# We ran out of heating oil while it was 18 degrees, but I learned some useful stuff **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 8, 2025, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-ran-out-of-heating-oil-while-it-was-18-degrees-but-i-learned-some-useful-stuff/1014052 "2025-02-08T16:05:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![DemonTree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/demontree/32/8646_2.png) [@DemonTree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DemonTree)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2025, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-ran-out-of-heating-oil-while-it-was-18-degrees-but-i-learned-some-useful-stuff/1014052/21 "2025-02-09T00:36:52Z")
We ran out recently too, but nothing dramatic happened. We had to pay extra to get a delivery without a few days rather than within a month, and managed with 2 electric heaters until it came. Luckily it wasn’t super cold outside. There’s supposed to be a gizmo plugged into a socket in the house that tells you how much oil is left, but it broke. ---
**Author:** ![Nyvaak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Nyvaak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nyvaak)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2025, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-ran-out-of-heating-oil-while-it-was-18-degrees-but-i-learned-some-useful-stuff/1014052/22 "2025-02-09T00:45:57Z")
In my long-ago med-evac days we ended up getting a diesel fuel delivery instead of Jet-A. We flew around on the stuff for days before the pilots noticed certain filters were getting gunked up faster than they should have. ---
**Author:** ![pullin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c57346/32.png) [@pullin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pullin)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2025, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-ran-out-of-heating-oil-while-it-was-18-degrees-but-i-learned-some-useful-stuff/1014052/23 "2025-02-09T13:36:41Z")
Southerner with a question: Are there no gauges on home heating oil tanks? No disrespect to the OP, but is it easy to run out of heating oil? I would’ve assumed the tanks had some sort of indicator that was easily visible. I’ve never even seen a home oil tank, so it’s a mystery to me. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2025, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-ran-out-of-heating-oil-while-it-was-18-degrees-but-i-learned-some-useful-stuff/1014052/24 "2025-02-09T14:20:35Z")
There are gauges, mine (which is ancient) is a slowly rotating dial that will eventually say EMTY. But as I mentioned, I’d gotten used to the maintenance plan, and simply forgot to check [or, more accurately, I said to myself “I see a big letter Y starting to appear, I’ll check it in a week”, but forgot] ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2025, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-ran-out-of-heating-oil-while-it-was-18-degrees-but-i-learned-some-useful-stuff/1014052/25 "2025-02-09T14:36:31Z")
> [@pullin](#): > > Southerner with a question: Are there no gauges on home heating oil tanks? No disrespect to the OP, but is it easy to run out of heating oil? I would’ve assumed the tanks had some sort of indicator that was easily visible. > > I’ve never even seen a home oil tank, so it’s a mystery to me. My first house had a tank buried outdoors. The only gauge was a long wooden measuring stick used like a dipstick in a car. The tank I have now is indoor and has a float gauge that can be seen. Not sure, but I think buried tanks are banned everywhere in the US now. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2025, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-ran-out-of-heating-oil-while-it-was-18-degrees-but-i-learned-some-useful-stuff/1014052/26 "2025-02-09T14:53:58Z")
> [@pullin](#): > > Are there no gauges on home heating oil tanks? No disrespect to the OP, but is it easy to run out of heating oil? I would’ve assumed the tanks had some sort of indicator that was easily visible. They generally do – but it’s generally only easily visible if you’re looking at the tank; and the tank is often in a cellar, or an unfinished area of a basement, that people rarely go into. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2025, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-ran-out-of-heating-oil-while-it-was-18-degrees-but-i-learned-some-useful-stuff/1014052/27 "2025-02-09T15:36:40Z")
I had a similar experience umpteen years ago. I and my co-workers were newbie airline pilots stationed at JFK. None of us were from the northeast. We rented a small 1940s-era house on Long Island as a flophouse for a dozen guys who’d mostly be off flying a trip or at home, but still needed a place to sleep a few nights per month in NYC. One fine (not!) day in January the furnace failed. Down we went into the dark dank basement. No clue. A very primitive and mysterious looking beast it was. Call the landlord. How’s the oil level in the tank? What’s oil? What’s a tank? Turns out it was outside in the backyard alongside the house and hidden behind a low fence. None of us had ever seen one, much less seen _that_ one. Or known to check it. A quick whack confirmed the sound of a large empty metal can. 24 hours later we’d gotten a stinky delivery from the stinky truck and all was well. But that was a very memorably miserable 24 hours for those of us from the warm part of the country. ---
**Author:** ![smithsb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smithsb/32/12107_2.png) [@smithsb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smithsb)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2025, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-ran-out-of-heating-oil-while-it-was-18-degrees-but-i-learned-some-useful-stuff/1014052/28 "2025-02-09T18:29:45Z")
The old buried tanks got “sticked”. Same as gas stations from my time working through college as a "pump jockey). Wandering anecdote - read at your own risk. Heating oil/kerosene/jet fuel (Jet A, JP-4, JP-8). In Desert Storm, the Saudi’s turned the refinery’s to making Jet A almost exclusively. Most tanks, IFVs, trucks were multifuel along with all the coalition aircraft could use it. Two problems; fuel pumps were wearing out from all the fine sand (compressed dust) on the tactical vehicles. The over the road M7-- and M8-- series trucks and all the CUCVs (diesel Blazers and pickups) fuel pumps that wore prematurely because the Jet A had less lubricant and fuel attacked the type of gaskets installed. They set up a shop to rebuild pumps in theater with neoprene gaskets for the older trucks. /end anecdote. ---
**Author:** ![pirviii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pirviii/32/3233_2.png) [@pirviii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pirviii)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2025, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-ran-out-of-heating-oil-while-it-was-18-degrees-but-i-learned-some-useful-stuff/1014052/29 "2025-02-10T06:27:16Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > The only gauge was a long wooden measuring stick That’s what I had for the couple years I lived in Alaska. ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2025, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-ran-out-of-heating-oil-while-it-was-18-degrees-but-i-learned-some-useful-stuff/1014052/30 "2025-02-10T11:36:21Z")
My oil supplier put some kind of measuring device in my tank - I can’t see it on the tank itself but I get an email every Friday telling me how full my tank is (in percentage terms). When it dips below 30% I get a refill. Also gives me a good idea of how frugal/wasteful I’m being on any given week. My tank is a big green thing in my garden. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2025, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-ran-out-of-heating-oil-while-it-was-18-degrees-but-i-learned-some-useful-stuff/1014052/31 "2025-02-10T12:48:00Z")
> [@SanVito](#): > > I can’t see it on the tank itself but I get an email every Friday telling me how full my tank is (in percentage terms). That’s the sort of gizmo I’d expect most folks to have (or at least be wanting) nowadays. If it isn’t connected to somebody’s computer, it won’t get read with enough frequency to do any good. ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2025, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-ran-out-of-heating-oil-while-it-was-18-degrees-but-i-learned-some-useful-stuff/1014052/32 "2025-02-10T12:56:26Z")
A related observation/question: Here in the Midwest, fuel oil-powered heating systems are rare, if they even exist. (I’ve never seen one.) Instead, non-electric fuel sources are natural gas in the cities, and propane in the rural areas. I gather that fuel oil furnaces are more prevalent in the Northeast. Are there any propane or natural gas furnaces in that area? ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2025, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-ran-out-of-heating-oil-while-it-was-18-degrees-but-i-learned-some-useful-stuff/1014052/33 "2025-02-10T12:57:29Z")
I was looking at those. With the adapter they run around $200, and I can’t quite bring myself to go for that. But it’s tempting! ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2025, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-ran-out-of-heating-oil-while-it-was-18-degrees-but-i-learned-some-useful-stuff/1014052/34 "2025-02-10T12:58:44Z")
> [@Railer13](#): > > Are there any propane or natural gas furnaces in that area? Yes, we have those as well. Propane as you say tends to be more rural, but my town (for example) has natural gas lines available on most streets, but not everyone has connected to them. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2025, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-ran-out-of-heating-oil-while-it-was-18-degrees-but-i-learned-some-useful-stuff/1014052/35 "2025-02-10T13:11:07Z")
> [@Railer13](#): > > Are there any propane or natural gas furnaces in that area? Many. If you have a gas line available burning gas is much more cost effective than burning oil. Propane costs more. ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2025, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-ran-out-of-heating-oil-while-it-was-18-degrees-but-i-learned-some-useful-stuff/1014052/36 "2025-02-10T13:13:23Z")
> [@Maserschmidt](#): > > Yes, we have those as well. > [@TriPolar](#): > > Many. Thanks for the responses. Do you folks know if fuel oil furnaces are still being installed in new construction, or has that given way to natural gas and/or propane? ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2025, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-ran-out-of-heating-oil-while-it-was-18-degrees-but-i-learned-some-useful-stuff/1014052/37 "2025-02-10T13:25:39Z")
> [@Railer13](#): > > Do you folks know if fuel oil furnaces are still being installed in new construction, or has that given way to natural gas and/or propane? Yeah, you can still get them installed. One thing to keep in mind, we have natural gas, but because of limited pipeline it often has to be imported, so it can be really expensive. ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2025, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-ran-out-of-heating-oil-while-it-was-18-degrees-but-i-learned-some-useful-stuff/1014052/38 "2025-02-10T13:39:47Z")
> [@Maserschmidt](#): > > but because of limited pipeline it often has to be imported, so it can be really expensive. Yeah, makes perfect sense. Where I live, there are still a fair number of gas-producing wells, so the transport costs are going to be much lower than in your area. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2025, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-ran-out-of-heating-oil-while-it-was-18-degrees-but-i-learned-some-useful-stuff/1014052/39 "2025-02-10T14:47:09Z")
And the northeast is well fed by major natural gas high volume pipelines. It lacks in broad coverage of low volume pipelines though. The cost of installing those outside of densely populated cities limits it’s availability to individual homes and businesses. Like propane, heating oil is delivered by truck to the end users. The cost of propane bounces up and down so it’s a tough choice to make. However they don’t make kitchen stoves, clothes dryers, or hot water heaters that run on heating oil, though hot water is often produced by oil burning furnaces for heat. I have an electric hot water heater and an oil burner. In the winter time the oil burner supplies the electric water heater with pre-heated water reducing it’s electrical consumption, and in the summer time I turn off the oil burner to save money and not produce unneeded heat inside the house that I’m trying to cool with electric A/C. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2025, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-ran-out-of-heating-oil-while-it-was-18-degrees-but-i-learned-some-useful-stuff/1014052/40 "2025-02-10T14:57:07Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > And the northeast is well fed by major natural gas high volume pipelines. It lacks in broad coverage of low volume pipelines though. Maybe northeast, but is that true in New England, specifically? We still import LNG through a marine facility in Everett, and even with that, during a recent cold snap some of the oil and coal plants had to kick online to cover energy needs. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-ran-out-of-heating-oil-while-it-was-18-degrees-but-i-learned-some-useful-stuff/1014052.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-ran-out-of-heating-oil-while-it-was-18-degrees-but-i-learned-some-useful-stuff/1014052.md?page=3)