Every Little Bit Helps

In these inflationary times, every little bit helps.  As we enter hurricane season or who knows what else is coming down the road, it's time to get prepared AND try to save some money while you're doing it.  Here's one little trick I just learned.  We use the 1 lb. Coleman propane bottles to power our Coleman camping stove.  We use that stove for cooking when we camp out OR during hurricanes when we lose power.  It is really a useful thing.

We wanted to ensure that we have extra propane in the event of another extended power outage.  I checked prices and a 1 lb. Coleman propane tank full is running $7.99.  That's a little steep.  I started looking for a fitting to refill the 1 lb. tank off of my "crawfish boiling propane tank."  I found it!  The attached fitting cost $9.84:

All of our little tanks were full except for the one that we used when we were camping recently in Pensacola, Florida.  I decided to test it out.  First, I put the somewhat empty tank in the deep freeze:

I googled what an empty 1 lb Coleman tank weighs and it said 1.3 pounds.  I weighed the one I had just pulled out of the freezer.  I could feel some liquid in it.  It weighed 1 pound, three ounces.

First, I put on gloves and safety glasses.  I screwed the fitting on the big propane tank and turned it over.  This ensures all of the liquid travels downward.  If you didn't do this, you'd fill your little tank with vapor.  I turned the valve on the bigger tank and you could hear the propane filling the smaller tank.  After a few minutes, I could no longer hear any liquid transferring, so I shut the valve.

I searched the Internet to see what a full 1 lb tank of Propane should weigh and it said 30 ounces.  I weighed the "full" tank and it weighed 26 ounces.  Although I wasn't able to get the full fill, that's okay.

Mission accomplished!  We were able to save some money by refilling the tank ourselves versus purchasing new ones.  After we fill one more, we've paid for the fitting with the savings.  As an added bonus, we don't contribute to filling the Parish landfill with empty propane tanks.  A true win-win situation!