To ensure that your home remains warm throughout the cold season, you need to have enough fuel in your heating oil tank. It is essential that you know the amount of heating oil you consume in a day to see if you have sufficient fuel to last all winter. One of the most common questions clients have is: “How much heating oil will I use a day?”
This article includes a discussion to help you understand and answer this question.
Factors That Affect Heating Oil Usage
Contents
- 1 Factors That Affect Heating Oil Usage
- 1.1 1. The Size And Design Of Your Home
- 1.2 2. Ambient Temperature
- 1.3 3. Condition Of The Oil Furnace or Boiler
- 1.4 Heating Oil Consumption – Based On Temperature
- 1.5 Estimate Your Heating Oil Needs – Based On Historical Statistics
- 1.6 Average Heating Oil Use – Based On Square Footage
- 1.7 Heating Oil For Water Heaters
- 1.8 Final Word
- 2 Call PFO Heating & Air Conditioning For Reliable Oil Deliveries
Listed below are the factors that impact your home’s heating oil use.
1. The Size And Design Of Your Home
The amount of heating oil your home needs depends on its design and size. For instance, if you have a four-bedroom house, you’ll need more heat than a two-room home. Even if both homes have the same ambient temperature, the larger home will still use more heating oil.
The design is also a vital factor. The heating oil consumption relies not only on the home’s square footage but also on the total volume of the interior space. Other factors that impact fuel usage include wall thickness and insulation quality.
2. Ambient Temperature
The temperature in your home’s immediate surroundings can have a significant impact on fuel consumption. Cold temperatures can equate to an increase in the amount of fuel oil used daily. A 15 degrees Fahrenheit drop in temperature can cause your system to use up double your normal fuel usage.
3. Condition Of The Oil Furnace or Boiler
It is recommended that you have a clean and well-maintained heating system at all times for it to operate at optimal efficiency. Therefore, ensure that your system receives annual tune-ups. Schedule this before fall so that you’ll have a highly efficient system that doesn’t consume a lot of oil.
Heating Oil Consumption – Based On Temperature
The standard capacity of oil tanks is 275 gallons. If the ambient temperature is 50 degrees Fahrenheit, an average home can use 2 gallons of oil a day. Therefore, a full oil tank will last for around 137.5 days and suffice for the whole season.
However, temperature fluctuations commonly happen during the winter. When the temperature drops, expect higher oil consumption. For instance, a typical winter day has a temperature of around 40 degrees Fahrenheit. Therefore, the standard household will need about 3.7 gallons of heating oil to maintain a warm home. If the temperature remains the same throughout the season, a full tank will end up lasting you only 74 days. On days when the temperature plummets to 20 degrees Fahrenheit, you will likely need 7 gallons per day. Therefore, a full tank will only last for 39 days.
The winter months mean that the temperatures generally range from 20 to 40 degrees, with an average of 30 degrees Fahrenheit. As a result, a typical home utilizes around 5.3 gallons of oil in one day. This means that a full tank will last approximately 52 days during the coldest months of the year.
A 275-gallon tank is usually enough to keep a typical home warm the entire winter season. However, your home might be fitted with a smaller tank. You’ll need to determine your home’s fuel consumption so that you know when to get your next tank refill.
Estimate Your Heating Oil Needs – Based On Historical Statistics
Calculating your home’s average oil consumption can be easily calculated if you’ve been staying in your house for some time now. You can do this by using the information on your past heating bills. Make sure to keep these annual records as this can help you know how much heating oil you consume yearly, monthly, and daily.
If you recently moved houses, look around your neighborhood for any similarly sized home. Ask your neighbors how much oil they typically consume, as this can give you an estimate of your heating oil requirements per day. You can also consult a heating oil supply company near you.
Average Heating Oil Use – Based On Square Footage
Your home’s size has a significant impact on your heating oil consumption. The average US home is around 2,687 square feet, and the size of your home could be smaller or larger than this.
Every 1,000 square feet of space in your house needs these estimates as compared to the average outdoor temperature:
- 10 degrees Fahrenheit: 3.27 gallons
- 20 degrees Fahrenheit: 2.67 gallons
- 30 degrees Fahrenheit: 2.07 gallons
- 40 degrees Fahrenheit: 1.47 gallons
- 50 degrees Fahrenheit: 0.87 gallons
Therefore, a 3,500-square-feet home requires 3.5 times the average heating oil requirements listed above. For instance, your home will use 5.15 gallons of heating oil on a typical 40-degree day.
Heating Oil For Water Heaters
Water heaters typically use heating oil, electricity, propane, and natural gas. The calculation needs to be adjusted accordingly if heating oil powers both your heating system and water heater. Water heaters need about 0.5 to 1.0 gallons of heating oil per day. This requirement depends on the size of your home and how many occupants live in the house.
Final Word
A home’s heating oil requirements can be determined using the local temperature, historical statistics, and the size of your home. If you recently moved houses, you can always consult a heating oil provider near you to receive an educated estimate.
Call PFO Heating & Air Conditioning For Reliable Oil Deliveries
When you’re searching for a reputable heating oil delivery company, you can contact PFO Heating & Air Conditioning.
We offer the best home heating oil delivery and the most reasonable heating oil prices in the area. Our team of expert technicians also provide HVAC services to help improve the performance and efficiency of your heating equipment.
Call PFO Heating & Air Conditioning today and learn more about the services we offer. We will be happy to answer all your questions and concerns.
Click here to contact us now or call us at (800) 253-9001 to find out more!