If your home is among the 5.5 million in the U.S. that use oil for heating fuel, you might find yourself wondering what you can do to make the most of the oil. Ideally, you will not run out of heating oil in the middle of a cold night, nor will you have so much oil left in the tank at the end of the season that it spoils before you can use it all.
There is no single answer to what the average oil consumption is per household since homes vary so much in terms of size, heating preferences and furnace efficiency. However, it is possible to find out how much heating oil you will use in a day. When you determine that total and know how much oil your home’s tank can hold, it allows you to plan for the colder months of the year and minimize the chance of running out of heating oil at an inconvenient time.
Considerations When Calculating Oil Consumption
Your home might use more or less heating oil over the course of a month or season than your neighbors for multiple reasons. Even if you and the people living next door to you have the exact same furnace and the exact same oil tank, there is still a possibility that your heating fuel usage will not match up. Some of the factors that influence oil consumption include:
- The size of your house: The larger your home, the more rooms there are to heat. Usually, bigger houses use more fuel each season than smaller homes. If you live in a big house and want to reduce your oil consumption, you can try setting the thermostat lower. Use blankets, hot water bottles or space heaters to keep warm in the rooms you do use.
- Your home’s insulation: How well insulated your home is also influences your overall oil consumption. If your house is drafty or if warm air leaks out of the windows, walls and doorways easily, your heater will need to work harder to keep your home comfortable.
- Your household’s preferences: Some people prefer to be very warm and toasty when they are home. If the consensus among members of your household is to keep the thermostat at 75 degrees in the colder months of the year, then you are very likely going to use more fuel than a household that keeps their thermostat set at 68 degrees. Turning the thermostat down when no one is home will help you use less oil, as will lowering the thermostat when everyone is asleep.
- The temperature outside: How cold it is outdoors plays a part in determining how much heating oil you use. When the temperature outside is 50 degrees, your furnace does not need to burn as much oil to maintain a temperature of 68 degrees inside your house. When the temperature falls to 30 degrees, though, the furnace is likely to turn on more frequently and burn more fuel in an effort to maintain a comfortable indoor temperature.
- The age and condition of your furnace: Your furnace also influences your overall oil consumption. Older furnaces tend to be considerably less energy efficient than newer models. While they might still work fine, they will use more fuel when operating. How well maintained a furnace is also affects fuel use. If it has been some time since the furnace has been cleaned and tuned up, it will most likely be working harder than it needs to be to keep your home at a comfortable temperature.
- The age and condition of your home: Older homes are often made of materials that are not as good at keeping out cold air or keeping warm air in compared to newer homes. Additionally, older homes may have older windows that let a lot of air in and out. There might also be cracks or openings in an older home that let in cold air or that allow warm air to escape, causing your furnace to work harder and to burn more heating oil.
How Do You Calculate Heating Oil Consumption?
If you have been using heating oil at home for a while, there are a few things you can do to get an idea of your average daily or monthly heating fuel consumption. Knowing how much fuel you typically use during the colder months of the year allows you to set up a schedule for fuel deliveries and reduces the risk of running out of fuel.
1. Check Your Oil Tank Specifications
The first thing to do when calculating your oil use is to check out the fuel tank. What is the volume of the tank? Many residential fuel tanks can hold up to 275 gallons of heating oil but, there are smaller and much larger tanks out there. Knowing how much fuel can be in the tank provides a baseline to use when evaluating actual fuel use.
2. Compare Your Furnace to Industry Averages
The annual fuel utilization efficiency (AFUE) rating measures how efficiently a furnace uses energy. Furnaces with lower AFUE ratings are less efficient, meaning they are more likely to use more fuel, compared to those with a higher rating. To earn the ENERGY STAR rating in the U.S., an oil-powered furnace needs to have an AFUE rating of at least 85%. It is easy to find out what AFUE rating your furnace has, as the information needs to be included on the furnace itself.
If it has a rating below 85%, you can expect the furnace to use more fuel compared to a system with a higher rating.
3. Look Over Your Oil History Averages
Although every year is different, your past oil use can give you a fair idea of how much heating fuel you are likely to use this year. Take a look at your statements from previous heating oil deliveries to see how much oil you received and to see how much time was between each delivery. You can add up the amount of fuel you had delivered by the number of days or months you were using your home’s heating to get an estimate of your overall oil consumption.
Calculating Average Oil Consumption
It is possible to crunch some numbers to get an idea of how many gallons of fuel you use each day. To do that, you will need to pay attention to how frequently your furnace turns on and how long it runs during each cycle. You also need to know how many gallons per hour your furnace’s oil burner uses. There should be an information tag on the furnace itself that tells you the flow rate.
During the day, keep track of how many minutes your furnace operates per hour. On colder days, it is likely to operate for longer compared to warmer days. Once you know how long your furnace runs each day, you can multiply the average minutes per hour by the flow rate to find the number of gallons of oil it is using.
For example, over the course of a day, your furnace runs for an average of five minutes per hour. Its flow rate is 1.5 GPH. After 24 hours, your furnace has run for 120 minutes. To calculate the amount of heating fuel used during a day, multiply 1.5 by 120, then divide by 60 (the number of minutes in an hour). Your furnace uses around 3 gallons of oil a day.
When to Fill Your Oil Tank
Heating oil is subject to supply and demand. When the demand is high, heating oil prices are usually high, too. When demand drops off, prices tend to drop off. If you are interested in saving money or reducing your home energy costs, purchasing heating oil and refilling your tanks during times when there is not much demand is a smart move.
The end of summer or early fall can be an ideal time to fill up your oil tank. Many people are busy planning for back-to-school season or are still concerned about getting the most out of their home’s air conditioning near the end of August or start of September. The demand for heating oil is often lower at that point, meaning you are likely to get a good price per gallon.
Depending on how much heating oil you use at home and the size of the oil tank, you may need a refill at some point during the colder months of the year. While you might not get the lowest price on oil from November through February, there are things you can do to minimize your costs and to make the refill process as smooth as possible:
- Avoid a holiday refill: If possible, make sure you have enough heating oil in your tank to get your home through the holidays without needing a refill. Demand can be high between Thanksgiving and New Year’s. You are likely to see higher prices at that point, plus limited delivery options.
- Schedule delivery in advance: A bit of planning can help save you the cost of a same-day or next-day fuel delivery fee.*
- Top off your tank at the end of the season: If the cold season is just about over, it can still make sense to fill up your heating oil tank. The oil will keep in the tank over the summer and will be ready to use again once colder weather returns. Plus, having some heating fuel in the tank offers a bit of protection in case there should be a surprise cold snap late in the season, and helps prevent condensation inside the tank during the summer months. Note: We recommend keeping your tank no more than 80% full during the summer months. Heating oil expands in high heat, so it is best to leave some extra room in the tank to prevent overflowing.
The Benefits of Scheduled and Automatic Oil Delivery
You have options when it comes to getting heating oil delivered. You can set up will-call delivery, meaning you monitor the level of oil in your tank and call to set-up a refill before it runs empty. You can also set up a delivery schedule, based on past heating oil usage.
With scheduled delivery, SMO Energy might visit your home every month or every two months to top off your tank. Scheduled delivery is convenient and reduces the risk that you will run out of fuel. It also takes one more thing off of your to-do, as you will not need to call to arrange for the fill-up. One of the drawbacks of it is that if there is a change in your fuel consumption habits, you might run out of heating oil before your next delivery, or you might not need a refill when the delivery truck arrives.
A third option is automatic heating oil delivery. Automatic delivery is the most hands-off option for you. SMO Energy will keep tabs on the level of heating oil in your tank and will send out a delivery when the oil level dips below a certain amount. With automatic delivery, running out of fuel is highly unlikely. You also do not have to worry about a delivery coming when you are not in need of a fill-up.
Helpful Tips
Whether you choose will-call, scheduled or automatic delivery, here are some tips to help you make the most of your heating oil use:
- Keep an eye on the fuel level: If you have scheduled or will-call delivery, it is a good idea to keep a close eye on the amount of fuel left in the tank. You do not want to run out of oil, particularly in the middle of a cold snap. When an oil tank runs empty, it could damage your heating system. At the very least, the system will shut off and will need to be restarted by a professional technician.
- Know the age of your oil: Heating oil has a long shelf-life, usually around two years. But it can go bad or expire. If you are not sure how old the oil in your tank is, or if you are concerned that is has been contaminated or has otherwise spoiled, a technician from SMO Energy can test the oil and let you know its status.
- Sign up for SmartPay: If you are concerned about the price of oil during the colder months of the year or are looking for a way to make your energy costs more budget-friendly, consider SmartPay from SMO Energy. Our SmartPay program lets you divide the cost of your heating fuel into monthly payments, making it easier to budget. We review your SmartPay payment from time to time and will adjust it based on your actual oil usage and costs.
Schedule Your Next Heating Oil Delivery With SMO Energy Today
SMO Energy is one of the top home comfort provider to households across Southern Maryland. If you are interested in learning more about what you can do to improve your home’s oil use or are looking for ways to simplify the oil delivery process, contact us today. We offer scheduled, automatic and will-call deliveries to meet your needs.
*No delivery fee applies to all deliveries 100 gallons or more, same day delivery is applicable to a $35 fee. **Same day and next day delivery service is subject to change based on weather conditions. Unsafe road conditions create an unnecessary risk to SMO drivers and the environment. $35 fee for delivery between 50 and 99 gallons.