It’s December! Which means that it’s the busiest time of year for heating oil dealers! But this is also the time of year when oil is in the most demand. Especially with Christmas and New Year’s around the corner, it might be hard to get some heating oil soon if you’re running low. So now you might be asking, “When should I order oil?” or “How Long Will my Tank Last me?”. Well, don’t worry, I’ll be sure to cover everything that you need to know about your heating oil usage during the winter season!
Tank Sizing
The size of your tank plays an important role in determining when you need to order heating oil. The more oil your tank can fit, the less frequently you’ll have to order. The most common size for a heating oil tank is 275 gallons. These tanks have a maximum capacity of 275 gallons. However, their true capacity is 250 gallons. This is because the dealer will leave the top couple inches free for air flow. They do this to prevent the tank from overflowing and to prevent leaks. This is on all oil tanks. The dealer will never fill your tank to max capacity because it puts the tank at risk of leaking. The second most common tank sizes are 330 gallons. Similar to their 275 gallon counterpart, their true capacity is 315 gallons.
Dual tanks are another common way to store oil in your home. These are tank combinations that are two tanks linked together. Meaning that these setups offer double the capacity. So on a system that has two 275 gallon tanks, your system will effectively be 550 gallons! This typically means that you’ll have to order less frequently, but in higher quantities. These tanks connect via the feed lines and the system will draw from them equally. But if there’s a clog in one of the feed lines, then that means that the system will end up drawing more oil from one tank.
Underground tanks tend to be pretty uncommon nowadays but are becoming increasingly rare. Their smallest sizes tend to be around 500 gallons, but some can get as big as 1000 or even 2000 gallons! These tanks are constantly being removed because they are environmental hazards. This is causing them to be constantly removed and replaced with newer tanks.
How The Size of Your Home Affects Usage
While the size of your tank will affect how much oil you burn, your home’s size also greatly contributes to high usage as well. Here are just a few of the major factors that contribute to high usage:
Home Size: This is probably the most important factor on this list. The size of your home will greatly impact how much oil your system will burn. The larger your home, means more surface area that your system has to heat, which means that you’ll burn more oil on the daily. For example, a 1500 square foot home might use an average 500 gallons of oil per year! Sounds like a lot right? Well a 3500 square foot home could use an average of 1200 gallons of heating oil per year!
The Energy Efficiency of your Home: If your home has good insulation, then this will drastically decrease the amount of oil you’ll use! Good insulation makes it harder for heat to escape the home, which won’t over work your system. 2500 square foot homes that gave good insulation will likley only use 600 gallons per year! Meanwhile a home of the same size that’s poorly insulated might end up burning 1200 gallons of heating oil annually!
System Age & Maintenance: The age of a heating oil system will play a big roll in how much oil you’ll burn. If your system is properly maintained, then your system can last up to 30 years before needing a new one! However, this is still no match for a newer tank system that tends to be roughly 30% more efficient.
Temperature: Both interior and exterior temperatures will effect how much oil you’re burning. If you tend to turn the thermostat high, try lowering the temperature on it. The higher it is, the more heat your system will burn. However, the outside temperature does play more of a role in how much you’ll burn! The average day in December is typically anywhere from 20-30 degrees. This can cause your system to burn roughly 5-6 gallons on the daily! Just to keep you warm! But in the single digits, you might even see yourselves burning 8-12 gallons of oil!
Your Daily Usage
After determining how big your home is, it’s important to figure out how much heating oil you’re going to be burning on a daily basis. This will give you a rough estimate as to how many gallons of oil you’ll be burning daily. Your home’s size will also help you determine when you’ll need to order more oil as well as how much you’ll be burning.
However, with that in mind, it’s important that you should never let your tank get close to running out! This can damage your system and put you at risk for run out! To prevent this, you should always order oil at a quarter tank.
How Long Will Your Tank Last?
This factor is determined by when you order oil and by how much is already in your tank when you order. For example, if you place an order for heating oil when your tank is half way full, then you’ll last until your next delivery. However, if you order when you’re low on oil, then there’s a chance that you won’t get your delivery by the time you runout. Think of it like filling up your car. Letting your car run on empty is never a good idea. The same is true for a heating oil tank. Letting your tank run low will not only damage your system, but if you’ve got sludge build-up, the sludge will clog the tank’s feedlines. To prevent this, it’s really important that you order oil when the tank is at a quarter.
Following the rule “reorder at a quarter” is a good structure to have when ordering heating oil. Regardless of if you use a float gauge or Smart Oil Gauge, you’ll be able to determine when your level reaches a quarter tank so that you can place an order. But note that float gauges will are never 100% accurate. They don’t account for the tanks curvature and this can make it look like you’re burning a lot more oil than you actually are.
On a 275 gallon tank, the quarter mark is roughly 68-75 gallons. Now, because 275 gallons tanks only have a maximum capacity of 250 gallons, this means that there’s only really 175-182 usable gallons of oil. You can still use the oil below a quarter tank, but try to think of that as your safety net. But, you can calculate your usage based on the above graph. Here’s an example:
Home Size: 2500 Square Feet
Average Outside Temperature: 30 Degrees Fahrenheit
Daily Average: 5 gallons per day
Tank Size: 275 Gallons (True Capacity 250)
When To Reorder: Quarter Tank or 75 gallons
Gallons You Can Use: 175-182 gallons
Days Between Fills: 175-182 gallons/ 5.2 gallons/day= 35 gallons
So if the average exterior temperature stays around 30 degrees Fahrenheit, the average 275-gallon tank in a 2500 square foot home will last you roughly 35 days before you need to fill up again!
Checking When you need Oil
The last thing you want to happen this time of year is waking up to a cold house. That isn’t very fun, I’ve been through it. A Majority of the time as to why this happens is because you’ve run out of oil. If this happens to you, then following our guide on what to do here.
If you’re using the standard float gauge that comes with your tank, then you’ll want to check it at least every two weeks. This is because these gauges aren’t always accurate and you won’t usually be alerted if you’re running low. So it’s important to check frequently.
But using a tank gauge such as the Smart Oil Gauge, will help you immensely! Using one of these gauges will give you the ability to have access to your tank’s level and usage data all the touch of your fingers! As long as you have access to cell service or WIFI, you can access it all with just your smartphone! You can even order oil through the app with our built in FuelSnap integration!
However, if you’re still new to heating oil then you might want to closely monitor your usage. This will give you an idea of how much you’ll need to order, how frequently you’ll need to and what your average usage will be.
Conclusion
The best time to order oil is at a quarter tank. This is typically when the float gauge is at the 1/4 mark. That’s when you’ll know it’s time to order heating oil. You can always contact local dealers in your area, or use websites like FuelSnap to find out the local pricing per gallon.
You can choose which dealer you want to deliver and how much! That way you can avoid waking up in the middle of the night with a cold house and no oil! By not only being on top of your oil level, but also understanding when you should order will help you so much! This will give you the best structure for using oil in the winter time to help prevent running oil!
Happy Heating,
Hunter
