How Much Heating Oil Will I Use A Day?

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Understanding how much heating oil you need in a day will help you determine if you have enough to last all winter.

Many of our clients ask us: “How much heating oil will I use a day?”. In this article, we’ll talk about the answer to this question. So if you’re using heating oil to warm your home during the colder months, read through to learn more!

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Factors that Affect Heating Oil Usage

1. The Size And Design Of Your Home

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The size and design of your home can greatly affect your heating oil usage.

Generally, you can expect larger homes to require more heating than smaller homes, even if they have the same ambient temperature. Because they have a higher square footage, these homes will generally consume more heating oil, too.

Aside from the size, the design of your home plays a huge part in your fuel consumption, too. You would also have to think about the other aspects of your interior space, like your walls’ thickness and your home’s insulation quality.

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2. Ambient Temperature

The ambient temperature in your home can greatly affect your heating oil consumption, too.

Keeping your home at a warmer temperature generally increases your heating requirements in a day compared to those who keep their home at a cooler temperature. Even if the outdoor temperature drops at just 10-15 degrees, your heating oil requirements can immediately double.

3. Condition Of The Oil Furnace Or Boiler

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Generally, the better the condition of your oil furnace or boiler, the less oil you’d consume, mainly because your furnace is running efficiently.

To ensure this, you need to keep your heating system clean and well-maintained. That’s why we highly recommend that you have your system serviced at least once a year, especially before the fall. This way, it will perform optimally during the winter season.

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Heating Oil Consumption Based On Temperature

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One of the biggest things that can affect your heating oil consumption is the temperature in your area.

If the local temperature is at 50 °F, you can expect to be using around 2 gallons of heating oil per day. So if the capacity of a standard oil tank is 275 gallons, one full tank can last for 137.5 days or around four and a half months, which means it’s all you’d need for the entire winter season.

But as we know, temperatures always fluctuate during the cold season. And as mentioned above, even just a small drop in the temperature will increase your heating oil consumption.

If the local temperature happens to drop to 40 °F, you would now need to use 3.7 gallons of heating oil instead of just 2 gallons. Your one full tank will only last for 74 days or around two and a half months at this temperature. That’s about half the difference in just a 10-degree drop.

When the temperature drops to 20 °F, you’d have to use 7 gallons of heating oil in a day, which means a full tank will only last for 39 days.

With this fluctuating temperature, let’s say that the average temperature is at 30 °F, which means you would be using around 5.3 gallons of heating oil. This means that a full tank will last for 52 days or about one month and three weeks.

Based on the numbers above, it’s safe to say that a 275-gallon tank is enough to support a standard home for winter. However, if you’re using a smaller tank, you’ll have to estimate your fuel consumption using the numbers above and determine when to get your next refill.

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Estimate Your Heating Oil Requirements Based On Historical Statistics

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You can also estimate your heating oil requirements based on your home’s historical statistics.

If you’ve been living in your home for several years, you can use your past heating bills to calculate your average fuel consumption. For this, you need to keep a record of your yearly fuel consumption as the information there will help determine your daily, monthly, and annual heating requirements.

However, if you’re new to the neighborhood, you can check similar-sized homes nearby and ask about their heating oil usage instead. Either that or you can contact the nearest heating oil supply company, like Lawes Company, to get an estimate.

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Average Heating Oil Usage Based On Square Footage

As mentioned earlier, the size of your home has an impact on your average heating oil consumption.

For every 1,000 square feet of space, it’s estimated that your home would need the following heating oil consumption estimates depending on the ambient temperature outside.

  • 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

An average home in the U.S. measures around 2,687 square feet, which means at 50 °F, the heating oil consumption is at 2.33 gallons.

Now, let’s say you have a bigger house which is at 3,500 square feet. You will have to multiply the estimates above by 3.5 to get the average heating oil consumption you’d need in a day. So on a 40-degree day, you’ll have to use around 5.15 gallons of heating oil.

Heating Oil For Water Heaters

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Some homeowners also use heating oil to heat their water supply. If you’re one of those homeowners, you’d also need to consider this number.

On average, a water heater would use around 0.5 to 1.0 gallons of heating oil per day. Of course, this can increase or decrease depending on the size of your home, how much warm water you’re using, and how many people use their shower daily.

Calculate how many gallons of fuel you’re using for your water heaters and add that to your fuel consumption for your home heating needs. This is how you’ll determine if one tank would still last the whole winter or if you’d have to schedule an additional oil delivery.

Final Word

As you can see, it’s not that hard to determine how much heating oil you’d need in a day. At best, you only need to look at three factors – temperature, the size of your home, and your home’s historical statistics.

However, if you’re new to the neighborhood, call a local heating oil provider, like Lawes Company, to help give you an educated estimate of how much heating oil you’d need in a day or for the whole winter.

Call Lawes Company For Fast & Reliable Oil Deliveries

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Lawes Company offers trusted and affordable heating oil deliveries. We are known for our honest prices and skilled services. Not only that, but we also offer heater maintenance services which also impacts how much fuel your system requires to keep your home warm.

A tune-up greatly enhances the energy efficiency of your unit. This means that if it is operating at peak performance, then it uses less fuel. This, in turn, reduces your fuel costs throughout the winter. Be sure to call Lawes Company to schedule a delivery or set a heater tune-up appointment.

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