heating oil...

[twomonkeys.livejournal.com]

I've tried searching the internets but I cannot find the answer...what happens when you run out of heating oil (other than becoming very cold?)
I ask because me & the missus are down to just-above 1/8th of a tank and I don't realistically see an oil delivery I called for on Friday arriving until Tuesday at the earliest (we live almost at the top of Winter Hill.) I already have the thermostat set at 60 degrees (which has made our cats *very* snuggly) but the oil level is still falling, albeit slower than when it was set at 65. This is the second time this winter that we've gotten close to running out of oil 24 hours before a major snowstorm...I guess winter hates me.

Comments

[mrpet.livejournal.com]

Most of the heating oil companies have emergancy services. The fuel is sold at a premium and there is a cost to come out. It happened to me once when I lived in NH but it was the fuel co's fault since they were late. You can get on auto refil services and if you ever run out they will come out and fill 24 hrs a day (no extra charge)

[twomonkeys.livejournal.com]

the whole auto-refill thing scares me...I don't like money automatically leaving my coffers without my direct control.
I am going to call the oil company in the morning and ask if there's any way they can expedite the delivery...I'm worried the road conditions will make that difficult though. At least we dug out the pipe and a wide path to get to the pipe.

[laklare.livejournal.com]

You can put in a few gallons of diesel fuel if you run out. It's the same stuff.

I really don't know what I'm talking about, but maybe this will spark some more discussion.

[signsoflife.livejournal.com]

Running your furnace empty can damage it, so if you don't figure out a supply, you should turn your furnace off. I don't know what to do about the water in the pipes or the boiler if you do this if you have steam or forced hot water; obviously you don't want it to freeze, and you *can* drain it, but if you're not sure of the configuration you could screw up your pipes but good.

You'll want to do something to keep your pipes from freezing; it's probably unrealistic to drain the pipes, but keeping them dripping may help (I hope someone will correct/add to this, because I'm NOT experienced or an expert on this, except in the bad way.)

Honestly, the best thing to do is not to run out of oil -- like mrpet said, there are emergency services. And for a start, set your thermostat all the way down to 50 -- I know it's cold, but unless one of you is sick you'll manage, and the oil will last longer. (I know people who keep their thermostats at 50 or 55 all winter.)

Good luck. I hope you and yours stay warm.

when you run out of oil completely,

[thrasher543.livejournal.com]

the pump shuts down in your boiler. A refill will not turn the heat back on, you need the oil delivery guy to "prime the pump" in order to restart your heater. They charge you about $25 for the extra work, which takes all of 30 seconds for them to do... you can do it yourself but I forget how to, frankly, it's been a long time since I was in that position.
Good luck getting it expedited!

[beowabbit]

Normally, they refill automatically but send you a bill.

[turil.livejournal.com]

I recommend turning off your heat before running out of fuel. If you do run out, you will need to bleed the system before it will work again. It's not terribly difficult, but if you don't know how to do it yourself, it will probably cost you a pretty penny unless you have a service contract that includes this. To keep your oil use down to the bare minimum, drop the temperature down at night and put lots of blankets on your bed. Then get up about 20 minutes before you'd normally get up and turn the heat on, so that when you are ready to get up, the place isn't quite so cold. Then have a big cup of hot tea to get you going! Then remember to turn the heat off when you leave the house, of course. As long as there are other people in the building using heat, you shouldn't have problems with pipes freezing. (In the last place my husband and I lived, the tennants on the first two floors kept their heat so high that out top floor apartment stayed at about 60° without any heat at all.) Oh, and bake lots of things in your oven to keep the place toasty and your bellies full of warm food! A hat is helpful too, as is a water bottle (filled with not quite boiling water) in your bed. Or take the opportunity to visit friends houses for a few days!

If your water heater is also using the oil, you really don't want to run out. Being cold in your home is bad, but not being able to take a hot shower when you want really sucks.

[turil.livejournal.com]

We're up to a toasty 54° right now! It's amazing how adaptable the human body is...

[twomonkeys.livejournal.com]

Awesome, I needed to know what would happen for my own peace of mind.
'stat is set just about exactly under the 6 in 60, so we should be good for 2 days I think. Hopefully they can deliver monday or tuesday.
(Our hot water heater is gas, so there's no worries there.)

[candle-light.livejournal.com]

You can definitely put diesel car fuel in your oil tank, to tide you over till you get your delivery. We did this when we were doing work on our heating system and didn't want the tank to be full. Be careful of running out, you can clog the fuel filters with the grunge on the bottom of the oil tank, and then even when you get filled up things may stop working (yes this has happened to us also).

[prunesnprisms.livejournal.com]

Thirded re the diesel fuel. Instead of sitting around cold, you should either put in an emergency call, or walk down to the gas station.

all set...

[twomonkeys.livejournal.com]

I left a message with the oil company I use from work this morning explaining that we had only 1/8th left and that I wanted to up my order from $150 to $250. Came home and the tank is now at the half-full (or half-empty) mark. nice. It's above 60 degrees inside again!

[strangeanimal.livejournal.com]

most oil companies also do a budget plan where they calculate a monthly payment based on your previous year's consumption. it's a lot less painful to make 10 or 12 monthly payments than make a few huge ones during the winter, let me tell you.

[twomonkeys.livejournal.com]

We're doing everything we can to leave the northeast for good this spring, so this is probably the last heating oil experience we're going to have for a while. I've lived in this area of the country for about 28 years, and I just can't take the winters anymore...

[strangeanimal.livejournal.com]

I hear ya, we're probably doing the same thing.