Few things can put a damper on a summertime cookout quite like an empty tank of propane. Many grills come with a built-in gas gauge, but in my experience, those are also the first part to stop working. Quirky is attempting to make sure you'll never run out of gas again with the $49.99 Refuel, a connected propane gauge that can send updates on the status of your gas tank straight to your smartphone. It's a great idea in theory, and it works well in practice. But it only works with a single-size tank on a particular type of grill—and it needs to be within range of Wi-Fi. If you've got the right equipment it's a pretty useful tool. But everyone else can just keep a spare tank of gas on hand.

Pricing, Design, and Compatibility

The Refuel retails for $49.99 directly from Quirky. For that price, you can just buy an extra propane tank (including gas). It sells for $29.88 at Home Depot, which is much more reasonable, especially if you don't have enough space to store a spare tank of gas. That's still a bit pricier than a standard fuel gauge, but I'd say the Refuel is worth the extra money for the connectivity.

Out of the box, the Refuel comes with two main parts. There's a base unit, which is the part that goes under your propane tank. A sensor is powered by four AA batteries (included) and has a magnetic back to attach to your grill, though it can't be connected to a hot surface. There's also a tiny screwdriver, which you need to install batteries in the sensor. I had a hard time detaching the base of the sensor after unscrewing it, but that's just because it looks like only the very bottom is meant to detach, rather than the entire bottom half. Once I figured this out, it was simple.

The base unit is made of matte black plastic and designed to fit a standard 20-pound propane tank. The circular sensor measures 3.5 inches around and is made of shiny black plastic that got a bit scuffed up after just a few days of use. Both parts are waterproof and are connected via cables that attach to give you four feet of range with which to place the sensor on your grill. If you place the sensor too low, you run the risk of the cable dragging against the floor or getting tripped up in the wheels of your grill.

One very important thing to keep in mind: Because the Refuel connects via Wi-Fi, it must be installed within range of a Wi-Fi network. Unless you have a very strong home network, or your grill is very close to your house, you might not be able to connect. To figure out if it will work for you, see if you can get a Wi-Fi signal on your smartphone where your grill is currently positioned. If you can't, you'll either need to move the grill closer to your home or rely on a different standard gauge.

Another caveat: The Refuel only works with 20-pound (capacity), non-hanging propane tanks. That rules out many grills and tanks out there, including the one I planned on testing, though luckily I was able to track the proper combo down. But if you own a different size tank or a grill with a tank hanger, the Quirky Refuel isn't for you.

Setup and Performance

Provided you have the proper tank and grill, setup is relatively simple. You need to download and install the free Wink app on your Android or iOS phone; to test the Refuel, I used an iPhone 5s. After downloading the app, the Refuel will automatically be in pairing mode as soon as you install the batteries. It connects by receiving light pulses that come from your phone's screen. After following the instructions provided in the Wink app, you'll need to hold your phone to the home icon on the face of the sensor and it will begin flashing a series of lights until the pairing process is complete. While I've experienced this process with other Quirky products without incident before, in this case I had to try three times before I was able to establish a connection.

Once you're connected, all you have to do is set your propane tank on top of the base and attach the sensor somewhere on your grill. From there, the Refuel will automatically sync with your phone to let you know how much gas you have left. Essentially, the base of the Refuel is a scale that transmits the weight of your tank to the sensor, and this information is then displayed in the Wink app. In order to give you an accurate reading, you'll need to enter the tare weight on your tank (usually imprinted on top of the tank next to the letters TW) in the Wink app. From there it'll display the amount of propane you have left.

The app is clear and easy to read, with an animated propane tank that shows you the amount of gas you have left. Unfortunately, measurements are only provided by the quarter-tank, so they aren't terribly precise. Still, the app was able to tell me when I had a full tank, and only took a second or so to register an empty tank when I removed it from the base. After a long day of grilling, the full tank dropped down to 3/4. This information is certainly useful, but it isn't as precise as a standard gauge.

Without a phone handy, the Refuel is still able to show how much gas you've got with a series of LED lights on the side of the sensor. Tapping the top of the sensor will reveal a green or red series of lights. Green lights indicate that your tank is nearly full, while red lights mean you're closer to empty. It's a bit harder to distinguish what's happening between these points without the assistance of the app.

What will make the Refuel worth it for some people is the fact that it can automatically send you a low fuel alert. If you turn this setting on, you'll receive a push notification on your phone when it's time to start thinking about filling up your tank. This could mean the difference between a full tank of gas and one that dies before you've even had a chance to flip the burgers.

That's about as much functionality as the app offers right now, though Quirky promises more features in the future, including average grill length, average tank life (in days), and average number of grills per tank. That's all useful, though it probably won't make much of a difference in the way you cook. It would've been more helpful to see a feature like a reminder to shut your propane tank off, even if it was just a simple notification you could set yourself once you started cooking.

Conclusions

The Quirky Refuel has the potential to ensure you never run out of gas again, but in its current form it's a little too limited to receive a higher recommendation. If you happen to have a 20-pound propane tank, the right kind of grill, close proximity to Wi-Fi, and you're looking for a fuel gauge, then go ahead and add half a star to the rating above. But even then, you can get more precise measurements from a standard gauge for slightly less money. I really like the Refuel's low fuel alert feature, which is its main advantage over the competition. But whether that makes it worth it for you will largely be based on how many times you've run out gas in the past.