If you’re in the market for a new heating oil tank, or you’re thinking of buying one for your new home, you’re in the right place. Granby and Roth are the two most popular brands and tank styles when it comes to new tanks. They each have their own benefits and drawbacks, but which one is better?
Typically, you’ll need to replace your tank every 10-30 years. Most heating oil tanks will last quite a long time. However, if you properly maintain it then they will last so much longer than that!
In this article, I’ll be covering what you need to know to replace your tank. I’ll be covering both of the Granby and Roth tanks and what you need to know with either of these.
How a Fuel Tank Works
Before you make a decision on what kind of tank you should purchase, it’s very important to know how it works. When you receive a delivery, the dealer will access your fill pipe. Dealers will have to connect their delivery hose to the fill pipe outside. This is so that the dealer can pump oil into your tank.
Next to the fill pipe is a vent pipe, this is for airflow. This airflow also prevents pressure from building up, which can cause a lot of damage to your tank and system if there isn’t proper ventilation. However, the vent pipe also has a unique vent alarm. It’s similar to a whistle and will alert the driver when to stop pumping. When filling up, the whistle will emit a loud whistling sound.
Your tank also has a set of feedlines that connect it to the burner. The system will draw from the feed lines and transport oil from the tank to the burner. Then, once the oil has reached the burner, it goes through ionization and converts into gas. This then causes it to turn into heat. The feed lines are commonly on the top or bottom of the tank. However, feed lines on the top won’t normally reach the bottom. This is is similar to a straw that doesn’t reach the bottom of a cup. For top fed feed lines, there will still be a couple of gallons left in the tank when it’s “empty”. On a 275 gallon tank, this will tend to be around 30 gallons.
Granby Heating Oil Tanks
These tanks will typically have four fittings on the top of the tank. However, how many of these fittings are available will depend on your tank’s setup. Typically, two fittings are always occupied. Those are the fill and the vent pipes. These are requirements on all oil tanks. This is so that you can get fill-ups and air can properly flow throughout the tank. The other fittings are occupied by either the feed lines or the float gauge. However, sometimes the float gauge will be in combination with your vent and the feed lines will sometimes be located on the bottom of your tank. Depending on your setup, this means that you’ll have anywhere from 0-2 available fittings on your tank.
Granby tanks have a large variety of tank sizes to choose from. They have tank sizes anywhere from 138 gallons to 330 gallons. Most of the time, these tanks will either be in horizontal or vertical orientations. The orientations of these tanks are designed so that they can fit in compact places such as a crawl space or the corner of your garage.
Granby tanks are also able to have multiple tanks installed alongside each other. The nice thing about having multiple tanks is that they’re easy for the installer to set up. All that they have to do is add some additional components and pieces to your existing system and then you’ll have multiple tanks! This gives you the ability to order and store more oil! You can check heating oil prices by going to our FuelSnap website.
The Smart Oil Gauge on a Granby Tank
Granby tanks are of the most common tank sizes that we see the Smart Oil Gauge installed on. This due to a mixture of the tank being so common in homes as well as the convenience of majority of these tanks having a standard 2″ NPT fitting. This not only makes installation easy, but it makes setting the tank size easier as well. The Smart Oil Gauge defaults to a standard 275 gallon vertical tank when you initially set it up! So if your tank is that size, then you don’t have to worry about your gauge having the wrong tank size or reading incorrectly!
Roth Double-Wall Tanks
Roth tanks are typically double wall tanks. Meaning that inside of the steel tank, there’s a plastic tank. These tanks are leak proof, so if the interior plastic tank fails, then the steel exterior tank will catch it and prevent the tank from leaking completley. The great thing about these tanks is that plastic doesn’t rot or corrode. This means that the likelihood of your tank leaking is very low.
Now, comparing these tanks to Granby tanks, these tanks also tend to be much lighter. The lighter Roth tanks make it easier to move them into your garage and basement. Additionally, these tanks have most of their mass in height. So they don’t take up as much space as a Granby! However, not all installers have experience with Roth tanks. Due to this, they will try to persuade you into getting a Granby tank.
Similar to a Granby Tank, these tanks are equipped with 4 fittings on the top of the tank. However, they are usually all setup the same unlike the Granby tanks. These tanks will have a fitting used for the fill, vent, feed lines and the tank gauge. Now unlike Granby tanks, Roth can’t have the feed lines connected on the bottom of the tank. This is because installing the feed lines into the Roth tank’s bottom will destroy the two tanks, making them useless. The feed lines will always be set up on the top of the tank.
Smart Oil Gauge on Roth Tanks
If you have a Smart Oil Gauge and want to put it on a Roth tank, it’s a little different than Granby. The biggest difference is the type of adapter you’ll need. The Smart Oil Gauge requires a an adapter for Roth tank installations. This is because without the Roth adapter, the gauge is going to be reading only full. The adapter is required because it helps the gauge send the signal properly. Without the adapter, the signal will bounce off the tank’s fitting and cause the gauge to read only full because it’s going to think that the fitting is the surface of the oil.
In terms of compatibility, the Smart Oil Gauge is compatible will all Roth tanks EXCEPT the Roth 1500L (400 Gallon). This tank has an interior support baffle that prevents the gauge from reading beyond half. Unfortunately, there is no way around this as the baffle goes right through the middle of the tank. The gauge will not work on a Roth 1500L.
As mentioned above, the Roth adapter is a requirement for all Roth tank installations. However, because there are two models (the Smart Oil Gauge Duo and the Standard Model Smart Oil Gauge) you will need to purchase the correct adapter. You can purchase them both on our website. However, to ensure you purchase the right adapter for your model, I’m linking them below separately.
Smart Oil Gauge DUO Roth Adapter
Standard Smart Oil Gauge Roth Adapter
Which Tank Should You Choose?
To be able to better help you come to the decision on which tank you should buy, I’ve included a chart that compares both the Granby and Roth tanks. Roth tanks tend to be a little bit more money. However, you’re really paying for the security and durability. But, the nice thing about Roth tanks is that they come with a 30-year warranty included. But, there aren’t a lot of installers who know how to install these tanks.
To wrap up, going with what you personally prefer will tend to greatly impact your decision. Now, I should specify that both tanks are FANTASTIC options. If you’re in the need of a new tank, then sticking with what you have will usually be the easiest thing to do. This will tend to make the cost of labor cheaper as well as making the job for the HVAC technician much easier!
If you want a tank that’s taller and takes up less space, then getting the Roth is the way to go. Their warranty might even sway your decision making! But with the Granby, you’ll get access to the class heating oil tank that’s been used for years! But if you want a reliable gauge that will tell you how much oil is in your tank and what your usage is at the touch of your fingers, then getting a Smart Oil Gauge is what you’ll want! You’ll be able to order oil when you need it and will be able to monitor your level and usage!
Happy Heating,
Hunter
