How Can I Prepare for a Heating Oil Delivery?
Here’s a common question heating oil companies in New Jersey often hear at this time of year: what can I do to be ready for a delivery? First, you can help your driver make safer deliveries by keeping the path to your heating oil tank clear of snow and ice and removing any nearby obstacles, such as fallen branches or other debris.
It is also important to shovel or plow your driveway and keep it free of ice. Safety codes prohibit your heating oil company from parking an oil truck on an incline unless it is perfectly dry. Just because you can get your car down your driveway doesn’t mean a 15-ton heating oil truck can make it too.
Marking the edges of your driveway also makes it easier for delivery drivers to navigate.
How Can I Avoid Running Out of Heating Oil?
To make winter deliveries easier and stress-free for you, ask your heating oil company if they offer automatic delivery service. They will use your past heating fuel usage and current weather conditions to know when to schedule a delivery before you run low. This eliminates the work and worry of managing your fuel supply.
But if you still prefer to call for heating oil, you need to give your heating oil company extra time when conditions are harsh so you can avoid running out of fuel. It’s best to call for more fuel when your oil tank falls to the one-quarter mark. This will help you avoid an emergency heating oil delivery—and the extra service charges that go with it.
What’s That Whistling Sound I Hear?
If you have a heating oil tank in your basement, you’ll hear a whistling noise as your tank starts to fill up. But don’t worry. This is perfectly normal.
Besides the tank itself, your heating oil storage system includes important components like the fill pipe, vent pipe and vent alarm.
After the driver arrives, he connects the hose from his oil truck to the fill pipe and starts releasing the heating oil. As oil flows into the tank, air is pushed back out the vent pipe. As the air goes through the vent alarm–located between your tank and vent pipe–it makes a whistling sound. When the whistling stops, the tank is just about full.
Since your basement tank is out of sight from the driver, the vent alarm prevents overfilling and the possibility of a spill. Safety codes do not allow your heating oil company to deliver your fuel if the vent alarm is not working.
Staying Warm with a Safe Home Heating Fuel
As a heating oil consumer, you can rest easy knowing that you’re relying on a home heating fuel that has a remarkable safety record because it is biodegradable, nontoxic and nonflammable.
Heating oil has always been a standout when it comes to safety, which is why many homeowners who choose heating oil tend to stick with it. While there are a lot of reasons that people feel safer with heating oil as their fuel choice, here are two important points:
- Heating oil cannot explode. If you dropped a lighted match into a bowl of heating oil, the flame would go out just as if you had dropped the match into water.
- A heating oil system poses a very low risk of carbon monoxide poisoning. If there is an issue, your system will send you signals that something is wrong.
For further peace of mind, new heating oil tanks have been designed to be virtually leak-proof. Whether your oil storage tank is in your basement or outside your home, the tanks being installed today are designed with corrosion-resistant materials.
If you have any heating oil safety concerns or questions about heating your home this winter, please reach out to your local New Jersey heating oil company.