How long will my tank of heating oil last?

So, it’s January, it’s winter, and a lot of us are working from home – which means heating oil usage will be in full swing! When ordering your oil, you might wonder how long this will last you. The truth is, multiple things will impact this; it can last from as little as a few weeks, to as long as a full season. We’ve explored what can affect this period.

Your Heating Oil Tank Size

This is a rather obvious one; but if you have a larger heating oil Shropshire tank, then it will take you longer to get through the supply. The most common size is 275 gallons – holding around 250 gallons. Next up is a 330-gallon tank, which holds around 300 gallons. You may have twin tanks, so this could be doubled.

Tanks underground could hold 550 gallons or up a capacity of 2000 gallons. These are less common, however.

Next, you’ll need to know how much oil your home uses each day…

The following factors impact the use of your heating oil:

How large your house is – a 1500ft2 house might only use 500 gallons a year, something larger can use a lot more.

How energy-efficient your home is – a well-insulated 2500ft2 house can use as little as 600 gallons each year. But a poorly insulated house of the same size can use 1200!

How old your heating system is – well-kept oil systems last so much longer than gas systems – and new technology continues to make this more efficient. A new oil heating system can reduce your costs by 30%. Using heating oil additives will make your tank and system last longer.

The temperature (internally and externally) – Turning down the temperature is an obvious way to reduce your oil usage. But another contributing factor is the temperature outdoors. On a day that is 10 degrees, your home might use 8-12 gallons of oil to keep warm, and on a 30-degree day, we can’t imagine you’ll have the thermostat on at all!

Once you have this all considered, you can then begin to make an estimate on how long your heating oil will last. There are online calculators you can use to help you determine this too.

The one other thing you need to think about when trying to figure out how long your tank of oil will last you is the reorder period. You don’t want to let it completely run out – this will cause your burner to close down and can end up clogging the system.