Erroneous
Well-Known Member
I just filled 2 5 lb CO2 tanks filled and had 1 hydro tested for $242 at the local fire extinguisher place. One of the tanks are marked for medical oxygen, and it was missing a label on both (my tanks are 2nd hand). Filling is $62, and that makes the hydro test and labels $118. I seem to recall filling and testing a 10 lb tank at Airgas around 10 years ago for about $60. It took about 2 weeks to get my 2 tanks refilled and tested.
The price to refill a Sodastream canister is $15 each (exchanging 4 at a time using their shipping option) and 5.52 canisters is equivalent to 5 lb of CO2 (if each one is 410 g of CO2). This means doing Sodastream exchanges would be $83 for 5 lbs instead of $62. That's a whopping 25% savings per refill, not counting hydro testing.
From what I've read, a 5 lb tank should last around 10 5ga kegs (force carbonating, pushing, and purging headspace). If I brew a batch every other month, that means with 2 tanks I'd be paying about $386 every 5 years if I round down to $100 for a hydro test. 30 batches per 5 years / 10 batches per refill = 3 fills per 5 years + $200 for 2 hydro tests. That averages out to $77/year for 5 lb tanks vs $50 per year for Sodastream if I've calculated correctly. I could take it down to 1 tank and bring it down to $57/year, but then I'm also waiting quite a bit without CO2 when I need a test done. Does my math check out? About 10 brews for a 5 lb tank, 1.8 brews for a Sodastream canister?
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Airgas in town only does exchanges and that starts at 20 lb. I'm considering buying a single 20 lb tank to keep outside my keezer since I'd be able to simply exchange same day. I think this might be my best option moving forward. I don't know their prices, but I doubt they'd be this bad.
If I really have to I could see if prices are better 3 hours away, but I really don't want to use a vacation day to refill CO2 since most of these places are open the same hours I work.
The price to refill a Sodastream canister is $15 each (exchanging 4 at a time using their shipping option) and 5.52 canisters is equivalent to 5 lb of CO2 (if each one is 410 g of CO2). This means doing Sodastream exchanges would be $83 for 5 lbs instead of $62. That's a whopping 25% savings per refill, not counting hydro testing.
From what I've read, a 5 lb tank should last around 10 5ga kegs (force carbonating, pushing, and purging headspace). If I brew a batch every other month, that means with 2 tanks I'd be paying about $386 every 5 years if I round down to $100 for a hydro test. 30 batches per 5 years / 10 batches per refill = 3 fills per 5 years + $200 for 2 hydro tests. That averages out to $77/year for 5 lb tanks vs $50 per year for Sodastream if I've calculated correctly. I could take it down to 1 tank and bring it down to $57/year, but then I'm also waiting quite a bit without CO2 when I need a test done. Does my math check out? About 10 brews for a 5 lb tank, 1.8 brews for a Sodastream canister?
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Airgas in town only does exchanges and that starts at 20 lb. I'm considering buying a single 20 lb tank to keep outside my keezer since I'd be able to simply exchange same day. I think this might be my best option moving forward. I don't know their prices, but I doubt they'd be this bad.
If I really have to I could see if prices are better 3 hours away, but I really don't want to use a vacation day to refill CO2 since most of these places are open the same hours I work.