the cold. When it does, the volume of liquid propane in your tank shrinks, resulting in a loss of pressure. If the pressure gets too low, propane won’t be able to reach your gas burner.
To avoid low pressure problems during cold weather extremes, follow these tips
Become a Johnny Prescott customer for the most reliable propane delivery around!
