Oxygen Tank: What To know When Purchasing

The best place to get an oxygen tank is locally It will save you money!

Because…

Oxygen tanks are VERY expensive to get shipped full.  It will cost about 4-6x MORE per year.

This means you have to get the oxygen tank locally.  It usually costs about $100-120 to purchase an oxygen tank, and typically $20-$30 to get it filled.

You can buy full oxygen tanks online, but it’s way cheaper just to purchase locally…

YOU NEED TO DETERMINE WHICH TANK YOU WILL BUY:

1. 870 Medical oxygen tanks, requires a prescription from your doctor (recommended)
2. 540 Industrial oxygen tanks, can be purchased at a welding supply company, such as... Airgas, or Praxair

TO FIND OXYGEN:  

For locating medical oxygen, Google this term:

Medical oxygen supply

‍For locating industrial oxygen, you can Google these terms:

Industrial oxygen suppliers

Welding suppliers

An 870 Medical Oxygen Tank requires a prescription first.  Once you have a prescription you can go to a local home-care pharmacy and to get an 870 Medical oxygen tank.  Ask for a size between 20-40 cu/ft.  An oxygen tank this size will be about 5”x18”.  We recommend the 870 tank over the 540.

A 540 Industrial Oxygen Tank does not require a prescription.  You can find these at companies such as AirGas or Praxair.  Simply request a new tank between 20-40 cu/ft.  

Some locations, especially industrial, will make you swap out oxygen tanks.  If you do not want to swap, call the location ahead of time and check.

Ask for 99% pure oxygen in your tank from an industrial supplier.  Industrial oxygen suppliers will refuse to serve you if you are using it for medical purposes.  

Tanks come in all sizes, you can get as small or large as you want.

Most people get oxygen tanks that are between 20-40 cu/ft.  Below you can see the different sizes of the medical oxygen tanks.  For a medical tank, it's usually sizes D, M4, or M6.  

If you're getting industrial, the most common choice is 20 cubic feet. (size R)

WHAT SHOULD I DO IF I CAN'T GET AN OXYGEN TANK?

Have you tried both getting an industrial and medical oxygen tanks?

The medical requires a prescription, so not everyone can get one.  If you don't have a prescription or are unable to get one then you should go for the industrial grade.

They are still rated for above 99% oxygen.  Below is an example,
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For information on getting an industrial oxygen tank, refer to this article.

You can try multiple locations near you.  Each town has industrial oxygen available.
As a last resort, you can always purchase an oxygen concentrator online.  Although we don't recommend them, they are an option as a last resort.  

OXYGEN CONCENTRATORS

Not ideal but work

The only time they are helpful:

1. You only use the generator for ozone saunas or making ozone oil
2. You already own one

If you hit both those criteria, great!  Ignore the rest.  But if you don't, keep reading.  

We highly recommend against the use of an oxygen concentrator for these reasons:

• Bulky
• Expensive & doesn't save money
• Impure
• Inaccurate

Bulky

Not much to explain here.  Typically they are large.  There are smaller versions but these are wildly impure, accomplishing perhaps 70% oxygen at best.  An oxygen tank is rated for 99.8% oxygen.

Expensive/doesn't save money

An oxygen concentrator of value will cost between $600-$1,000.

An oxygen tank cost about $120 and needs to be refilled 6 months - 1 year.  Each refill cost only $20 or so.  It would take 20-40 years for an oxygen concentrator to be more valuable.  And even at that it would be marginal.  Not to mention it would probably need maintenance.  

Impure

A good oxygen concentrator will produce about 85-95% oxygen if it's really good.  Oxygen tanks are 99.8% pure.  Impurities in oxygen produces non-pure oxygen/ozone mixtures.

Inaccurate

It is more difficult to dial an oxygen concentrator to flow rates like 1/8LPM because they are usually not made to go this slow.

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