Any machinery requires proper maintenance and upkeep. This is true of everything from your car to your home computer. The same is true of your home and its various components – including heating, HVAC, and their associated systems. Just as you monitor your car to make sure that it doesn’t run low on oil you should do the same with your home heating oil.
How Do You Tell If You’ve Run Out of Heating Oil?
The obvious sign your heating oil has run dry is the dropping temperatures in your home or your heat switching off unexpectedly. If this happens it could mean you’re out of oil or it could be indicative of an issue with your furnace.
Check the tank gauge and make a visual inspection by removing the cap and shining a light inside. If you don’t see liquid oil, you’ve probably run dry. You also have the potential of having pulled sludge from the bottom of the tank into your furnace, which can wreak havoc. Also be on the lookout for strange sounds coming from your furnace.
How Can I Check If My Oil Tank Is Low?
You can check your oil tank gauge. Much like your car, it will give you a percentage, i.e., 40% full, as opposed to telling you how many gallons you have left. To continue the automotive analogy, you can also check your oil with a gauge stick or “dipstick”, a process familiar to most drivers.
How Long Should a Tank of Heating Oil Last?
That depends on the size of your tank. If you have a modest one-bedroom house, the tank is probably about 300 gallons. The average furnace will usually burn between 0.8 and 1.7 gallons per hour on average. If your furnace gets 10 hours of use each day, you’ll need a refill once every seventeen days.
What Happens If Your Tank Runs Out of Heating Oil?
Our various comparisons to cars notwithstanding, running out of heating oil will not immediately damage your tank. With a car it can cause significant damage in a number of ways, but this is where our comparison does not hold.
Keep in mind that leaving your tank empty can cause long term damage as condensation forms on the empty interior walls of the tank. This causes rust to form, which not only damages the tank itself, but also flakes off getting into the system’s pipes.
Of course, the immediate fallout of an empty tank is the fact that you’ll be going without heat.
How Low Can I Let My Oil Tank Go?
If you’re using a dipstick, roughly four inches is the marker. This is where most systems have their outgoing feed lines to your furnace. If your oil levels get down to that point your furnace will almost certainly cease working.
Don’t Run Out of Heating Oil, Contact Express C.O.D.
Express C.O.D. has decades of experience in keeping our neighbors toasty warm during the frostiest weather. Don’t panic if you’ve accidentally run low, or even out, of heating oil. Our fast and easy Express C.O.D. service will take the stress off your shoulders. Contact us today with your questions and to set up your first delivery, you won’t believe how easy it is!