Service Your Boilers on a Yearly Basis. The annual service routinely includes filter replacement, nozzle replacement, and basic safety and combustion tests. These tests will measure your stack temperature and flue gases. If the calculation is under 80% it may be time to replace your system. Speak with your service provider to see if it can be tweaked and tuned to return higher efficiency. Typically efficient running systems should calculate out above 85%.

Perform Routine Inspections of Your Oil Tank. Visually inspect the tank for leaks and any sign of corrosion. Typically corrosion starts inside the tank and be visible by a wet spot on the outside of the tank. If you suspect your tank is leaking or corroding contact your Oil service provider immediately for further inspection.

Consider Replacing Boilers Twenty Years Plus Old. If your boiler is older than twenty years old chances are you’re wasting valuable fuel. Replacing your boiler to a newer model can cut costs. On average you could save 15% by upgrading your system. This will ensure that you are getting the maximum performance out of every gallon burned.

Heating Oil Payment Plans

Cash Price is when you purchase heating oil at the daily market rate. Most homeowners prefer to only pay as they need oil choose this option. You are not locked into set price, so this price can change depending upon the market during the season. Oil dealers tend to only except cash and check when using this method.

Pre-Buy Price is when you buy all of your Heating Oil prior to the beginning of the heating season. Typically competitive rates are offered by dealers when offering this program.

Lock-In Price or commonly referred to as “Fixed Price” is when you agree to pay a set price per gallon for the entire heating season. By signing a contract with your Oil dealer you agree to the pay a set price per gallon. It is a gamble. If the price of Oil goes down you will still have to pay the price you locked in per the contract. On the flip side if the price goes you will be paying a lower rate than cash customers.

Capped Price is when Oil dealers set a maximum price per gallon. This is done by signing a contract. By choosing this program homeowners will be protected regardless on high Oil prices might rise. Generally if the price goes down the Homeowner will be offered the lower price. Check the terms of your contract to see if you will get a decreased price.

Budget Price is when you spread out your payments into equal amounts throughout the year. This is popular because 80% of your heating cost occurs during a 3 month span. This allows Homeowners not to be forced to pay extremely high heating bills during the winter months.