Hunter Geist, Author at FuelSnap

Buying a Home with Heating Oil

May 19, 2025March 26, 2025

Homes heated by heating oil are very popular in the Northeast. However, you’ll often find that natural gas is a bit more popular in other states. Heating Oil is often very cost-effective, which makes it very popular. It’s safe, easy to come by, and provides very warm heat that will keep you warm even during the coldest months of the year. If you’re curious about what some of the other benefits of heating oil are, feel free to read on as I go over everything that you need to know!

What Exactly is Heating Oil?

Heating oil is one of the most popular forms of home heating in today’s day and age. It’s typically stored in a tank of some kind on your property. The oil in the tank is then fed through your feed lines into your furnace, where it is then converted to heat! Usually, you will find your tank located in your garage, crawl space, outside or your basement!

This is what your standard 275 gallon tank will tend to look like. As you can see in the above picture, this tank has a Smart Oil Gauge installed!

You can also find that some oil tanks are buried underground outside! However, as the years go on, these are becoming less common and are being removed and replaced constantly. These tanks are usually old and were popular in the 80s. But they are prone to leaking and causing severe environmental damage. If you buy a home with an underground tank, it’s best to replace with an above ground tank as soon as you can!

Getting Oil Deliveries

To ensure you have a constant flow of heat in your home, you must get regular oil deliveries. Getting regular oil deliveries will ensure that you are getting oil into your system. This ensures that your home is nice and warm! Getting regular deliveries also helps your system to not run out of oil. Running out of oil can be dangerous! It can damage your system and cause you to wake up to a cold home!

You can sign up for automatic delivery which will put you at an ease of mind. With automatic delivery, you can know that you’ll always have oil in your tank! Your heating oil company will regularly come and fill your tank. But usually there is a monthly or annual cost associated with this, much like a subscription. However, usually I recommend going with call by delivery. That way, you know exactly how much oil you need and only order when you need it.

This is what a usual heating oil truck will look like. The drivers will often park on the street and bring the hose up to your fill pipe.

Usually, it’s more cost effective to order when you need it. That is where the Smart Oil Gauge comes in handy. Our gauge will tell you when you need oil, how much you have and what your usage is. This will ensure that you’re on top of your oil level and when you need it!

The Benefits of Heating Oil

The good thing about heating oil is that there multiple benefits to using it in your home! Here are a few of the benefits:

It’s Safe: The flash point of heating oil is 140 degrees Fahrenheit. This makes it non-flammable when it is in an environment with room temperature! So you don’t have to worry about having heating in your home as it needs to be heated into a gaseous form for it to become ignitable. This makes it’s liquid form incredibly safe to have.
It’s Very Efficient: Heating Oil Produces 138,000 BTUs from a single gallon. This is because furnaces are 85% more effective. They can produce more heat per gallon than other forms of heating. Although only 117,725 BTUs are effective per gallon. Propane on the other hand, is less reliable and will often only produce about 91,500 BTUs per gallon of propane. When comparing this to heating oil, you’ll need to burn 1.35 gallons of propane to match 1 gallon of heating oil in terms of BTU production. Check out my article here to find out the major differences between heating oil and propane.
Easily Accessible: The nice thing about heating oil is that it’s very accessible. Meaning that there is usually always going to be at least one dealer in your area that will be able to deliver oil to you! There are thousands of heating oil dealers in the northeast alone! Additionally, with helpful websites such as our FuelSnap website, ordering oil is easy! Simply plug in your zip code and select your dealer and you’ll be able to order oil with a press of a button!
Cheap and Cost Affective: Heating Oil is very cost effective. This is because it typically creates so much heat per gallon. This makes it worth the money because of how warm it’ll make your home. The price of heating oil is also fairly cheap, and the price for heating oil has gone down significantly over the past few years. But, with you being the home owner this also gives you completley flexibility over who and where you order from. Because the oil market is very competitive, and dealers are constantly trying to out sell each other. That usually means that you’re more than likley to get the cheapest price for heating oil. This will make you more likley to by a specific dealer’s oil rather than another’s because they will offer you the lowest price possible.

Ending Thoughts

So that brings up the question, “Should You Buy a Home with Heating Oil?”, well the answer is a resounding “Absolutely!”

Heating Oil is both cost efficient and safe to use! It keeps your home warm for amount you’re getting and is often cheaper than propane! It’s the clear answer between itself and propane! However, if you have the option for Natural Gas you should definitely go with that! Natural Gas is abundant and even more cost effective!

But with heating oil, you are more in control of when and where you buy from. It’s incredibly reliable and you’ll be in control of when and where you order it from! This includes our FuelSnap website! Additionally, getting a Smart Oil Gauge will help you stay on top of when you’ll need it and what your level is at!

Happy Heating,

Hunter

What to Expect from a Tank Inspection

May 5, 2025March 24, 2025

If you’ve ordered oil from FuelSnap before you might be familiar with some dealer’s requirements to inspect your tank before delivery. This is to ensure that your tank is safe to fill by the dealer’s standards. Not all dealers on FuelSnap require a tank inspection. However, some do require it before they make the delivery. So, what should you expect when you get your inspection done on your tank? Well, I’m going to go through everything that you need to know about this!

The Basics

When placing an order on Fuelsnap, you might get an alert that says that “Dealer Requires Tank Inspection”. This tank inspection is free and is usually done by the driver of the truck. But, this tank inspection will require someone over the age of 18 to be at the home during this time. The dealer will almost always call you to schedule a time for them to come out to deliver and for the inspection. This is so that you can work out a time with them to come out and inspect the tank and fill it.

These are the key places that the driver will inspect. These includes the edges of the tank, the feed lines and the fittings and the vent.

What the driver will be inspecting is pretty simple. They will be inspecting the tank itself to determine if there are any leaks in the tank. If there is any risk or possibility of leaks, the dealer will not deliver at all! This makes it important to have the tank inspected so you can ensure that you’re able to get the necessary delivery!

The second thing that the dealer will inspect in the vent alarm. The driver will not make the delivery if your vent alarm isn’t working! Without a working vent alarm, the driver will not be able to make the delivery because they won’t know how much oil is in the tank and when to stop pumping. This will put your tank at risk of overflowing and leaking.

What Else Does the Driver Inspect?

When getting a tank inspection, several other things will need to get an inspection as well. A big one is inspecting the structural integrity of the tank itself. The tank’s structural integrity is usually a broader scope. This includes inspecting the tank for corrosion, any indentations or any other defects that would compromise the overall structural integrity of the tank. These structural problems can cause the tank to have the potential to leak which can cause damage to your property.

This is what will happen if your tank isn’t properly inspected. The tank itself will leak causing property damage

The fittings are also something that’s inspected during a tank inspection. The driver will inspect the tank’s fittings to ensure that there are no cracks or damage to the fittings that could compromise the tank. These fittings also include the vent and fill pipes. Ensuring these are stable and installed firmly will help the driver understand that it is safe to fill the tank as long as the whistle is working.

Internal Inspections

These inspections are a bit more thorough and require the dealer to drain out your tank. The tanks are drained out of any oil so that the dealer can give a more detailed examination of the tank. During these internal inspections, the driver will look for anything that is worrisome such as any indents on the inside of the tank, cracks or possible leaks. If the drivers don’t find anything, they will likley just clean out the tank and fill it back up. If there is sludge in the tank, they will drain it out to ensure that they can properly inspect your tank.

However, similar to a surface inspection, if there are any dents, cracks or visible leaks the driver will not deliver your oil. They might even set you up with a plan to purchase a new and if they thing it is bad enough.

Inspecting an Underground Tank

Now if you have an underground tank, the inspection process is a little bit different. Unlike with an above ground tank, the driver won’t be able to see the actual tank’s surface. So, the drivers have a little bit of a different process when inspecting an underground tank.

The first thing that the driver will do a visual inspection of the surrounding area. They will see if there is any environmental hazards in the surrounding area for any signs of leaking or environmental damage. Tank inspections for underground tanks also include soil testing. Some soil testing can be done for tanks that are underground to pick up traces of oil that might’ve leaked out of the tank itself.

When you have a buried oil tank, this is all you’ll be able to see. This is why they are a little bit harder to inspect

Inspectors will also do a tank tightness test. These tests are used to determine weather or not the tank itself is able to contain your fluid of choice without risking leaks. These tests are typically used for underground tanks and will test the over structural integrity of the tank as a whole.

Some dealers might even recommend replacing the tank in its entirety. If that’s the case, you’ll need to know what to do to replace an underground tank. You’ll need to know what to do if this happens. You can read my article on underground tank replacements here.

What Happens if Your Tank Fails Inspection?

If your tank fails inspection, then the driver will not fill the tank. This is because the tank is “Unfit” for delivery. This means that the tank will be unable to hold the fuel and can cause damage to your property. The best course of action would be to fix the problem ASAP. For example, simple issues such as a broken whistle are usually easily replaceable. However, more severe issues such as a leaking or cracked tank will require you to get a whole new tank.

The driver will usually tell you the reasoning for your tank failing inspection and give you a set of steps to follow to get you up and running for your next fill! Most drivers will tend to tell you weather or not you need to replace the tank or if the issue is repairable.

Conclusion

Getting a tank inspection should be routine and something that you regularly do. This is so that you’ll always be ready to have the tank filled and ensure that it is in fillable condition. Otherwise, it might be a good idea to get a new tank or even contact an HVAC technician to get repair options as they’ll usually help make sure that your tank is in perfect shape for it to function properly!

Just be sure to be on top of your heating oil tank inspections and when you’ll need to get one. Waiting until the last minute can be problematic and can result in your tank failing inspection which can limit your sources of heating for a while if you don’t get it taken care of. But if you’re diligent and up to date on your inspections, you will not have any issues!

Happy Heating,

Hunter

Resolving Smart WIFI Connectivity

April 21, 2025April 9, 2025

Smart WIFI is a setting on the router that will move devices from 2.4ghz to 5ghz and vice versa to improve performance. However, the thing with the Smart Oil Gauge is that the device itself is not compatible with 5ghz. This can cause the gauge to disconnect and fail to upload to the app. This has been an issue for a while, but I am happy to announce that we have a solution for this! In this blog, I’ll be covering what to do to resolve the connectivity issues related to Smart WIFI.

Smart WIFI Mode

While Smart WIFI is a very useful setting on your router, it can be problematic for the Smart Oil Gauge as it disconnects consistently from the router. This is a little bit more common with networks that are fiberoptic because they have Smart WIFI enabled from the start. However, with this new Smart WIFI mode, we’ve resolved the gauge disconnecting from the WIFI.

This process will require you to start with the steps of our alternate update process. This requires you to go to your phone’s WIFI settings. Once there, you’ll want to press and hold the button down once for two seconds (one-one thousand, two-one thousand and release). This will cause the gauge to enter the secondary config mode. If done correctly, the light on the gauge will be blinking once every second. You should then see a network show up that says “CCF########”. This is your Smart Oil Gauge. You can join it by tapping on the network and typing in the password “smartoil”. You should then be brought to a screen that asks for “SSID”, “Password” and “Email Address”. Otherwise, go to your web browser (Google Chrome, Safari or Firefox) and type in 192.168.4.1 in the search bar and you’ll be bought to this screen.

This is the step by step guide for getting to the “Advanced Settings” to enable “Force WIFI G”

Once you are on this login screen, you’ll see on the bottom four blue boxes that say “Save”, “Cancel”, “Diagnostic” and “Advanced”. You’ll want to select the box that says “Advanced “. Once selecting that, it will take you to another screen that has the current configuration, MAC address and software version listed. There will be an option that says “Force WIFI G Mode”. Make sure that you check that off and select the option below that says “Save and Exit”. After doing that, you’ll get a screen that says “Configuration Complete”.

What to Know about Force WIFI G

Smart WIFI G Mode is a setting that is used to attempt to deal with the router moving the gauge to a 5ghz connection. Force WIFI G should lock the gauge onto the 2.4ghz connection. Going through the alternate process is the only way to access this and enable it. You cannot do it through the app, which means that if your router has Smart WIFI enabled, you’ll need to go through the alternate process to get the gauge setup to the WIFI. Then, after setting the gauge up to your WIFI, you’ll have to go through the process again to enable Force WIFI G.

If your gauge is already setup to the WIFI and you’ve had no WIFI changes, you’ll want to go through the process and get to the advanced screen, check off “Force WIFI G” and then press “Save and Exit”. After doing that the gauge should be locked onto the 2.4ghz connection of your WIFI. But, if you go back to this screen after hitting “Save” or if you go through this process to see if it worked, the check mark won’t be displayed.

This is a closeup of what the “Force WIFI G” section of this process looks like. You can see all the information needed to ensure that the gauge is functioning and has the ability to use Force WIFI G.

It’s important to note that only Smart Oil Gauges with firmware versions 901-21 and 903-02 will have “Force WIFI G”. You can check your Smart Oil Gauge in the advanced settings to see what firmware version it’s on. If it’s on the most recent version, then that “Force WIFI G” will be in your advanced settings. If your gauge is on 901-20 or 903-01, then give your device about 24-48 hours to catch the update. Otherwise, give us a call, and we can put in a request to force the update to your gauge on our backend!

Conclusion

While the Smart WIFI setting is useful it’s pretty annoying to constantly have the gauge disconnect from your WIFI. The “Force WIFI G” solution should resolve this without issue! By going through this process, you’ll be able to disable the Smart WIFI connection from your Smart Oil Gauge! This will ensure that your gauge has a strong and steady connection to your WIFI without disconnecting consistently!

If you need help doing this, feel free to reach out to our support team! We’ll be more than happy to help get this resolved for you! You can reach us at 203-456-1499 option 3 from 8am-5pm EST, Monday through Friday.

Happy Heating,

Hunter

Heating Oil Vs Heat Pumps

April 7, 2025April 9, 2025

If you’ve ever gone to a friend or family member’s house before, you might’ve noticed a heat pump. They are an external heating and cooling device that can provide both hot air and cold air for your home throughout the year. They convert the outside air into hot or cool air depending on the time of year. But this begs the question, is it better than heating oil? Well, we’re going to find out!

What’s a Heat Pump?

Heat pumps are external heating devices that typically sit by the side of your home or by the window. These devices connect to the home and don’t require any sort of liquid fuel. Instead, it draws the outside air and converts it to either warm air or cold air to provide heat or air conditioning depending on the time of year. It’s kind of like air conditioning but the exact opposite.

You can usually change these settings depending on the time of year. Often in either heating or cooling mode. Heating mode tends to be used in the fall and winter. While cooling mode is usually used in the Spring and Summer months of the year. During the winter, you’ll be kept nice and toasty but during the summer months, you’ll be nice and cool.

This is an example of a heat pump. Like in the above photo, they are almost always outside.

Similarly to heating oil tanks, there are different types of heat pumps. There are two main types of heat pumps, the most common of these tend to be Air-Source or Ground-Source. Both of these types of heat pumps will also pump air into your home differently and in their own way! Ground-Source tend to be more expensive but are usually more efficient when it comes to pumping air into your home. They draw air from the ground and push it through your home. While Air-Source air pumps will usually take outside air and pushes it into your home.

The Benefits of a Heat Pump

As long as the outside temperature is above freezing, heat pumps are very energy-efficient. They’re able to produce a natural form of heat and cooling that will significantly reduce your energy bill! Best of all, there is no requirement for fuel! You can simply set it up outside and it’ll do all the work for you!

Additionally, they are very versatile as they can be used for both heating and cooling! This allows you to use them year round! The air quality they produce as well is very good! So long as your neighborhood has no issues with air quality, you’ll have good quality air being pumped into your home! Air pumps also don’t contain carbon dioxide! So you don’t have to worry about CO being pumped into your home!

The Downsides of Using a Heat Pump

Unfortunately with their benefits, there are bound to be some negatives. The biggest downside being that they don’t produce as much heat as a furnace. Due to this, your home will not be as hot as it would be with heating oil. This makes it not as common as heating oil because it doesn’t heat up your home to the nice and toasty temperature that you might like it to be.

Heat Pumps will also tend to lose efficiency if the weather outside is colder outside! With temperatures that are below freezing, heat pumps will need to work much harder to heat up the home due to the very cold temperatures outside. Heat pumps tend to be unreliable in environments that have intense cold temperatures as well as erratic weather.

The Pros of Using Heating Oil

Heating oil is widely used across the northeast for a reason. It produces significantly more heat compared to a heat pump. It also has a much easier time keeping the home warm in cold environments. That is why heating oil is so common in Alaska and the Northeast, due to it’s ability to keep the home warm for a long period of time.

Like Heat Pumps, heating oil tanks can be located outside. However, they are less affected by the outside weather.

One gallon of heating oil can produce 138,500 BTUs (117,725 effective BTUs). BTU stands for “British Thermal Heat” and it’s used to measure heat energy usage. Specifically this is used when determining the amount of heat needed to raise the temperature. A heat pump is only able to produce 60,000 BTUs, which less than HALF of what heating oil produces. With heating oil, you’re effectively producing twice the amount of heat compared to a heat pump.

The Cons of Using Heating Oil

One of the biggest cons to using heating oil is that heating oil stinks. Now, this isn’t common but leaks are still possible and can cause damage to your home if there is ever a leak. If your tank leaks, you’ll definitely smell it. You’re going have to constantly check on your tank to ensure that there is no leak. But if your tank is leaking you MUST contact your local HVAC technician to come out and help fix the leak. Leaks can be damaging to the property and you belongings.

This is what the early stages of a heating oil tank leak look like. The ground outside can absorb the oil causing environmental damage. While indoor leaks can cause property damage.

Oil prices also tend to be erratic and fluctuate often. They are often affected by global events and their pricings can skyrocket or decrease. Back in 2022, when Russia invaded the Ukraine, oil prices skyrocketed because we stopped buying Russian oil. However, it was the exact opposite back in 2020 at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Prices were at an all-time low! Sometimes prices even reached a dollar!

Finally, if you aren’t keeping track of your heating oil you are risk of runout. If you run out of heating oil, it can pose a serious problem for your home! If you run out of oil during the winter months, your pipes can freeze and burst causing significant damage to your home! Getting a Smart Oil Gauge will significantly help reduce this risk! With the use of a Smart Oil Gauge, you won’t have to worry about running out because the device will tell you how much oil is in your tank! However, if you do run out of oil, you can follow my guide in this article here to find out what to do next.

Conclusion

Despite not producing as much heat as heating oil, Heat Pumps are still a great tool to have! However, if you live in a place where winters are rough and tend to be very cold, then heat pumps are not for you. Heat pumps are usually more reliable in areas that tend to have more mild winters compared to the northeast where our winters tend to be pretty cold.

Where you live plays an important role into weather or not you should get a heat pump. If you live in Alaska or in the Northeast where the winters tend to be pretty cold, then sticking with Heating Oil is your best bet! In that situation, a heat pump will be less reliable than a furnace.

Heating Oil is overall more reliable and produces more heat than a heat pump. This will keep you warm during those really cold months. Your heating oil tank is also not reliant on what the outside temperature is. Meaning that your heat will always be consistent! In the northeast, your primary source of heat should be Heating Oil. But that doesn’t mean that you can’t have a heat pump as a backup!

Happy Heating,

Hunter

The Smart Oil Gauge’s New Configuration Process

March 24, 2025March 12, 2025

We’ve recently updated the Smart Oil Gauge app with a new and improved configuration process! This process helps streamline the process of configuring your Smart Oil Gauge with a process that’s much more in-depth and easy to follow! In this blog post, I’ll be covering what it is, how to do it and much more!

Updating to the Most Recent Version

Updating to the most recent app version is important to ensure that you’re able to go through the process in the easiest and simplest way. The way you update your applications is a little different depending on whether or not you’re on an IOS or Android device. But they are both easy to do.

On Android devices, you can simply open up the Google Play Store and search for “Smart Oil Gauge”. You can do this by selecting the magnifying glass on the bottom hot bar of the app store. It will be in the middle of “Apps” and “Offers”. After you’ve typed in Smart Oil Gauge into the search, you’ll be prompted with our app! It looks like a blue and black water droplet with a white background. You can tell if the app itself is on the most recent version if the app says “Open” from the app store. Otherwise, it will say “Update”.

On IOS devices (IPhones & IPads), you can open up the apple app store and click on your profile on the top right. If you scroll down in this section, you’ll see what apps you have installed that will need to be updated. From here, you can see if the Smart Oil Gauge app is listed there. If it isn’t, then go ahead and open the app! Otherwise, you’ll have to update the app!

Starting the Process

If you’re a new user and you’ve just made a fresh account, the app will take you to a screen that says “My Tanks”. If you don’t have your Smart Oil Gauge setup yet, you’ll see that it says “No Tanks Yet”. This is perfectly fine! What you’ll need to do from here is click the wrench/gear icon on the top right of this screen. It will then take you to a screen that says “Tools” and “Account Settings”. But you’ll notice that in the middle it says “Connect Sensor”. You’ll want to click on that to start the process!

Upon selecting “Connect Sensor” it’ll take you to a screen that asks you to have your WIFI password handy as well as having physical access to the sensor. It’s easiest to do this process with the gauge off of the tank. I recommend starting this process before installation. This will make the overall process more comfortable and easy to do!

After having your information ready, you’ll be prompted to select a Sensor. One being the Smart Oil Gauge Duo and the other being the Standard Smart Oil Gauge. The process is the same on both devices, but they look slightly different which makes selecting the correct gauge important for an easy and smooth configuration process!

Entering Configuration Mode

After selecting your sensor, the app will prompt you to turn off the device. This will help you come to ensure that you are starting from scratch and make sure that you are following the steps in the app correctly! After you turn the gauge off and follow the video displayed on the app, the next step requested is to turn the gauge on. After doing this, you’ll be prompted with an option asking if the light flashed or not. The LED light flashing indicates that the gauge is on and receiving power.

If the light on the gauge flashes, then you’ll have to select “Yes, the Light Flashed” and it will take you to another screen where it will prompt you to type in the password for the network that your phone is connected to. Now, if you want the gauge connected to a different WIFI network, you can select “Choose a Different WIFI Network”.

After typing in your password or selecting the Different network option, the app will now instruct you to get the gauge into the config mode. Getting the gauge into the configuration mode is very simple. Simply push and hold the button on the gauge down, once for two seconds (one-one thousand, two-one thousand). This will cause the gauge to start blinking once per second. The app will show you a video of how the light should be flashing on your gauge. There will be another prompt that will ask you if the light on the gauge is blinking once per second. If it is blinking, select “Yes, once every few seconds”. Otherwise, select “No” and the app will guide you through various ways to troubleshoot.

Connecting the Gauge to Your WIFI

After you select “Yes, once every few seconds”, you will get a prompt and menu show up that says “Beginning Configuration Process” and the device will begin attempting to connect the gauge to the WIFI. You will see an option pop up that shows a network that says “CCF######”. That is the gauge’s network that it will need to connect to for the device to make a stable connection to your router.

After completing the configuration process, the app will present you with a set of options to finish setting up the gauge to your account. This includes address, tank size, upload interval and alerts. You’ll need to be sure that you fill out this information. Filling out the address is optional, as it’s mostly used for ordering oil through the Smart Oil Gauge app. However, if you don’t want to order oil through the app you don’t have to! It’s completley optional!

Once you’ve filled out the rest of the configuration information, you’ll be all set to go and install the gauge onto the tank! If you are unsure how to install the gauge, you can follow our instructions here. You can also watch our detailed installation videos on YouTube! We have installation processes for both Roth and Granby style tanks!

Conclusion

The new and improved Smart Oil Gauge config mode will be incredibly helpful for getting your device online and setup! While this process helps streamline the initial setup process, it helps with reconnecting the gauge to the WIFI if you have a change to your home network!

However, even though this new process is much simpler to do, we’re still happy to help if you’re confused! If you need help setting the gauge, you can give our support line a call! We can be reached at 203-456-1499 option 3 from 8am-5pm EST, Monday through Friday.

I hope you enjoy your Smart Oil Gauge!

Happy Heating,

Hunter

Reconnecting the Boards in your Smart Oil Gauge

March 11, 2025March 6, 2025

Both new and existing Smart Oil Gauge users might know that the original Smart Oil Gauge has two boards in the interior. One controls the sensor on the bottom and the other communicates with the battery box and the inner computer. However, sometimes when you swap out the batteries in the gauge or during the config process, these boards will get disconnected. The result of these boards disconnecting is the gauge reading full. What the exact reading will be depends on the maximum capacity of your tank in particular. In this article, I’ll be explaining how this happens and the process of reconnecting the boards!

How Does this Happen?

This typically will happen during either troubleshooting or when you change out the battery in your device. Often when this happens, the battery box of the gauge is pulled out too hard and the battery box pulls the board out of the connection with the pins.

Sometimes this can also happen after the initial configuration. However, this is more likley to happen after you put it on the tank and try to troubleshoot it if it doesn’t come back online. This will only happen though if you remove the top board from the interiors of the gauge. DO NOT remove the top board from the interiors of the gauge, unless specifically told to by our support team. This won’t damage the gauge, but it can be quite frustrating to get the gauge to reconnect and to reconnect the boards.

What does It Look Like on the App?

When you load up the Smart Oil Gauge app with the boards disconnected, you will get a reading that says “Full”. But sometimes this can show up as greater than what your gauge normally reads. For example, on a gauge that is reading for a 275 gallon tank, might get a reading of “Greater than 235 Gallons”. This is partially due to the standard Smart Oil Gauge’s Sensitivity. The Smart Oil Gauge will not be able to see anything above the 8″ mark of the tank. This is because the signal will bounce around a lot at the top of the tank which will cause the gauge to read less. So, your gauge will not be able to read more than what is at the 8″ mark on your tank. Depending on your tank size, this can vary.

This is what you’ll tend to see on your graph when the boards are disconnected. On this 275 gallon tank, the reading surpasses the maximum capacity of the tank.

A good indicator of when the boards are disconnected is by looking at the graph reading. The reading on the graph on the app will show that the tank is also “Full”. Sometimes it’s harder to see on the app’s graph display. You can always check the Smart Oil Gauge’s website and login there! You can view your graph and data there which you’ll be able to see that maximum reading a little better there.

This is often what you’ll see on the website if the boards are connected. Please note that you should **NEVER** see a reading of 276.3 gallons on your Smart Oil Gauge. That is beyond the tanks capacity. If you are seeing this type of reading, please contact our support!

Reconnecting the Boards

Going through the process of reconnecting the boards is very simple. You will need to reconnect the boards together. To get a better idea of what you’re doing, you’ll first want to take the board and battery box out of the gauge. Once you have the board in your hands you’ll want to locate the bottom where you will see a little black rectangle with four holes. That rectangle is where the pins connect to the boards. You’ll want to slightly push that black box back to make sure it’s as close to the back of the board as possible. Then, make sure you slide the four pins into the pin ports of the black rectangle. The two boards should click together and reconnect!

As shown in the above pictures, the reconnection process for the boards is relatively simple. You want to make sure that the pins on the bottom board line up with the pin port on the top board. This should allow the boards to connect and return to normal readings! However, it’s important to know that the boards can be a little sensitive. This means that even if one pin doesn’t connect properly, the gauge will still only display a “Full” reading. So it’s important for you to make sure that all the pins connect to the pin port properly.

This is an example of what an offset board will look like on your gauge. An offset pin will still cause the gauge to read “Full”.

Does this Happen on the Duo?

The boards disconnecting on the Duo is very rare. That’s because the boards for the gauge and sensor connect on the inside of the trash-can like structure that comes with the Duo. The boards and gauge are connected very well and the boards will often not disconnect with each other.

However, sometimes you’ll get a full reading on your Smart Oil Gauge Duo. This is often caused by moisture or oil on the sensor. You can usually resolve this by using a dry cloth such as a paper towel or wash cloth to clean off the sensor. That will normally clean off anything on the sensor that is causing it to read full.

If wiping the sensor of the gauge off doesn’t work, contact our support and we’ll be happy to try troubleshooting with you over the phone! But make sure you have your gauge’s order number handy! This is so that we can determine if your Duo is still under warranty incase we need to replace the device!

Conclusion

If you have a Standard Smart Oil Gauge, reconnecting the boards is something that you will have to do at some point. Especially if you recently changed out the batteries or the gauge was offline for a brief period of time. You should be able to reconnect the board using this blog as a guide!

As always, if you have any other questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to reach out to our support team! We are available from 8am-5pm EST, Monday through Friday at 203-456-1499 option 3. If you do not reach someone over the phone, please leave a voicemail and we’ll get back to you at our earliest convenience!

Happy Heating,

Hunter

Managing Heating Oil During the Holiday Season

December 16, 2024November 7, 2024

With Christmas and New Year’s around the corner, December can be an expensive month, especially during peak heating oil season. Oftentimes during the holiday season, you have to buy Christmas Gifts, prepare for the annual family gathering, and get ready for your upcoming New Year’s parties. With the added stress and fear of running out of heating oil, it can be a lot for one person. So in this article, I’ll be giving you some tips and tricks on managing your heating oil so you don’t have to worry about running own during the busiest time of the year!

Come Up with a Financial Plan

Coming up with a budget for the month of December is the most important thing that you should do. By having a plan in mind that helps you understand where you’re spending your money will help you put some aside for heating oil. At the time of writing, heating oil prices are sitting around $2.99-$3.25 per gallon. Depending on how much your tank’s capacity is, this could cost you anywhere from several hundred dollars, to close to several thousand! However, if you’re a homeowner with a standard 275 or 330 gallon oil tank, then you shouldn’t have to spend more than a couple hundred.

Heating Oil Prices can be very erratic. So it’s important to stay on top of prices, like in the above example!

It’s important that when you come up with a financial plan, that way you set money aside for heating oil. This will ensure that if your tank runs out if oil, you have the money to order some, rather than having your tank suddenly run empty and not have the money to order more oil. Having money set aside for heating oil will also help you ensure that you have enough for your other expenses in December.

Signing Up For Automatic Delivery

I should start off by saying that, I don’t typically recommend signing up for automatic delivery. However, if you’re the type of person who doesn’t like to think about when you need heating oil and when you’re going to run out, then automatic delivery is for you!

But there are some important things to note about automatic delivery. The most important note is the price. Automatic delivery tends to be a bit more expensive in the long term. But if money isn’t something you tend to worry about or if you like paying an additional charge for that peace of mind, then this is for you! You’ll no longer have to worry about when you need to order or when you’re going to run out, because your heating oil provider will handle that for you!

But that being said, you should still make sure that you have a functional tank monitor or gauge to ensure that you don’t run out and so that you can order oil in the event of an emergency. A float gauge or Smart Oil Gauge, would suffice.

Start Saving Ahead of Time

I might be a little late on this one, but planning your holiday spending several months in advance. This will not only be beneficial to help you save money on oil costs, but it can also be helpful for your other holiday expenses. By saving money in advance, you’re saving yourself the stress of wondering if you can afford ordering oil when you run out or even on your other December expenses.

Setting aside some money before heating oil season starts is a great way to prepare for when the prices get high as demand gets higher. Ensuring that you save this extra money is important to prepare for when prices increase due to high demand and to ensure you’re able to pay that amount in an emergency! This will also help you ensure that you have enough money to cover your holiday expenses as well!

Install a Smart Oil Gauge

One of the best ways to know when you need to order is with a Smart Oil Gauge. It not only tracks usage, but it will also tell you how much oil that you have in your tank! This will give you the peace of mind of knowing how much oil is in your tank. But it also allows you to order oil whenever you need it! All of this, in the pal of your hand!

With the Smart Oil Gauge app’s built in ability to allow you to order oil from the app, you’ll never have to worry about running out! With our built in FuelSnap feature, you’ll always be able to order oil at the tip of your fingers! Just make sure that you configure your gauge for the right tank size so that your gauge will be able to accurately tell you how much oil is in your tank!

These are our two gauges! The Smart Oil Gauge Duo and the Standard Smart Oil Gauge! Either will be able to provide you with an accurate reading of how much oil is in your tank!

The gauge can also send emails, texts and push notifications to alert you if you need to order oil, when you get a fill up and much more! Just make sure that you have all that information set up in the app prior to installing it onto the tank so that you can have the peace of mind while the gauge is installed onto the tank!

Conclusion

December is the most expensive month of the year. With both Christmas and New Years around the corner things are getting expensive. So it’s important to be prepare yourself for an increase in spending.

Getting a Smart Oil Gauge will help you monitor your heating oil to ensure that you don’t run out. While a financial plan will prepare you in the event that you’re low or run out. Setting aside money for heating oil prior will help prepare you for when you are getting low. But if you need a last minute Christmas Gift, feel free to order a Smart Oil Gauge!

You must prepare yourself for the busy months of the year. If you follow these guidelines and tips for being prepared, I’m sure that you’ll be able to be on top of your heating oil needs as well as being ready for the holidays!

Happy Heating,

Hunter

The 10 Best Ways to Save on Heating Oil Costs

December 2, 2024June 4, 2024

When it’s winter in the northeast, you’ll notice that heating oil prices will tend to be at their most expensive. You’ll find yourself having to refuel every month or so, to maintain the heat in your house. But there’s always that important question, “How can I save money on heating oil?”. If you find yourself asking that question, then keep reading! I’ll be covering the best ways to save money on heating oil costs in this article.

These are what you’re typical heating oil truck will look like. You can find them all over the northeast during heating oil season. But during the spring and summer, they are much less common.

Cancel your Automatic Delivery: Canceling your Automatic delivery might initially sound strange. However, automatic delivery can actually be a major reason you’re spending so much money on heating oil costs. Dealers will tend to charge more oil per gallon with automatic delivery. On average, dealers will tend to charge at least 50 cents or more per gallon when using automatic delivery. Canceling it might end up saving you several hundred dollars yearly! You might want to try ordering from our FuelSnap website more often! Our website allows you to check which dealers in your area are offering oil and at what cost! This can help you save money by giving you a variety of dealers to choose from.
Check for Drafty Doors and Windows: Being sure to cover up your drafty windows and doors will help you reduce the amount of oil that your boiler is burning overall. By covering them up, you’ll naturally burn less oil! This is because your boiler won’t have to output as much heat. After all, there is no draft that is causing the heat to leave the house.
Order Oil During the Summertime: While it might seem counterproductive, this is a great way to get heating oil at a low price! During the summer, the demand for heating oil is very low. So prices will naturally be lower. Ordering during the summer will ensure you get heating oil at a lower price than if you would order during the fall or winter. Plus, if you don’t use your heating oil for hot water, then you’ll just be stocking up on heating oil for future use!
Don’t Order Heating Oil During the Holiday Season: Around Christmas and New Year’s, oil prices will spike up. Like how gifts will spike in price around this time. This is the exact opposite of how prices get in the summer. The holidays is when heating oil is in the most demand. So unless you are completely out of oil, we don’t recommend ordering oil around this time at all.
Increase your Home’s Insulation: Increasing your home’s insulation is a fantastic way to reduce heating oil consumption. Whether you are adding in more insulation or improving it, you’ll naturally decrease your consumption. This will let your home retain more heat for longer. When doing this, you should see a decline in usage that will immensely benefit you in the long run,
Investing in a WIFI Thermostat: These WIFI thermostats are very useful and are a great way to conserve heating oil. They will benefit you in the long run by allowing you to control your home’s temperature from the tip of your finger. Most of these thermostats have an app where everything is controlled. You’ll be able to lower the heat or raise it depending on if you’re home or not. This will also help reduce your heating oil usage when you’re not home! Doing this will allow you to monitor and adjust the temperature in your home remotely from anywhere!
Upgrading your Heating System: Your heating oil system will become less efficient over time. For this reason, in particular, you will need to upgrade your heating oil system. By doing so, you’ll improve your system’s overall efficiency and you will see a stable decrease in your oil usage due to a more efficient system.
Turn Down/Off Your Thermostat when you aren’t home: Even if you don’t have a WIFI thermostat installed in your home, turning down the thermostat when you’re not home will keep your temperatures down, which will keep you from burning a lot of oil. However, if you have pets, then this rule might not apply to you. Keeping them warm is important too! But, if you don’t have pets, then lowering the thermostat is a great way to conserve your heating oil!
Turn Off Heat in Empty/Unoccupied Rooms: When you turn off the heat in rooms that are empty or not being used, this will greatly decrease your oil consumption. Close any vents or radiators that are in rooms that do not have frequent or adequate usage. This will reduce the overall amount of oil that the burner has to burn to heat your home.
Purchase and Install a Smart Oil Gauge: The Smart Oil Gauge is a very useful and dependable product. It will be able to track your heating oil usage and can keep you in the loop about your level. It will alert you when the tank is running low and when you’re burning too much oil! Overall, this will help you stay on top of your heating oil. The best part is that it is all through your phone! Simply download the Smart Oil Gauge app and you’ll be able to keep track of everything you need to know at the touch of a button!

Conclusion

By following these ten ways to save money when ordering heating oil, you’ll find that you’ll be able to save both on your costs and your consumption! Following these will not only help you with burning less oil, but you’ll also be able to ensure that you will use different ways to conserve and burn heating oil in the future!

Happy Heating,

Hunter

What to do When You Run Out of Heating Oil

November 18, 2024March 19, 2025

If you’re reading this, then you might find yourself in the unfortunate situation of having run out of oil. But don’t worry, this happens to everyone at least once. There are steps that you can take to resolve this and ensure that it doesn’t happen again. In this article, we go over various steps to ensure that you’ll be ready for when you need to order heating oil and get your system back up and running!

In this article, I’ll be covering each of the following:

Making sure that you’re actually out of oil.
Scheduling an oil delivery! If you’ve run out of oil, this is very important to do!
Putting 5-10 gallons of diesel in your tank. This will hold you over until your delivery arrives.
Restart your burner by pressing the reset button.

Check to Make Sure that You’re Definitely out of Heating Oil

Running out of oil isn’t the only failure that your home’s heating oil system can have. This means that running out of fuel isn’t always the problem. A couple of winters ago, I thought I had run out of oil, but my float gauge said I had half a tank. Turns out, it was a faulty starter! So be sure to be mindful that you might’ve not run out of oil!

Most heating oil tanks are equipped with some kind of float gauge. This type of gauge in particular will measure the level of your oil tank using a bobber. This will give you an estimation of how many gallons of oil are in your tank. Inside the gauge’s translucent cylinder, you will see a colorful disc. Gently pressing on the disc will help you get an idea of if it’s accurate or not. If you press down on it, it should slowly return to normal if there is oil in the tank. But if it doesn’t, then you are most likley out of oil. If there is oil in your tank, then you can skip “Restarting Your Burner”

This is what your average float gauge will often look like. As you can see in the above photo, there is a disc inside the cylinder. The cylinder has markings that will determine approximately how many gallons of oil are in the tank.

Scheduling an Oil Delivery

After you’ve made sure that you are out of oil, you must place an order for oil as soon as you can! Using our FuelSnap website, you can access prices and dealers locally. This will give you the ability to shop around and get the cheapest prices available to you! By typing in your zip code you’ll get access local dealers in your area. You also won’t have to worry about additional charges in the case of an emergency! So feel free to order using the website whenever you are low! It’ll save you in a pinch!

If you are using the Smart Oil Gauge app, you might notice that on your “Tank Detail” screen, you see an option that says “Check Oil Prices”. This will let you order from FuelSnap through the Smart Oil Gauge app! After the press of a few buttons, you can have a delivery of oil placed and ready to go!

Once you’ve placed an order using FuelSnap, you’ll get a confirmation email for your order. This email will contain useful information such as the dealer’s name, number, and email. You’ll be able to contact them with any issues or questions regarding your order! If you need an exact time, you can contact the dealer and they will let you know when the dealer’s ETA is!

Add Some Diesel

When your tank is out of oil, it’s not good to leave it empty. After you place your order, immediately head over to your local gas station and pick up about 5-10 gallons of diesel. Depending on the prices for diesel in your area, this might run you about $20-$50. Diesel is very similar to heating oil, so putting some in your oil tank will not damage any of the parts of your system. But, this should only be used as a temporary solution. Diesel needs a special system to be a long-term heating solution.

If you don’t already have one, you should purchase a yellow jug from your gas station to fill it up. This will normally help differentiate between other forms of crude oil. Red is usually for gasoline and blue is for kerosene. The 5-10 gallons you get will help you get through the night and keep you warm during the winter. During the spring and summer, the diesel will last you a couple of days. But, if you want to be on the safe side, getting 10 gallons would be best!

Stopping at your local gas station will help you ensure that your heating oil system doesn’t get damaged when you’ve run out! It’ll also hold you over until you get your delivery!

Restarting Your Burner

The final step is to check your oil burner. The reason for this is that the issue might not be that you’ve run out of oil, but it could be related to the burner! If you have oil in your tank and you wake up to a cold house, there is likely an issue with your heating system. This could be anything from a faulty starter or a clogged feedline. For any issues regarding your heating oil system, it would be best to contact an HVAC technician to handle these particular issues.

If you put some diesel into your heating oil tank, then you should restart your burner ASAP. This is because with your furnace being deprived of oil for so long, it will need a reset for it to get back up and running. In the below image, you can see where the reset button on your burner is located. It’s usually the button in the center of the starter and will either be flashing a red light or nothing at all. After you’ve pressed the button, give the starter 15 seconds and you should start to hear the system start back up. The system will either continue to stay on, or it will turn right back off.

If your heating oil system doesn’t turn back off, you will likely need to bleed the air off the lines. However, DO NOT attempt this if you are not mechanically proficient. It would be best to contact an HVAC technician to handle this. After the lines have been bled, press the reset button again and see if that gets the system up and running again. If at this point, your system is back up and running, you MUST contact an HVAC technician to inspect your heating oil system.

Being on top of your burner is very important! You must ensure that your system is working correctly so that you can ensure that you house is always heated!

Conclusion

Running out of oil is not enjoyable at all. Waking up in the morning to a cold house will sour your mood for the rest of the day. In best case-scenario, you’ll simply just have to run to the gas station to grab some diesel. Be sure to order some oil using our FuelSnap website! Or if you have the Smart Oil Gauge app, feel free to order oil from there!

But, if your issue lies with the burner, you’ll need to contact an HVAC technician. Your burner could’ve sucked up some sludge and clogged from the feedlines, or worse. If this is the situation that you’re facing, you’ll need to contact an HVAC technician.

Overall, the best way to prevent this is to purchase a Smart Oil Gauge! The gauge will be able to give you an accurate reading of your tank’s level as well as your oil usage! This will help understand how much oil you have and are burning! It’s all accessible to you at the touch of a button! You can even receive push notifications and email alerts when your tank’s low and when you get a fill! Best of all, you can even order oil right from the app! With the Smart Oil Gauge, you’ll never have to worry about running out of oil again!

Happy Heating,

Hunter

How Long Until You Run Out of Heating Oil

November 11, 2024March 19, 2025

With the outside temperatures starting to get cold again, heating oil is on the mind. So it’s important to be mindful and check your heating oil tanks. But also, it’s important to check the price of heating oil. When oil prices get high enough, you might up spending close to or over $1,000. It’s important that because of this, you ask yourself “How long until I run out of oil? Well don’t worry, I’ll be covering that in this article here.

We’ve seen heating oil prices as high as $4 a gallon this year! Due to this, you might be tempted to wait until the very last minute. But this isn’t always the best idea. Especially in the winter.

What’s the Capacity of a Heating Oil Tank?

Usually, standard oil tanks will have a capacity of 275 or 330 gallons. However, these tanks will never get filled up to their maximum capacity. So they have a true capacity of 250 or 315 respectively. But that being said, I don’t recommend letting your tank get low. The reasoning for this is because your tank could have some sludge build-up on the bottom of it. This is common on old steel tanks. But, if you have a Roth tank, you won’t have to worry about this. However, that doesn’t mean that you should let your tank get low.

When your tank’s level gets below 1/8 full, you’ll start to stir up the sludge in your tank. The sludge will then get sucked into your burner’s feed lines. This can often cause a clog and worst of all, no heat! This is a huge problem that has to be dealt with immediately.

With this information in mind, you should NEVER let your tank’s oil level get below 1/8 full. For a tank that’s 275 gallons, this is about 35 gallons. DO NOT Let it get below that amount of oil. This can result in your feed lines sucking up sludge and your burner getting shut down.

Due to this 35-gallon mark, you really only have about 215 usable gallons on a 275 gallon tank. But, this is a worst case-scenario. You should always order oil at a quarter tank.

In the above photo, you’ll see an example of a 275-gallon tank. These are the most common style of heating oil tanks. 330 gallon tanks will generally look the same, but will tend to measure around 6ft long.

How Long Will a Tank of Heating Oil Last You?

By knowing the size of your tank, and the amount of usable gallons that you have in your tank, you’ll be able to figure out how long an entire tank of oil will last. The next questions is a little bit trickier to answer. That question is “How much oil will your house need?”. I go very in-depth on this in my articles on usage during Spring and Winter. Take a read at those to get my in-depth explanations on usage during those seasons!

During the winter, you will naturally be burning more oil. This is because the outside weather is much colder than during the spring and summer months. You will burn through a lot of oil especially if it’s your primary source of heating. You might even need to get oil delivered every month or so, depending on how much you’re using! The average home will usually burn around 2 to 7 gallons of heating oil daily during the colder months.

However, during the spring and summer, you’ll be burning significantly less oil. This is because these months tend to be a bit warmer. Which will cause you to burn less oil than you usually do. If heating oil is your primary form of heating, then you will only really burn anywhere form 1-3 gallons a day on heat. During the summer, you’ll probably burn around .5-1 gallon at most.

You can use this chart to get an estimation of how much heating oil in your home that you’ll end up using during the winter time. If your home is not very energy efficient, you might end up using twice or triple the amount of gallons shown here.

While this tends to be accurate for most homes, this can depend on your personal situation, such as size of the home, how well your insulation is and much more.

Avoid Running Out of Oil: Always Order at a Quarter

You should now have a basic idea of how long a tank of heating oil will last you. This should ensure that you are better equipped to avoid a runout.

The general rule of thumb that I like to live by is to reorder oil when your tank reaches a quarter. This will ensure that the delivery truck has plenty of time to get to you before you run out. You can use our FuelSnap website to order oil online. Or even better, you can use the Smart Oil Gauge, to alert you when you’re running low! The gauge will not only alert you when you’re low, but it will also tell you how much oil you have and how much oil you’re burning, right at the touch of your finger!

Being on top of how much oil you’re burning is important! This will help you figure out how long a tank of oil will last you, and how long until you’ll need to order again! I hope this article has been helpful! If you need to reach me, I can be reached at 203-456-1499 option 3 from 8 am-5pm EST, Monday through Friday.

Happy Heating,

Hunter