Written on: September 18, 2023
With fall here and winter not that far behind, it’s time to begin thinking about keeping your Finger Lakes home warm, safe, and comfortable in the months ahead.
If you use heating oil for home heating, now is the perfect time to contact Hometowne Energy to schedule your home’s heating system tune-up as well as arrange your first heating oil delivery.
You may be wondering about how long your heating oil will last. The answer is, it depends. However, we’ve compiled some information about heating oil and its usage to give you a ballpark figure on how long 100 gallons of heating oil will last in your home.
Here’s a calculation that can provide a rough estimate of your oil usage based on the running time of your oil burner in minutes per hour. It’s important to note that oil burners utilize a spray nozzle that delivers oil at a flow rate ranging from 0.8 to 1.7 gallons per hour. Additionally, you’ll need to know the size of your oil tank and the amount of oil it contains (if it’s not a full tank).
Based on the calculation provided, if you consume 1.7 gallons of oil per hour and spend approximately 10 hours at home each day, you would use around 17 gallons of oil daily. Consequently, a 100-gallon tank would last you approximately six days (100-gallon tank divided by 17 gallons per day equals 5.8 days).
Here’s a useful guideline to provide you with a rough estimate using the average home size of 2,400 square feet. Assuming the average outdoor temperatures stay around 32° throughout a 24-hour period, a home of that size would consume approximately six to seven gallons of heating oil per day. Of course, if temperatures remain above freezing and you live in a smaller home, your daily heating oil usage would be lower.
The table below estimates how many of gallons of heating oil you’ll use each day depending on outside temperature.
| Average outside temperature | Gallons of heating oil 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 |
Located on the heating oil tank, you’ll find a transparent glass or plastic cube adorned with numbers resembling a fuel gauge in your car: F, ¾, ½, ¼. Typically, a red marker or float signifies the remaining fuel level in the tank. If the float rests at the bottom or is not visible, your tank is either empty or nearly empty.
If you have reason to think the gauge is malfunctioning, get in touch with us right away. Your heating oil supply is not something to be left to guesswork.
Hometowne Energy can help you have peace of mind when it comes to your heating oil supply. Our Automatic Delivery option uses your heating oil usage history along with current and forecasted weather to accurately predict when you’ll need more heating oil. With that data, we schedule a delivery to your home before you run low. You always have heating oil and don’t have to lift a finger to get it!
You can trust Hometowne Energy’s heating oil delivery service to keep your Finger Lakes home warm, safe, and comfy this winter! Become a customer today.