Happy National Propane Day from the Beautiful San Juan Islands! Lets get ready for winter!

Donny Galt

2 hours ago

4 min read

Today, October 7, is the fifth National Propane Day. The Propane Education & Research Council and National Day Calendar started the observance in 2022. They picked this date on purpose. The hazmat placard on every propane tank, bobtail, and transport reads 1075. Write that as a date and you get 10/7.

This year’s industry campaign is called Your Power Play. PERC’s message is simple: propane on your property is an energy advantage. It is stored where you use it. It does not depend on the electric grid staying up. It is there for heat, hot water, cooking, and — if you have one — a backup generator.

On the San Juan Islands-a stormy day, a power outage or a cold snap can stack up fast. The power play is having fuel in your tank and a clear path to it before you need it.

What you should do before winter

These are the steps that actually prevent a cold-night phone call. None of them require a special tool.

1. Confirm you have access to your monitor. If your tank has a monitor, open the app and make sure you can see a current reading. Never received the activation email? Call or text 360-378-1025 and ask for the Nee-Vo activation. We will send it.

2. We fill monitored tanks around 35 to 40 percent. Those accounts are ticketed in that range on purpose. Waiting until the gauge looks low leaves no room for a stormy day or a full route ahead of you. Will-call customers: please call us at 35 percent, not at 10. If you would like more information about our monitoring service just drop us a call. 360-378-1025

3. Clear the path to the tank. Move trailers, boats, firewood, and stacked lumber off the driveway. Trim brush so a bobtail can turn. A delivery truck is wider than a pickup. If we cannot get in safely, we cannot fill.

4. Mark the tank and protect the regulator. If your tank is difficult to find, a bright stake or flag helps our drivers after the first frost or snow, or a heavy leaf drop. Keep the regulator vent clear. Leaves, nests, and ice on the vent are a common reason a furnace or on-demand water heater will not stay lit.

5. Test every carbon monoxide alarm. Press the button. Replace the batteries. CO risk does not take the winter off, especially if a furnace, fireplace, or water heater is in the plan.

6. Watch the safety videos and download the safety brochure. Both are at https://www.interislandpropane.com/safetyinfo The Safety Guide for Propane Users is PRC-101063D. A Spanish copy is available as well.

7. Decide how you want the bill to arrive. Budget billing spreads payments across the year so winter use does not all land in one statement. It levels the payment. It does not lock the gallon price. Ask the office if you want on the plan before the cold months.

How Inter Island Propane is set up for this

The customer steps above work because the company side is already a system, not a scramble.

• Fuel on three islands. We keep bulk storage in Friday Harbor, on Lopez, and in Eastsound. We are not waiting on the ferries for a retail delivery. Our barge partner, San Juan Ferry and Barge, moves propane from the mainland so those bulk tanks stay full — and your tank stays full.

• Predictive delivery. Cargas usage history plus tank monitors schedule fills before you have to watch the gauge. That is our system behind the no-run-out promise on monitored tanks.

• You will know we are coming. Opt in at the office for on-the-way and completed-delivery texts.

• A person answers. Office hours for account questions. After hours and holidays, the answering service reaches the on-call team.

• Safety on paper. Please take a moment and read the Safety Guide for Propane Users (PRC-101063D). A Spanish copy is available as well.

A short history, because the placard is a good story

Propane was identified in 1910 by Walter Snelling, a U.S. Bureau of Mines chemist, after a Ford owner complained that gasoline was vanishing from his tank. The “wild gas” boiling off the gasoline was propane and its cousins. More than a century later, the same fuel heats island homes, runs restaurant kitchens, and keeps a generator ready when the lights go out.

National Propane Day is the industry’s way of saying thank you to the drivers, technicians, and office teams who keep that fuel moving — and of reminding customers that the safest fill is the one scheduled before you need it.