Heating oil guides
Short, practical answers to the questions every oil-heated home runs into: what the gauge really says, which tank you have, how dealers time deliveries, and when to order. Written in plain language, with every number computed or honestly qualified.
All guides
-
How to stick an oil tank
Measure the oil in any tank with a wooden stick, including buried tanks read through the fill pipe.
-
Reading an oil tank gauge
What the float gauge marks really hold in gallons, and the failure modes that make gauges lie.
-
Petrometer gauges: read, pump, fix
The pump-style remote gauge explained: how the air bell works, how to read it, and the five classic failures.
-
Oil tank whistle (vent alarm)
The whistle that tells the driver to stop: where it lives, how it works, and why a silent one means no delivery.
-
What size is my oil tank?
Identify your tank by its dimensions, its data plate, or a delivery slip, with all the standard sizes.
-
Heating oil K-factor explained
The number your oil dealer uses to time deliveries, and how to compute yours from two slips.
-
When to order heating oil
The quarter-tank rule, winter delivery lead times, what a run-out costs, and COD versus automatic.
-
Why a 275 tank holds about 240
Nominal size, geometric capacity, and the fill whistle: why a full 275 is about 240 gallons.
-
How long do oil tanks last?
Tanks die from the inside. The four failure causes ranked, the warning signs, and what actually extends a tank's life.
-
Water in your oil tank
How water gets into a tank, why it breeds sludge and eats steel, how to find it with paste, and how it comes out.
-
Outdoor oil tanks in winter
Gelled fuel and frozen lines: why outdoor tanks suffer first, and the prevention that works before the cold snap.
-
No gauge, no stick: tracking oil
Broken gauge, sealed tank, unreachable fill: four real ways to know your level anyway, including burner hour math.
-
Oil tank reading for a closing
Selling a house with oil heat: how the tank is measured, what the closing ticket says, and how the credit is figured.