New To The Heating With Oil Game..
 

this is the first winter i'll be heating with oil. do's and don't's??? i'm watching the price drop and am wondering whether to buy now or hold off a bit. next year i will add a secong tank as well as a new wood stove insert.

Shop around and always pay cash. Buy programmable 7 day t-stats that way you can set up target times when you need the house warmer. If you are running a tankless water system invest in an electric water heater. Unfortunately oil is now more expensive. Check out your homes insulation as well. Nothing burns oil like drafts.

Definitely look into a pellet stove this can reduce your oil consumption and pellets are far cheaper than oil. I have added a couple of thirty dollar electric radiators to my house as well just to keep te chill down at night as I let my heat drop to 60 from 11 Pm to 5 am. And to 55 during the work week during daytime hours.
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just installed 2 7day thermo's. guess i'll buy an electric water heater as we like HOT showers. i've got about 8 cords of wood drying for next year. i plan on paying cash for oil and not bothering with contract- heating system is 2 years old.

don't let tank run low/dry
get it cleaned/serviced yearly
hi bdsp

hi matt!

What type of burner is it? You don't have to invest the water heater. Just know it costs a bit more to heat the water. with oil. Not sure on the time frame of ROI.

Having 8 cords drying is big I love wood stoves. I grew up feeding one. Such a warm heat but dry. We had forced hot air electric when I was a kid so if the stove was not running when my old man got home I caught hell. I can't imagine a ten year old now being responsible for stacking that much

Fore go contracts etc. I can't tell you how many times I have seen people lock in on high prices in the summer to watch the prices drop over the winter. Particularly in recent years. My Father in law watches it closely and has three tanks so he can fill for most of the season.
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First off how old is the tank that is there now? Any guess?? If its more than 10 years old give yourself peace of mind, get rid of the 275 gallon tank that is there and instead of doubling up the tanks (which you don't want to do with an old tank that is already there) get rid of the existing tank and have a 330 gallon tank installed! There will be no benefit to filling 2 tanks totaling 550 gallons.....and who wants to buy all that oil at one time anyway?? Buy now.....its not going to get much lower with the coldest part of winter on the doorstep....it will start to climb very shortly!

hey big guy! tank is 1997. didn't know they made a 330.

97?? Get it removed and go with a 330 gal! Its only a foot longer than a 275 gallon tank! Hi!! Hows the new Casa De Don??

Talk to me before you have any tank work done....or I can help you!

JB it's a crown burner.
Larry- for sure!

Skip the electric water heater and have a Indirect piped to your boiler. Electric takes forever to recover once you run out of hot water, also then your only running on high limit so once your hot water is made your boiler wont run all day to maintain temp for tankless coil= less oil burned and more hot water on hand ready to go with a very fast recovery rate.

We have oil and we also have electric hot water. I like shutting the furnace down all summer and not wasting/burning oil and wasting the heat that is generated from it all summer to keep the water hot. Is electricity more expensive than oil?? Maybe.....maybe not....but I like it!

if your only going to be in one room
for a while

i highly recommend the OIL filled electric radiators
Brand name Kenwood
they are fast and pose no fire danger
after the oil is heated (internally) shut it off
and let it radiate heat til its cold again

nice thing about them is you can drape a wet coat
on it to dry or pre warm it before tackling Snow.

you can also dry bath towels and make them warm
or release their moisture back into the SAHARA dry house

using it is cheap, efficient and saves on using the OIL Burner
as much and we figure we save a tanks worth of oil per season
rather than heating the whole house when your in just one room.

I wouldn't lock in oil this year. Saw lots of news yesterday saying how the price is dropping.