costco propane $10.99

[T-Rex]

hey everyone,

Not sure what you guys pay for propane down there but I just discovered Costco does refills for $10.99 + tax for a 20lb. tank.

I used to go to the local welding supply place (weld pro gases) and got $18/fill. The savings at Costco will pay for the membership in just a few months. Now I have a Costco membership I otherwise couldn't justify, which lets me get gigantic quantities of just about everything haha.

Hope this helps someone out!

[Sparkey]

Thanks :)

[Icarus]

Has anyone had luck with this in the US? I was looking for info on the local ones, and it sounds like it might be a Canada only thing...

Either way, thanks for sharing. Just a heads up to US blowers that they should check availability before signing up.

[aREa541]

I say sign up anyway! Costco has earned my loyalty over the years by taking care of me whenever something goes wrong with anything expensive I have bought there.

Couple stories:

About 5 years ago I bought a 52" flatscreen from them for $2100 when the next cheapest place had them for $2750. I asked the other store if they could match the price and they said that $2100 was less than their cost! Anyway, about 20 months later my flatscreen developed a line through the screen, so I called Costco and they said bring it in and return it. They gave me a refund which allowed me to purchase a newer TV with better features of the same size and have $400 left over for other stuff! I would like to see any other store (ahem Best Buy) do something like that.

I bought my woman's diamond ring there, spent a lot of money on it. She somehow managed to smash it in a doorway and bent the ring and popped a couple of the smaller diamonds on the band out. They had it fixed for free and replaced the missing diamonds with no hassle. Not to mention it was very well priced for the quality of the jewelry, all their diamonds are conflict free and above a certain high grade. Once again, I would like to see any other store take care of their customer in that way.

In both cases I would have been out a decent amount of money if they hadn't took care of me.

I really like their business model of putting the customer first and taking care of any issue they might have with products they carry. It makes for very loyal customers, who sing their praises on online forums and the like. Other stores like Kohl's have copied this model and according to Consumer Reports it seems to be working for them too!

[Sparkey]

As much as I hate corporations, Costco does pay its workers a living wage.

[TlkQ]

$15 a fill at Ace. Also you get the little card thingy and get the 6th one free.

[T-Rex]

I bought my woman's diamond ring there, spent a lot of money on it. She somehow managed to smash it in a doorway and bent the ring and popped a couple of the smaller diamonds on the band out.


Let's hope her hand wasn't in it at the time, haha.

Yea Costco is great for the consumer, tough for the supplier.... my dad owned a monitor distribution company and sold through Costco - it was tough for him because Costco has such lax return policies. You can return anything anytime basically and get a full refund. Still, I'm sure it was good for volume.

Anyway, try calling your local Costco, Icarus - it's not advertised at all on their webpage, not even the Canadian one. I'm not sure they all do it, but a quick phone call will let you know.

[ahreno]

I say sign up anyway! Costco has earned my loyalty

It's funny, this is the point I stopped reading your post at because i knew it was going to be you...

[aREa541]

It's funny, this is the point I stopped reading your post at because i knew it was going to be you...

I know lol. We were just talking about this last week. Costco should pay me for my rep services.

[truedef]

$15 a fill at Ace. Also you get the little card thingy and get the 6th one free.

Im going to call my Ace and Costco tomorrow.

If costco can do 10.99 a tank thats 54.95 for 5 tanks.

Ace at 15 a tank is 75 for 5 tanks. So costco I could theoretically get two tanks free after buying 5 refills.

Ill let you guys know if my Houston costco is the same as canada, Im about to run out of propane.

[Action Glass]

Yeah depending on location gas prices fluctuate. I pay $41 for 8 gallons here in Los Angeles. In Oregon it was $16 :-(

[maui greenstone]

I'll have to look into that. I pay almost $30 a fill here at ace. If I can get it for under $20 I'ld be stoked.

[T-Rex]

Yea man I was stoked too, I don't understand how/why it can be so much cheaper - commodities like gas are usually priced pretty evenly all around.

Careful with your math, truedef - TlkQ said the 6th one is free, so you actually get 6 for $75, which works out to $12.50 each and is a damn good deal as well.

[apixdesign]

At my ace its about 20$ a fill and the tanks are only filled to 15pounds instead of the full 20. No free tank for me either, I just get the welding guys which is actually 20pounds and save alot from that.

[Ne2]

I fill my tanks at U-Haul.

When you fill one tank it is over $4/gal... but I fill six tanks at once and get a bulk discount.

27 gallons @ $3.11/gal = $84.00

$14 per tank

[Greymatter Glass]

Here in Albuquerque I'm paying $2.10 a gallon right now, might go up to $2.15 over the summer.... and that's for any non-contract amount, so a 5 gallon tank costs $11.24 after tax, and the 50gal I get is $112.35 after tax.

Where you'll see the smaller differences is in local and state taxes... that will account for a difference of several cents per gallon usually. Anything more than that is due to regional supply and demand, profiteering, storage fees, transportation, and how many people there are between the producer and the end user. Here in New Mexico we produce a large amount of propane and it doesn't have far to travel, not sure what the production scene is like outside this area...

[TlkQ]

At my ace its about 20$ a fill and the tanks are only filled to 15pounds instead of the full 20. No free tank for me either, I just get the welding guys which is actually 20pounds and save alot from that.

A fill or a swap? At mine they certainly fill it to 20 lbs.

[Greymatter Glass]

I fill my tanks at U-Haul.


Everywhere I've ever been u-haul is pretty much the most expensive place to buy propane.... check with RV centers, and look for places that sell propane for cooking and heating. $3.11/gal is robbery.

Also, _NEVER_ use those tank exchanges, they under fill tanks (legally, they sell propane by actual volume, not container, so nothing says they have to put 5 gallons of fuel in a 5 gallon tank... they have to disclose this fact somewhere, legally, but many of them don't and just pay the fines)

[Action Glass]

A fill or a swap? At mine they certainly fill it to 20 lbs.
They only fill a tank to 80% capacity since it expands and contracts in the bottle.

[TlkQ]

It's sitting on a scale. If that's the logic I don't understand how a welding shop fills it fuller than Ace.

[H1JACK3R]

I just swap my tank out at the Walgreens up the road. It costs $22.

Every place around here went from 20lbs to 15lbs in the same sized tank. Probably just a cost cutting thing.

[istandalone24/7]

Airgas here in Bennington charges me $10.25 + tax for a fill on a 20lb propane tank. not too bad i thought. the same places charges $38 for a t tank of oxy. i sure wish oxy was as cheap as lp gas.

[TlkQ]

I just swap my tank out at the Walgreens up the road. It costs $22.

Every place around here went from 20lbs to 15lbs in the same sized tank. Probably just a cost cutting thing.

You should find somewhere to get fills. It's cheaper and you get a full 20. Also, around here Home Depot does swaps 24 hours for 18 bucks. It's still only 15, but not bad for afterhours.

[TlkQ]

Derble perst.

[Action Glass]

I used to swap my tanks a few years back. One day i had a full spectrum light show flying out of my torch. Thought it was a flashback, blinked twice it was still there. I vowed to fill my own tank from that day on.

[istandalone24/7]

what was that? dirty/contaminated o2?

[Action Glass]

No it was the propane cause when i switched it it was normal again. Wierdest thing ive ever seen

[Action Glass]

Now that i think of that. What was that? metal in the tank? Powder coat and rust?

[istandalone24/7]

i'm curious too. i've had the technicolor flame once or twice but it was when my tank was very low...like on fumes.

[istandalone24/7]

maybe that mercapin (sp?) crap?

[Action Glass]

Are you talking about transmission fluid? Thats all i got from google.

[Greymatter Glass]

he means Ethanethiol, aka ethyl mercaptan

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethanethiol

[PhilosophicalPete]

The cheapest I found per lb refill in Orange County, CA was around $3.00

[Dave Umbs]

im paying 15.99 a fill at ace for a 20lb.
16.50 at the welding place i get my oxygen from for a 20
36 to get a 40 pound at the welding
this is all in eastern PA outside philly

At ace ive noticed it depends who is filling your tanks normally ive had no issues with the people who have been filling my tanks ( after getting propane there for a year), but recently ive noticed my propane running out quicker after this kid fills my tanks so who knows my guess is he just doesnt want to deal with filling tanks and half asses it. I gotta pay better attention and watch em when they fill it i suggest the same. At both the places i go there is a meter and you can watch how many gallons actually get filled. Idk if its the same everywhere with said meter though.

[Matt P]

Switching tanks is nowhere near as cost effective as getting your own filled in most places. The U-Haul place has some of the cheapest propane I was able to fine when I was filling 20lbs, now that I'm working in a large shop we get a couple 100lb tanks filled at once, and get a decent rate from the actual propane dealer/store.

[H1JACK3R]

Walgreens is just convenient. It's close, and 24 hours.

[Greymatter Glass]

It also depends on if you use $100 a year worth of propane or $2500 a year, of course....

We fill 2x25 gal. tanks about 18-20 times a year.... it adds up quick. If I was paying $3.10 a gallon I would be paying $1000 a year more for propane than I am now... well worth the time to go a little further to pay less. if I were working alone and using 30-40 gallons a year I would probably opt for convenient over price if it wasn't costing me more than an extra $5-8 a tank.... everyone has to make that choice.

[mfinn2135]

Airgas here in Bennington charges me $10.25 + tax for a fill on a 20lb propane tank. not too bad i thought. the same places charges $38 for a t tank of oxy. i sure wish oxy was as cheap as lp gas.

I don't understand Airgas at all for oxy haha, the Barre one wants $50 per tank and the williston one said $30....makes no sense to me

[istandalone24/7]

because they charge what they think we'll pay....and they're right most of the time. in Bennington, there is nowhere else to go. i could drive south down to Massachusetts (about 40 minutes) or west to Albany NY (about an hour) to another welding gas distributor and look for better prices but i've got concentrators anyway. warmer weather means free oxy for me....couldn't use them during winter months, damn unheated garage.

[hnk]

12$ fills at the gas station for 20lbs here in key largo fl