“How much heating oil will I need” might be the question we get asked most around here, especially once temperatures in Pennsylvania start dropping in mid-Fall.
Factors In Heating Oil Use
Unfortunately, it’s a difficult question to answer with certainty, because so many factors affect the speed at which you use up heating oil. Some of these factors include:
- How efficient your home is (that is, how well insulated and air leak-proof it is);
- The weather;
- How you maintain your heating equipment (a furnace or boiler will lose about five percent efficiency every year that it’s not professionally maintained);
- Your heating preferences (the warmer you like it, the more heating oil you will use); and
- The age of your equipment (a new heating system can run as much as 30 percent more efficiently than an older one).
Still, if you want to get at least some idea of how much heating oil you’re likely to use during the course of a heating season, there are ways to get in the ballpark.
If you own an average 2,000-2,500 square-foot home in our PA service area, you should expect to burn about five to eight gallons or more of heating oil per day during the colder months –a little more than one gallon per hour with the heating system running intermittently throughout the day.
Heating Oil Use Average Numbers
Here’s a breakdown of some average temperatures and their impact on heating oil use:
| Average temperature (°F) | Gallons used per day |
| 15 | 7.8 |
| 20 | 7.0 |
| 25 | 6.2 |
| 30 | 5.3 |
| 35 | 4.5 |
| 40 | 3.7 |
| 45 | 2.8 |
| 50 | 2.0 |
If you have a 275-gallon tank, which typically holds about 230 gallons of fuel (the rest is needed for air), a full tank should about five weeks in a 2,000 square foot home. Overall, you should expect to use somewhere between 700 and 900 gallons during an average heating season in our area.
Three ways to keep your heating oil use down
You may not be able to control the weather, but there are still things you can do to keep your heating oil use as low as possible. Here are three of the best ways to do it:
- Program your thermostat –Drop temperatures in your home when people are at work or school, then again at night when you’re snug under the covers.
- Maintain your equipment –Keep your heating efficiency as high as possible with expert heating maintenance, which will also extend the life of your equipment and prevent potential breakdowns.
- Buy quality fuel oil –Quality ultra-low sulfur heating oil will burn cleaner and more efficiently than #2 heating oil, so make sure you’re getting yours from a reputable supplier.
Stay warm and safe this winter with reliable home heating oil deliveries from the pros at Oehlert Bros. Contact us today to schedule heating system maintenance for your oil-fired furnace or boiler, or to top off your heating oil supply for the cold months ahead!
Oehlert Brothers Inc. – proudly serving Limerick, Berks County, Montgomery County, Chester County, Eagleville, Pottstown, Phoenixville, Norristown, Oaks, Royersford, Schwenksville and Trappe, PA.
