How Much Heating Oil Will I Use During Winter?

Count on PitStop Fuels for dependable heating oil delivery!

Knowing how much heating oil you’ll be using during winter is helpful when planning your expenses. It comes in especially handy as we’re in the midst of the holidays!

Heating Oil use factors

When it comes to how much heating oil you’ll use and how much you’ll be spending on it this winter, you need to consider many things including:

• The size and age of your home
• The weather
• The age and condition of your heating system
• How many people live in your home
• How energy-efficient your home is in terms of appliances, insulation and windows, among other things
• What you consider “comfortable” when it comes to heating

All of these make predicting how much heating oil you’ll use this winter a much more individualized prediction. So, don’t assume that because your best friend’s home is a similar size, you’ll have the same heating oil usage. They may have an elderly parent living with them who needs the house warmer. Or they may travel more and turn the heat down when they’re away so they use less heating oil.

The heating oil guessing game

You can’t predict the weather with pinpoint precision, so anything you do will be an estimate of how much heating oil you’ll use this winter. We have some ways to help you make the best estimate.

1. Check the manufacturer’s plate on your burner or burner nozzle. There should be a number on it. That number is the approximate capacity specifications for your burner in gallons per hour.
2. Keep an eye on your burner. The average use for a burner is .8 – 1.7 gallons per hour. Track how often your burner is used and how much oil is used in a typical day. This is important because some models use more or less heating oil than that average range.
3. Check your past usage. Look at your past heating oil bills and see what your usage has been in previous years. To make sure you accommodate for winters that are colder or warmer, get five to six years’ worth of heating oil gallons and add those numbers. Then divide them by the number of years you’re using. That will give you an approximation of your average winter heating oil usage.
4. Look into the weather. Check out a reputable weather-tracking website to see how long the heating season in greater Portland is. A heating season is when the temperatures drop below 65 degrees and how long they remain there. Take into account seasonal trends like El Niño or La Niña.

Remember that you may not know exactly how much heating oil you use this winter, but you’ll use more than you want to if you don’t get an annual tune-up of your furnace or boiler. System maintenance can help not only in keep your heating oil costs down, but help to prevent breakdowns and expensive repairs in seasons ahead.

However much heating oil you need this winter, PitStop Fuels is ready to provide it all for you. Contact us to learn about our automatic heating oil delivery program and make your winter as easy as possible this year – and beyond!