CO2 Bottle Refill Costs?!

[AJinJacksonville]

I searched the forums before posting this and saw nothing too recent on cost...but I was amazed at how much they want to charge locally for a 5 LB CO2 tank refill.

The local AirGas place wants between $25-28 for a swap, while my LHBS will only charge $20. I'm in Jacksonville (FL), and although I will have to swap at the cheaper end in order to keg, it just seems a bit ridiculous as compared to just a couple of years ago.

Anyone notice a spike in cost in their neck of the woods? Any other places I should try? I give my LHBS most of my grain/supply business, so I don't mind dropping the $20...but still.

 

[Robert65]

Either I'm going crazy, or I've actually seen a decrease. LHBS went from $14 to $16 a year or two ago for a 5 lb refill/swap, but I think my last couple were $15. I suppose it fluctuates like any commodity.

LHBS buys bulk from Airgas and fills on premises. Airgas here won't even do the small jobs. If anyone goes to Airgas looking to fill a 5 lb bottle, they send them to the LHBS! They'd rather just service the big accounts and not deal with us annoying little guys.

 

[bronc72]

I payed $9 and some change at my local dive shop, in Flint Michigan a few weeks ago. That was for a 5 lb fill.

 

[DayLghtBreaks]

My local place charges $15 for a 5lb tank refill. I recently purchased a 10lb tank because of this, they only charge $18 for that and I get double the amount. Bigger tanks are the way to get the most bang for your buck!

 

[AJinJacksonville]

No doubt. I made the mistake of going small initially with the 5 LB since I planned on doing one or two kegs at a time. I plan on making a couple more calls tomorrow, but the LBHS will probably win out at the $20 fill. Ugh. A small price to pay at the end for homebrew...haha. And on top of that, I will lose my brand new shiny tank that I bought at AirGas (although it was still cheaper than the LBHS initially for the first tank).

 

[IslandLizard]

No doubt. I made the mistake of going small initially with the 5 LB since I planned on doing one or two kegs at a time. I plan on making a couple more calls tomorrow, but the LBHS will probably win out at the $20 fill. Ugh. A small price to pay at the end for homebrew...haha. And on top of that, I will lose my brand new shiny tank that I bought at AirGas (although it was still cheaper than the LBHS initially for the first tank).

Have you called around a bit? You should. Many Fire Protection Services, at least here, do refills, most while you wait and for nominal prices.
I still use paper yellow pages for finding more obscure services in many fields, many aren't on the web, or hard to find.

Small 5# tanks are great for taking on location, or put inside a kegerator/keezer for serving. But for "utility" use like purging or force carbonating kegs a larger 20# tank is much more economical. Look on Craigslist etc. for a used one.

That said, my last swap was $25 for 20#.
I did have to go to a different branch of Praxair, as the usual, more local one, didn't have aluminum tanks, only steel ones. There is no way I'm gonna tote a steel 20# CO2 tank...
It will last me a bit over a year I gather, if there are no leaks.

 

[Jako]

i pay 12$ at a local medical supply store. service is great and its a mile from work so when i worked days i would take my tank during lunch.

the worst part of it was everyone asking me why i take my tank inside... i was asked once if i was trying to show off that i have a kegerator i don't understand some. id rather not blow my tank in a hot car.

 

[myndflyte]

It's crazy how different the price can be by region. A place here in Milwaukee will fill my 5lb tank for a little over $6. Go 30 min out of the city and that price more than doubles.

 

[Paulaner]

It's crazy how different the price can be by region. A place here in Milwaukee will fill my 5lb tank for a little over $6. Go 30 min out of the city and that price more than doubles.

Care to share where this is?

 

[Dr_Jeff]

If you have a NexAir place in your area, I've found them to be about half the price of AirGas here in North Alabama.

Google says that you have two.

NexAir
Jacksonville, FL
2312 W. Beaver Street
(904) 388-0561

150 Stockton St
(904) 355-3992

At NexAir, I've swapped out ugly tanks for nice pretty tanks many times.
Keep an eye on CL for another tank, I've found 20# tanks for $5-10 from time to time. I think that I have about eight now and 3-4 five pound bottles. I've found 3-4 for my buddies as well, one of the last ones that I bought was $20 and was full. If they are red and belong to Coke, you'll need to paint them with grey primer, prior to swapping them out.

 

[bleme]

Some business types to check: LHBS, welding supply, fire extinguisher refill, paintball supply, hydroponic supply, aquarium supply.

Price varies a lot by region. In my area, every place I checked was between $18-$25 but the guy I buy from says there is a hydroponic supply in L.A. that has 20# tanks for $7.99. He has no idea how they do it because he can't even buy the gas for that much.

 

[GnenieGone]

20# for $35 at my LHBS. Before that was a fire safety equipment store..idr the cost.

 

[Wayne1]

In Denver, Boulder, Colorado Springs and Ft. Collins, CO, Way to Grow, an "Organic & Hydroponic Gardening" operation, offers 20lb swaps for $6.99.

If you are a brewery and have a large dewar (500-1000lbs), CO2 fills run about $0.20 a lb from General Air. That is probably how Way to Grow can afford to sell the 20 lb swaps.

 

[Jag75]

5# 12$
20# 20$
Gas blend 30$

 

[AJinJacksonville]

NexAir is on my list to call tomorrow for prices. Hadn't thought about the hydroponics...will definitely do some more calling tomorrow. Not so much to penny-pinch, but...well...to penny pinch...haha.

 

[Bilsch]

I still use paper yellow pages for finding more obscure services in many fields, many aren't on the web, or hard to find.

Paper yellow pages, what's that?

 

[BongoYodeler]

20# for $35 at my LHBS. Before that was a fire safety equipment store..idr the cost.

$40 for a 20# refill at my LHBS in SLO, (everything seems to cost more in SLO).

 

[bleme]

$40 for a 20# refill at my LHBS in SLO, (everything seems to cost more in SLO).

You could save $16 with just a 2 hour drive (each way)!

 

[IslandLizard]

You could save $16 with just a 2 hour drive (each way)!

Oh yeah, we brewers know how to save money...
Ask our SO.

 

[myndflyte]

Care to share where this is?

Oh yeah sure. It's Discount Liquor on Oklahoma Ave.

 

[catalanotte]

$5 at local liquor store. Fills are light, 3-4 lbs, but can’t beat the price and convenience.

 

[odie]

One factor in the overall cost is location...ie taxes...property tax, sales tax, other locality driven fees, regulatory stuff varies between states, rent if they don't own the location, etc...

the difference between 5# and 20# is labor...the gas cost is negligible in a small quantity, but it takes an employee pretty much the same time to fill either size, write up the ticket, etc.

Local Airgas just did my 5# for $22.33 and 20# for $28.63....plus that evil tax...

BTW, Airgas refills my brand new 20 on the spot...cause it's brand new and shiny and I wanna keep it (for now)....I just swap all the other tanks...but in the end, a tank is a tank

 

[odie]

liquor store fills are most likely getting bled of a larger tank. so you are not getting a full fill. each successive fill will be slightly less # too

 

[Qhrumphf]

One factor in the overall cost is location...ie taxes...property tax, sales tax, other locality driven fees, regulatory stuff varies between states, rent if they don't own the location, etc...

the difference between 5# and 20# is labor...the gas cost is negligible in a small quantity, but it takes an employee pretty much the same time to fill either size, write up the ticket, etc.

Local Airgas just did my 5# for $22.33 and 20# for $28.63....plus that evil tax...

BTW, Airgas refills my brand new 20 on the spot...cause it's brand new and shiny and I wanna keep it (for now)....I just swap all the other tanks...but in the end, a tank is a tank

I typically just straight swap since the convenient places won't do refills. Otherwise this is my experience as well. 5# swap, $22 give or take. 20# swap, $25.

 

[odie]

Air Gas was $29.54 + tax on a 20# swap this time...slight price bump since Oct.

 

[NightFlight]

Praxair was ~40 CAD for 5lb swap here in Ontario. That's for my aquarium so it lasts nearly a year. In that way I don't really care as much given the bottle longevity. But, everything is more expensive in Canada, even when the dollar is at par.

I've not started kegging and reading about the costs and losses you get in the lines unless your moving beer all day (oxidation), I may just stick to bottles. *shrug*

 

[IslandLizard]

Praxair was ~40 CAD for 5lb swap here in Ontario. That's for my aquarium so it lasts nearly a year. In that way I don't really care as much given the bottle longevity. But, everything is more expensive in Canada, even when the dollar is at par.

I've not started kegging and reading about the costs and losses you get in the lines unless your moving beer all day (oxidation), I may just stick to bottles. *shrug*

Call around, prices may vary widely. Also a 20# fill/swap should not cost 4x that of 5#. The base, liquid CO2, is really cheap. "Handling" in every which way adds most to your cost.

If you use the recent EVABarrier lines (very recommended), or older but still venerable Bev Seal Ultra 235, they have an oxygen barrier liner. BSU 235 uses a PET liner, EVA some other O2 barrier product. Your beer won't oxidize in those lines. Using gas lines of the same prevents O2 intrusion into the keg through the gas supply.

Some may disagree and find bottle conditioned beer better. I find kegging a godsend.
The last thing I want to do is clean and sanitize 48 bottles, fill and cap, then wait 3 more weeks to drink. Done that for 4 years but never since I started kegging.

There are some exceptions to kegging certain beers, a Barleywine or something that would take years to mature and finish, where bottling and bottle conditioning has an advantage.

But I don't see any benefit of bottling day to day drinkable beer, especially the hoppier ones.
For example, I can get NEIPAs out within 3 days, grain to glass! Not that I always push it that hard, but when in a pinch it's proven to be very doable, and the quality is phenomenal!

 

[bleme]

I've often wondered if we could refill our own CO2 tanks, using something like this:



Just using the gas we create while fermenting.

 

[IslandLizard]

I've often wondered if we could refill our own CO2 tanks, using something like this:



Just using the gas we create while fermenting.

You need to capture it, then compress it to a liquid and add to a holding tank from which you can fill your CO2 tanks.

Where's a will there's a way.

 

[IslandLizard]

Just using the gas we create while fermenting.

Rereading this, you just made me think of something.

Sure, capture the fermentation CO2 in large mylar bags, bladders, balloons, etc. Or kegs (that's being done already, e.g., LoDO brewers). Then use the bags to provide CO2 during cold crashing (this is widely done already too), or squeeze them to purge headspaces.

Stick a CO2 filled mylar bag/balloon in a bucket, snap lid shut and pressurize the bucket with air. Now you have (low) pressurized CO2 coming out the bag.

You can also compress the CO2 into a keg using a pump. 50-60 psi should be easily attainable. That's 5 kegs worth of CO2.

 

[crazyjake19]

$17 for 5lb exchange at LHBS
$34 for 20lb exchange at LHBS
$33 (I think) for 20cu ft nitrogen at AirGas

 

[VirginiaHops1]

My gas/oxygen place charges about $30 to fill all sizes. They're essentially just charging for labor. They're cheaper than my LHBS. I started with a 10lb and 5lb I bought cheap off craigslist but have upgraded tank sizes a few times. Swapped the 5 for another 10 and last time when I refilled I paid the one time cost to upgrade my 10lb to a 20. Definitely much cheaper in the long run to use the largest tank you can manage.

 

[Carolina_Matt]

My LHBS used to charge around $17-18, although they just shut their doors about a week ago.

I went to the local Praxair the last two swaps, as I heard they were cheaper. It wound up being a little over $20 for a 5lb tank. There's a 'hazard' fee of about $8 included in it. I tend to think they're ripping me off to some extent though, because I remember calling them sometime last year to get a quote, and they said it was like $12-13 all-in. And my last receipt said '10 lb tank' on it. I asked about it, and they said it was a typo but I was only charged for the 5 lb tank.

 

[bleme]

I tend to think they're ripping me off to some extent though, because I remember calling them sometime last year to get a quote, and they said it was like $12-13 all-in. And my last receipt said '10 lb tank' on it. I asked about it, and they said it was a typo but I was only charged for the 5 lb tank.

The place I go is a lot like this. I don't think I have ever paid the same amount twice. It's like they are making it up as they go. I keep going back because they are still the cheapest in town...

 

[Carpy]

It's crazy how different the price can be by region. A place here in Milwaukee will fill my 5lb tank for a little over $6. Go 30 min out of the city and that price more than doubles.

Where do you get your CO2? I live in the area and will soon need my first 10# tank refill.

 

[k-os]

Where do you get your CO2? I live in the area and will soon need my first 10# tank refill.

Also interested in this. I'm an hour north of Milwaukee and the only place available is Air Gas which is supposedly about the same price to exchange as my LHBS ($30).

 

[Robert65]

Either I'm going crazy, or I've actually seen a decrease. LHBS went from $14 to $16 a year or two ago for a 5 lb refill/swap, but I think my last couple were $15. I suppose it fluctuates like any commodity.

LHBS buys bulk from Airgas and fills on premises. Airgas here won't even do the small jobs. If anyone goes to Airgas looking to fill a 5 lb bottle, they send them to the LHBS! They'd rather just service the big accounts and not deal with us annoying little guys.

Just got clarification from my LHBS. They're charging $15 for the first 5 lbs and $2 for each additional lb. So now I'm going to have to figure out how long it would take for a 20 lb bottle, that I would be responsible for keeping in hydro (LHBS sees to it at no cost if you exchange a 5 lb) to pay for itself.

 

[FrostyBeach]

Praxair here charges 17.96 for 5lb exchange and 19.54 for 20lb exchange.

 

[brew703]

I'm sure glad I don't have to pay those cost.
My HBS charges $10 for 5 lb and $15 for 10 lb
There is a fire extinguisher place that charges $1/lb to fill but they are only open M-F.
The welding supply places only do exchanges and I refuse to go there to be ripped off.

 

[myndflyte]

Where do you get your CO2? I live in the area and will soon need my first 10# tank refill.

Also interested in this. I'm an hour north of Milwaukee and the only place available is Air Gas which is supposedly about the same price to exchange as my LHBS ($30).

Discount Liquor on Oklahoma Ave.