How much do you pay for a CO2 tank? Refill?

My LHBS is quoting me about $180 for a 10 lb CO2 tank, with $40 refills; they want $50 for a used keg as well.

Is it me, or are they screwing me?

I bought my 5# tank from kegconnection.com and get 8 to 10 kegs between refills (I paid $55 on sale, but regular price is $65). I get my refills from a local fire extinguisher supply company for $8.00.

Your getting screwed.

Refills on a 10lb tank should be around $15-20. Call local welding supply stores. Or check Craigslist if you live near a metropolitan area.

Much appreciate it; damn happy I thought twice before pulling the trigger on this one

Prices do vary quite a bit across the country depending on where you are, but $40 for a 10# tank seems high just about anywhere. Out of curiosity I googled welding supply stores in Tampa, and it looks like Crumpton Welding supply will exchange a 10# tank for $17.80. It will be more after they add hazmat fees and taxes, but still be way cheaper than $40. I'd bet most of the welding supply stores in your area have similar prices.

Local weld shop charges $100 for a 5 lb. and fills are $11
I bought a 5 lb off craigslist for $50, went to the weld shop and exchanged it for a very new looking, full, recently hydro'd bottle for $11.
When that one ran out, I upgrade the 5 lb to a 10 lb for an additional $39, so if you count two 5 lb fills at $11 = $22, it was only a $17 upgrade. Future fills will be $15.
Look in craigslist.
Check out welding, fire extinguisher, and indoor grow shops for cheapest Co2 prices.

Try beverage elements, they are a vendor here on hbt. New 10lb aluminum $67, used steel 10lb $50
http://www.bvrgelements.com/category/Tank/

I exchange my empty 5lb tank for a filled one for $17

You can get a 20 lb aluminum co2 tank for around 110 on beverage factory. I just exchanged mine at praxair in GA and it was $36. Pretty good deal considering the 20 lb will last anywhere from 67-80 corny kegs.

if you go to a welding shop you think they have food grade co2. If your not buying food grade there's no telling what your drinking. My brother works for a gas company and i ask him whats the difference and he told me the food grade has been filtered to remove all the harmfull gases and oils. So watch what you put in your body.A few more dollars may keep you healthy.

UCanBrewToo said:

if you go to a welding shop you think they have food grade co2. If your not buying food grade there's no telling what your drinking. My brother works for a gas company and i ask him whats the difference and he told me the food grade has been filtered to remove all the harmfull gases and oils. So watch what you put in your body.A few more dollars may keep you healthy.

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I feel like this is somewhat of a myth. I understand your brother works for a gas company. But I feel like the 2 are pretty much the same. But I do agree there is a difference. It seems to be who you talk to. Some people say its the same thing, some say there is a difference. Look at this article, it helps explain. http://thebrewingnetwork.com/BN-Army-Blog/C02-Myths-and-Rumors. Now the real question is if you really believe what you are getting from your supplier. Who knows what some places actually have.

As for me, there is a reputable extinguisher place close to me that fills a TON of bottles for people at about $20 for 5#. Seems steep to me as my LHBS has an exchange program for $17 for a 5# bottle.

The cost around here is about $80 to purchase a full 5# aluminum tank, and exchanges are in the $20-$25 ballpark, even from a local welding shop. I called around a while back, and as I recall I could go to an extinguisher service guy (runs the company from his house IIRC) and it'd be a bit less for a CO2 refill. I don't know about 10# tanks.

Here in dallas, $22 after fees for a 20lb swap at any Airgas.

I believe there used to be food grade and welding grade, but Airgas merged with Beergas and now they say it is all food grade. Not sure if other gas suppliers are the same.

travisnd said:

I exchange my empty 5lb tank for a filled one for $17

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This. But a 10 lb refill is $18. Go figure.

I pay $17 for a 7lb refill (oddball tank) at my local scuba shop. If I had a normal 5lb tank, I could exchange it at my local Airgas for $10. I bought the 7lb from Beverage Elements for around $40 shipped ( I have 2 of them).

$13.56 for exchange on 20# tank. Just picked one up Friday.

#5 tank - 25ish from a fire extinguisher place.

I know it's highway robbery, but it's in the city and a hell-of-a-lot quicker than taking the subway out to another place that would be $15-20 anyways.

JRems said:

Try beverage elements, they are a vendor here on hbt. New 10lb aluminum $67, used steel 10lb $50
http://www.bvrgelements.com/category/Tank/

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Amen to this. And I get 10 lbs refilled at a local party distributor for $13. Your LHBS is a rip off.

UCanBrewToo said:

if you go to a welding shop you think they have food grade co2. If your not buying food grade there's no telling what your drinking. My brother works for a gas company and i ask him whats the difference and he told me the food grade has been filtered to remove all the harmfull gases and oils. So watch what you put in your body.A few more dollars may keep you healthy.

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CO2 is CO2, man... food grade? Bohonkus, I say!

Where I am in Canada, it cost me a little over $40 for a 5# refill. But it cost pretty the same for a 20# refill.

I called some places in OKC today and found one that says they refill a 20# tank for $10. Another quoted me $12 for the same fill. Sounds too good to be true so I'm bringing my tank there today!!

cardinalsfan said:

I called some places in OKC today and found one that says they refill a 20# tank for $10. Another quoted me $12 for the same fill. Sounds too good to be true so I'm bringing my tank there today!!

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I'm sure that's better than the first prices you were looking at, but I was of the opinion that a fill is different from a swap, due to a fill being pressurized gas vs a swap containing 20lbs of liquid co2.

I use two 20lb tanks with a total of 7 kegs on average, I don't have leaks but I blow pressure off the kegs frequently because I use faucets directly off the ball lock; each tank still lasts me at least 6 months.

Just be sure to leak test and I'm sure you won't be making that many trips.

tealio said:

I'm sure that's better than the first prices you were looking at, but I was of the opinion that a fill is different from a swap, due to a fill being pressurized gas vs a swap containing 20lbs of liquid co2.

I use two 20lb tanks with a total of 7 kegs on average, I don't have leaks but I blow pressure off the kegs frequently because I use faucets directly off the ball lock; each tank still lasts me at least 6 months.

Just be sure to leak test and I'm sure you won't be making that many trips.

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yup, I have a 3 keg setup and 2 of the kegs are 2.5 gal so I shouldn't need to get this filled often.

I just swapped out my 5# tank for a six pack of Homebrew

JRems said:

Try beverage elements, they are a vendor here on hbt. New 10lb aluminum $67, used steel 10lb $50
http://www.bvrgelements.com/category/Tank/

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Been looking at that site; their price on new kegs is really good, $30 cheaper than Northern Brewer, and they have these new kegs that have rubber handles like the used corney's. Very tempting

cardinalsfan said:

I called some places in OKC today and found one that says they refill a 20# tank for $10. Another quoted me $12 for the same fill. Sounds too good to be true so I'm bringing my tank there today!!

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Well, got the tank filled last night. $10.83 after tax and I had no issues, even with an Airgas branded and stickered tank. Anyone in OKC who needs gas - go to Gas and Supply on Reno. I can only imagine how cheap most tanks would be since mine was a 20# one!!

I have a 20# I'm looking to get rid of. It needs to be tested, but is still holding gas. Would a 5# aluminum with reg be a good swap? If so, anyone near Houston want to swap?

tealio said:

I'm sure that's better than the first prices you were looking at, but I was of the opinion that a fill is different from a swap, due to a fill being pressurized gas vs a swap containing 20lbs of liquid co2.

I use two 20lb tanks with a total of 7 kegs on average, I don't have leaks but I blow pressure off the kegs frequently because I use faucets directly off the ball lock; each tank still lasts me at least 6 months.

Just be sure to leak test and I'm sure you won't be making that many trips.

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A fill means they'll fill your tank while you wait (or have you come back later), a swap means they give you a different (full) tank. Either way you should be getting the full weight of CO2.

I exchange 5# tanks locally for $25. Seeing what some of you pay, I am getting ripped off as well. But I live in a rural area so I go with what I can get easily. I would have to drive 40+ miles to get to a "bigger" city that might save me $10 in co2 but what's the point as I would probably use up that savings in gasoline.

I did just score a free 5# aluminum tank from my brother in-law that I just exchanged. Now that I have a spare on-hand I might consider making a longer trip to exchange tanks since I won't have to worry about my beer being off of gas for extended periods.

CO2 is CO2, there is no food grade CO2.
My welding shop traded my 5 pound tank for a 20 pound and refills are $12. Refill costs are pretty much all labor, here are the prices for my tanks:
2 pound-$6
10 pound-$11
20 and 35 pounder(an odd size they traded me for one of my 20 pounders)$12
50 pound-$20

I live in Georgia and $25 for a 5lb tank is usually standard also a fill and a swap are the same thing except you get some one else co2 tank. If they fill your 5lb tank the co2 tank they are filling it with has a dip tube so you get liquid not pressure.

I pay around $8 for a 5lb fill at a local fire extinguisher place. This is the place most homebrewers in the area go for fills. Plus they fill while you wait. I bought the tank with the rest of my equipment from keg connection.

$20 for a 5# exchange, $25 for a 5# refill

Bought my 5# aluminum tank for 70$ shipped. Swaps around here seem to be between $17 and $25 depending on the shop. Found a fire extinguisher place that will fill while I wait that cost $15.19.

Adding a post to the end of this very old thread... people may want to know...

CO2 is sold by both "Grade" and "Purity." Simiply looking at the purity percentage is not enough. The the "Grade" has to do with what else is in there besides CO2. For instance, Food Grade is different from Beverage grade, because food grade has to have low O2 levels. Industrial Grade has to meet a certain percentage purity, but the impurities can include Ammonia, or something worse. If you only look at the Purity percentage, not the Grade, you could be ingesting harmful and potentially cancer causing chemicals.

Some CO2 providers have the spec sheets from the manufacturer of the CO2 they purchased. While some CO2 manufacturers produce all grades (making them relatively the same) others do not. Just because one guy buys CO2 from a welding supply store and gets a Grade that's suitable for beverage grade, doesn't mean you will too.

Food and Beverage Grade has to be manufactured with very high cleanliness standards. Just because two grades come from the same plant, don't mean they are cleaning / treating the hoses and the containers the same way. For instance, one plant may place all new hoses and new fittings on the food grade CO2 then, when it gets older, move it to the Industrial. Oils and other solvents could have gotten onto the connectors, if they were handling Industrial, it wouldn't matter, but if it were Food Grade, they would have to use special care. If a 'batch' of CO2 is found to have other harmful chemicals, they cannot sell it as food grade, and mark it for industrial or other use.

And yes, there IS food grade CO2.. as defined (but not regulated) by the FDA: https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfcfr/CFRSearch.cfm?fr=184.1240

CocaCola WARNS sellers of Coca Cola AGAINST using CO2 purchased from Welding Supply stores: https://www.cokesolutions.com/conte...s/documents/old-recipes/CO2Quality6-15-11.pdf

I used to get refills at a local air supply company, and it was costing me $29 for 5#. Went to the LHBS for some other supplies and brought my tank because it was low, and they charged me $20 for a 5# swap and $28 for a 15# swap. I was getting ripped before...

But yeah, to quote the post above me, my receipt from the air supply store used to state "Food grade co2".

5lb exchange is around $22/25 and 20lb refill is running around $26/28. The 5lber I’m paying for convenience. The place that exchanges is right down the road. Meh.

+1 for airgas. Should be available nationwide. They also told me all they sell is food grade now since they are the main supplier for most of the breweries in our area. I got them to price match another smaller supplier at $19 for a 20lb exchange. They will fill my tanks for the same price but I dont like to wait. They always look for the nicest one to swap me for so i always get a nice aluminum like what i originally took in. They also opened me a cash account and saved my price match so that i dont have to request it everytime, just tell them the account number and my pricing is saved. As far as tanks i picked mine up off craigslist, paid $80 for one 20lb and $40 for one.. the nice thing about swapping them at airgas is i never have to worry about recertification either.

I pay $15 for a 5 gallon refill.
My tank was out of date so I had to pay another $25 to get it inspected.

I pay between $12-$20 for a 5gal swap, depending on who is running the register, at a welding supply. The manager is a homebrewer and will usually ring it up for about $12. If one of his minions are there, they ring it up 'by the book' for closer to $20. Even at $20, it is the best price in town so I can't complain and they always give me a shiny aluminum tank.