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Propane Grill Time Calculator

See how long a propane tank lasts on your grill.

How it is calculated

The tool turns the amount of propane into energy and divides by how fast the grill uses it. total BTU = tank pounds × 21,500, using 21,500 BTU per pound of propane, and hours = total BTU ÷ BTU per hour. Tank pounds is the weight of the propane in the tank, so 20 for a full 20 lb cylinder; a partly used tank should be entered by its remaining propane weight. BTU per hour is the total burner rating from the grill's data plate, with all burners you run counted. The hours are rounded to one decimal, and the page also shows the total BTU and echoes your rating. A burner rating of zero or less, a negative tank weight or an empty field gives no result; a tank weight of 0 shows 0.0 hours. The result assumes burners at full output, so cooking at medium or low gives a longer time than shown, and wind or cold may change it.

Worked example

A full 20 lb tank and a grill rated at 36,000 BTU per hour in total. Energy in the tank: 20 × 21,500 = 430,000 BTU. Burn time: 430,000 ÷ 36,000 = 11.94, shown as 11.9 hrs at full output. If you usually cook with the burners at about half power (18,000 BTU/hr), the same tank would last close to twice as long, so about 24 hours of such cooking. With half a tank (10 lb) the tool shows 6.0 hrs.

Try this example →

Common mistakes

  • Entering the tank's gallon or litre size in the pounds field. The field is pounds of propane, so a 20 lb cylinder gets 20.
  • Entering the rating of one burner when the grill has several. Use the total BTU per hour of all the burners you run together.
  • Entering a full 20 for a half-empty tank. Enter the remaining propane, for example 10, or weigh the tank and subtract its empty weight.
  • Treating the hours as real cooking time at every setting. The figure assumes maximum output, so low-heat cooking lasts longer.
  • Using the grill's rating in kW or watts. The tool needs BTU per hour, so convert first (1 kW is about 3,412 BTU/hr).

About this calculator

A propane grill's burn time depends on two numbers: how much energy is in the tank and how fast the grill burns through it. A standard 20-lb propane tank holds a fixed amount of usable energy measured in BTUs, and a grill's burner rating (also in BTUs per hour) determines how quickly that energy gets consumed — a grill running multiple burners on high will empty a tank far faster than one simmering on low.

Knowing roughly how many hours a tank will last helps with planning a cookout, a camping trip, or just knowing when to have a backup tank ready instead of running out mid-cook. Tank size and the grill's BTU rating are used to estimate how many hours of cooking a full propane tank will give you.

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  • Editorial team

    The answer assumes the burners run at their full rating, so cooking on low usually stretches the hours. To find how much propane is left, weigh the cylinder and subtract the tare weight (TW) stamped on its collar; enter the difference. The default 20 lb at 30,000 BTU/hr gives 14.3 hours. What rating is on your grill's data plate, and does the estimate match your experience?

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