Why You Should Never Let Your Heating Oil Run Out 

All opinions are mine and mine alone.

Why You Should Never Let Your Heating Oil Run Out 

By now you’re more than ready for the winter – you’ve ordered your heating fuel from Super Saver Oil, you’ve had the boiler serviced and you’ve packed away your bikini until at least spring. You’re feeling snug and smug now you have a full fuel tank, but those levels are only going to drop as the winter progresses; it’s important to keep an eye on them so that you don’t suddenly find yourself all out of oil when you need it most. 

There’s a few good reasons that you should never allow your tank to run dry, from the obvious to the lesser-known. 

You can get dangerously cold 

If you run out of oil in the middle of the winter, it’s not only uncomfortable but it could actually be dangerous. If there’s a sudden serious cold spell, you could find very old or very young family members don’t cope so well, especially if they already have health conditions. The World Health Organisation recommends a minimum temperature of 21C in living rooms, so if you’re quite a way under this, your health will start to suffer. Furthermore, running out of oil in midwinter is problematic because you may have to wait longer for a delivery as demand is high; even worse, you may be snowed in and unable to get to a garage for fuel. 

Christmas means more cooking 

Even a relatively quiet Christmas can still mean lots of extra meals, cakes, roasts, turkey curries and so on. You need to check your levels a few days before Christmas and decide if you need a small top-up or not to cope with the extra demand. 

A dry tank can actually damage your boiler 

Running dry can introduce air, water or sludge into your boiler system and your boiler won’t like this one bit. Maintaining safe levels of oil is important if you want to avoid an expensive and desperately inconvenient breakdown, so make sure there’s always at least the recommended minimum amount in the tank. 

You can get gauges and alarms to warn you when levels are getting too low, so when the alarm sounds, don’t leave it for another day to order a top-up. Better still, don’t let it get so the alarm goes off. 

Be organised 

Keeping a record of how much oil you use during the different months of the year, and even how it differs when these months are unusually mild or cold, is really helpful. If you know how much fuel you’re likely to use over the winter months, you can plan ahead. You may be surprised by how much more oil you use in a colder-than-average month. 

Think smart 

There are always ways in which you can conserve your heating oil and you can even turn it into a game, especially if you’re gauging it week by week or day by day. Turning the thermostat down a degree, or turning the heating off 30 minutes before you go to bed goes a long way to saving your supplies. You could, on a sunny winter day, for example, spend more time outdoors than you normally would – not only are you getting some UV rays and exercise, you’re also saving money!