[Speedslug]

I am pretty sure Dale or one of our safety experts can explain in detail why a one pound can is permissible under the fire codes regulations better than I can but I will give it a shot.

Propane is a liquid when it is stored in any container we might normally get our hands on.
This liquid will expand into a gas that increases in volume to something like 3000 times the space it occupies when in a liquid state.
So even a little one pound bottle of the stuff has enough power to take out a whole house and maybe knock down the one next door too.

A twenty pound tank used for grilling has about 16 pounds of liquid in it and when it goes boom it can take out a building the size of half a city block. That would include some five or six fire trucks parked out side trying to fight a fire before it goes off.

I think they "allow" us to have one or two one pound bottles in our houses because not allowing it would make us hide them inside anyway and that would lead to us hiding a stash of them rather than just one or two.

Ok so I think I have established that the stuff is extremely dangerous even in small quantities.

The problem with larger bottles with only a little in them is
(1) it is very hard to get them refilled in "just a pound or two" increments and
(2) anyone who watches what you are doing is going to assume that it is a full bottle and they will go home and use a full bottle and
(3) it is not the size of the bottle that is the inherent problem.

The problem is the age old "what if it leaks" question.

If it leaks you then have at best twice as much gas to ignite and I think that twice as much gas gives you four times as much "boom" or more. Two fire crackers at once cause a lot more damage than one fire cracker set off in the same place twice.

So to answer your question directly; Please use the one pound bottles in the house until you get plumbing installed to use the bar-b-que tanks with them outside.


Your homeowner insurance will not cover the damages if you have an accident with a bar-b-que tank in your house and your neighbor will be able to sue you as well.

We know its a pain in the butt. But the costs out weigh the benefits of the convenience.

Heck get a four of the one pound bottles and refill them from the bar-b-que tank out side and then bring them in two at a time and swap them out as you need to.

Or skip the bottles altogether and hook up a natural gas line instead.

Unlike propane, which is heavier that air and will pool in the crawlspace and basement and wait for a spark to go boom, natural gas is lighter than air and will go up and out of the house if it can. It will still go boom if it doesn't get out but it won't pool and wait for an ignition.