But still VERY relevant today.

Have a customer fixing to bury a large propane tank for his new house, in a few months. Will certainly look into this.

That is great news and we are glad we could grab your interest. Do you have any questions regarding the propane monitor that I can answer for you?

It's meant for bbq propane tanks, but the concept could work. [Link: quirky.com]

By just giving this link a quick glance, the product seems to be very similar to what we have developed. We also have a neat video detailing what we are doing: [Link: vimeo.com]

Folks! Our Kickstarter is live! Check it out by visiting this link: [Link: kickstarter.com]

Ethan,
Didn't realize your product was still vaporware at this point. I hope your company gets the funding it needs to bring this to market, as it looks like it has a lot of potential.
3 things I can advise on:
1) Make absolutely sure your product is rock solid at launch. Meaning, any problems people run into could kill the future business quick. So make sure you are using good solid components, that will have a very low failure rate. WiFi could be a big crippling point, so make sure you use a good quality WiFi radio in the device. And make absolutely sure ever thing is water tight - IP68 rating would be nice.
2) Having a wired network port on the main board would be nice. This will avoid the WiFi problem all together on a lot of installs. Wouldn't think it would add much to the production cost.
3) This is specific to this forum board: Work with some of the major control system vendors, to develop an API for their systems (Crestron, AMX, Control4, ELAN, URC, RTI, Bitwise, On Controls, etc...). It will be a lot more work but I guarantee quite a few more sales thru us integrators for the product then.

the guys at house logix have a device , try them

www.houselogix.com

Brad Humphrey, thank you for your input. We have some alpha testers right now to make sure the first units that ship are bomb-proof. We are using a NEMA 4X enclosure to keep water out. You're correct in identifying WiFi as an important aspect to get right. In fact, we are switching to a new circuit board to increase compatibility with /n routers and increase the signal reliability.

While I definitely agree that some applications would benefit from a wired connection, intrinsic safety certifications require that a wired connection (even low voltage) have a zener barrier since the device is located on a propane tank. However, our design of a battery powered device with wireless communication keeps the cost down and eliminates explosion risk. Safety First!

For systems integration, we are going to publish our API. Off the bat, that will allow some integration, but we fully agree that other existing home automation systems could leverage our sensor so we'll invest to make sure that's easy and well-documented for folks like you. Devil's in the details, and to your point about rock-solid and testing, your customers will expect no issues with data quality and software bugs, so we are taking reliability and thoughtful integration design very seriously.

Thanks again for the feedback.

I know this is of no help, but i am kinda trying to wrap my head around having 10k gallons of propane under ground next to a house.
Even two years ago!

I don't understand.
If it's the fact that it's buried, that keeps it out of the way - 10K gallon tank can be quite large next to a house. Not to mention most people don't want to see it.
Same way the huge gasoline & diesel tanks are buried at every gas station across America.

If you mean something else, then you'll have to explain.

Just to get sense of how most of you actually choose to heat your home, who here is a propane user?

ethan, given that you are developing a product for propane tanks, you might want to rethink using the term "bomb-proof" in the future.

By referencing the propane smart meter as "bomb proof," we are simply referencing the fact that the device has been tested to ensure that it will function once it is delivered for use. We do expect some minor bugs that we will need to work out, but we are committed to dealing with those swiftly and efficiently.

He didnt get your pun Fins.

ive just finished my gas bottle level sensor , I built and designed it as part of a project im working on, it sends serial data back to my Axium control system, but it would work with most control systems,