Comments on: Tips on Pumping Gas

By: Steven Bassett

Steven Bassett — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 17:05:14 +0000

Good tips, everything you mentioned seems to make sense. Although, as one of the posters said the gas storage tanks might be far enough underground to not be affected much by the outside temperature.

By: Erik

Erik — Thu, 01 May 2008 03:56:35 +0000

You have been paying out the nose for years upon years. We have every right to complain about a 500% increase in cost when our incomes have not adjusted to this HUGE increase. So while we overall pay less than you do, you have not see a 500% increase.

By: tob

tob — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 23:13:48 +0000

You are correct on the temperature of underground storage tanks. Virtually no difference in temperatures from summer to winter.

In California, there are vapor capture systems. There are two lines attached to the nozzle. Not sure if any other states have vapor capture systems.

Fuel storage tanks (the large tanks you see at refineries) have floating roofs. Gas tanks don’t. I think this is either urban legand or a worker with a little knowledge that became dangerous.

By: charleen

charleen — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 20:47:09 +0000

This is an urban legend!
See http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/household/gastips.asp

By: Steve Elliott

Steve Elliott — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 18:40:31 +0000

That may be true for city dwellers but for anyone living in rural areas a car is a must.

It clearly does make a difference what offer people are paying. If transport companies overheads go up, then chances are that prices will rise somewhere else within the distribution chain, ultimately stopping with consumers….like me and YOU !

By: Doubting Thomas

Doubting Thomas — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 03:01:04 +0000

A floating ‘roof’ in an underground tank? I call crapola. Even a tank MANUFACTURER shows no such thing:

http://ustast.com/gasoline-dispensing.jpg

Just a load of hooey, most of this. Park your car, ride a bike if you don’t want to pay for gas. Otherwise, be quiet. And I could give a flying fart what they’re paying anywhere else. If they’re not buying MY gas, then the point is useless to me.

By: Simon

Simon — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 12:12:33 +0000

@HeBeGB: Read the article properly before shooting your mouse off.

…Gasoline storage tanks have an internal floating roof…

By: HeBeGB

HeBeGB — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 15:52:39 +0000

Wow, apart from the very last suggestion, I don’t believe a single thing in this article.

Let’s see…gas tanks are buried some twenty feet under ground. On the coldest winter day the temp at 20 feet might be 50 degrees or so. On the hottest day of the year the temp might be at…about 50 degrees too. Yeah, that’s why they say to bury posts at least three feet, because after that, ground doesn’t freeze and every foot down the temp becomes even more stable. I’d be surprised if the temp increased 1/100th of a degree in 24 hours once you get down to ten feet or more. Nonsense.

Re vapour return via black rubber around the nozzle??? Is he kidding? It’s an anti-splash guard, nothing more than that. They cannot bring vapours back into the station’s pump!!! It would require another hose, plus…it would require a vacuum to suck the vapours back to the tank, plus…it would cause moist air to be sucked back to the buried tank on damp days. Such garbagio…

Re internal floating roof in your tank…huh? I’ve literally removed and cleaned gas tanks from my cars and I’ve never heard of such a thing. What would be the point? Manufacturers putting in extra weight and extra cost to avoid some vapours coming out when you open your gas tank lid? In fact, the concept of the extra material in the tank would likely result in more surface area for gas to cling to and therefore vapourize! More garbagio….

Yeah, I agree with the last comment. This does happen.

By: BradDedt

BradDedt — Sat, 22 Dec 2007 20:54:35 +0000

LOL…Plus pushing then you have to push the car to the gas station which is hard on the back too :-)

By: saundra

saundra — Sat, 22 Dec 2007 16:31:33 +0000

Well Snopes is looking into it to validate this post. However, I know my husband tells me not to wait until you are completely empty to refill…it’s not good for the engine.

By: Tom Barr

Tom Barr — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 06:58:14 +0000

Gas is l under $3 per gallon in California. If you take a close look at the fine print on the pump you will see sales tax plus a state and federal taxes of $0.18 each you see 20% of the price is tax at the station. If you subtract out all the taxes built in by the refiners, shippers, drillers, explorers, etc, gas itself is probably about $0.50 per gallon. :D

By: Mistergin

Mistergin — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 16:38:50 +0000

To add insult to injury, while petrol is higher in European countries, they have mass transit in place to help shuttle folks from one place to another. Our city grids and designs (and sprawl) don’t lend well to mass transit. We integrated (or ARE, rather) a light rail here which will fail as terribly as it failed in other cities. Done more for politics than logic =(

By: BradDet

BradDet — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 14:42:38 +0000

Not sure about in the US, but in Canada it says on each gas pump “Volume has been temperature corrected to 15C ” (~ 59F)

So when the temperature of the storage tanks is 15C you are getting the most accurate measure by volume of gas pumped. In the warmer summer temperatures we get a little ‘ripped off’ but during the winter we get may get a little extra. I’m not sure why it’s 15C or if its the same for allprovinces but I think it’s the law for the notice to be on the pump.

Not sure about the other tips, but I will definitly try them out.

By: adam

adam — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 14:29:52 +0000

@donncha o caoimh: thanks for understanding. @John: I think this article is quite interesting, also related to motoring. I digged it on digg today: HERE

By: adam

adam — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 14:26:19 +0000

@John: It’s true, everybody’s complaining about the relative price change. Doesn’t change the fact that when I listen to my american friends complaining, i’m the one who gets upset. BTW it’s not only gas, but many other things are waaaay cheaper in the US, especially now when your dollar’s plummeting.
@lena: I guess public transport is quite ok compared to other countries. Only one underground line in one city in Poland hurts… underground’s brilliant. Nevertheless, I’d rather be stuck in my own car listening to my favourite cds than to be stuck in the same jam in a bus or a tram…

BTW. I live in Warsaw and public transport i likely to be shitty in small towns too

By: wayne

wayne — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 04:44:44 +0000

True, but the average consumer isn’t buying 100 gallons every day.

By: Donncha O Caoimh

Donncha O Caoimh — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 20:32:33 +0000

Ã¢â€šÂ¬1.17/lt here in Ireland for petrol. That's about $6.50/US gallon. Bloody expensive. If it costs the same in Poland they must really feel the pinch. Wages there are nowhere near as high as they are in the US or Ireland. No, public transport sucks in Ireland. Everyone needs a car. I wonder why petrol is so expensive when the Dollar is so weak?

By: lena

lena — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 17:13:58 +0000

yeah, adam. How’s public transportation in Poland, pretty good, huh,. well, not here, in US. In a lot of towns there are no alternatives, you have to own a vehicle, so yeah, it sucks

By: TheDane

TheDane — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 15:39:18 +0000

I wonder how much that would mean to the average consumer over a year…

I doubt it is that much but would be interesting to get numbers :)

Kim:)

By: wayne

wayne — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 15:09:35 +0000

Hot fuel is starting to be a big issue for truckers. There is a difference above 60 degrees. Google hot fuel or hot diesel. In Canada retailers can adjust for temperatures, but not in the States yet.