FORT COLLINS, Colo. (AP) – With the limitations of the coronavirus forcing bars and restaurants to turn customers outside in the dead of winter, many are rushing to get their hands on erratic supplies of propane that space heaters they rely on more than ever to keep people comfortable in the cold.
It’s one of many new headaches – albeit a crucial one – associated with setting up tables and tents on sidewalks, streets and patios to meet public health restrictions.
“You’re in the middle of the shift and the staff come up and say, ‘We’re out of propane!’” Said Melinda Maddox, manager of a whiskey tasting room in Colorado.
Propane has long been a lifeline for people living in places too remote to get natural gas through mains to their homes for heating, hot water and cooking. This winter, 18 liter (5 gallon) propane tanks have also proven a new necessity for urban businesses, especially in places like the Rocky Mountains, where the sun often takes the edge off the cold and people still like to congregate on patios when the heaters roar .
The standard size tanks, which contain pressurized liquid propane that turns to gas on release, are usually readily available at gas stations, supermarkets, or home improvement stores. But that has not always been the case recently, as high demand leads to sometimes erratic stocks.
“I drove around town for an hour for a day. Literally went north, south, east, west – just looped around Fort Collins because every gas station I went to was out. That was frustrating, ”said Maddox, who runs the Reserve By Old Elk Distillery tasting room in downtown Fort Collins, about 65 miles north of Denver.
Almost all states allow at least some indoor dining, but the national rules are a medley of local regulations. In Fort Collins, indoor seating in bars and restaurants is limited to 25% of normal seating capacity, so there is a strong incentive to seat customers outdoors despite the complications and costs.
Local shortages of propane tanks are not only the result of increased demand, but also of household hoarding, similar to the pandemic of toilet paper and other goods. A national tank supplier reported a 38% increase in sales this winter, said Tom Clark, executive director of the Rocky Mountain Propane Association.
But Clark says the stock is there, it could just mean looking for something more than usual. If there are 10 suppliers in a neighborhood, “maybe 1 in 10 is out of stock. You can certainly find propane exchange tanks if you look around, ”Clark said.
Franklin, the Tennessee-based tank manufacturer Manchester Tank, has paid workers overtime and ramped up production in India to meet demand, company chairman Nancy Chamblee said by email.
According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the surge in small-tank propane demand so far has not affected overall U.S. propane demand and prices, which are comparable to recent winters.
But trying to find a steady supply of propane can cost companies already stressed time and money that they didn’t have during the pandemic.
Gas stations are better than home improvement stores for propane tanks because you can park closer, Maddox said, but stores that refill tanks are best because it’s cheaper and not as complicated as draining each tank.
“The problem is it takes longer,” said Maddox. “You just have to build that into your day and say OK, it takes 40 minutes instead of 25 minutes.”
Across the street, Pour Brothers Community Tavern owners Kristy and Dave Wygmans have refilled tanks for their 18 or so stoves and fire bowls at a vendor on the outskirts of town after a nearby store no longer offers a refill service.
They found that propane tanks bear a date of manufacture stamp. Propane stores will not fill tanks older than 12 years unless they have been recertified in five year increments.
“We are learning more and more about propane,” said Dave Wygmans.
They also gained insight into the space heaters market, which more than doubled in price last fall due to rising demand, and converted outdoor furniture for their on-street parking into an outdoor patio that can seat up to 44 people, Kristy Wygmans said.
Their employees also had to quickly learn how to connect propane tanks and light heaters, needed in a place where the temperature can drop well below zero (minus 18 degrees Celsius) in winter.
Keeping customers comfortable has taken on a new dimension outdoors, said Dave Wygmans.
‘Before it was just food and drink, right? And now we think that drinks and food are the priority, but maybe the customer thinks the priority is the heat. And so we now have to weigh a priority that some customers may care about, ”he said.
“It’s almost like another service we provide is outdoor heat,” said Wygmans.
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