Over the summer, my roommates and I moved into an oil-heated house. None of us have dealt with oil heat before, and I’m the one in charge of utilities, so I get to compare heating oil companies. Beyond price, though, I’m not sure what I should be looking for or asking about. Any help?
My business has an oil furnace. We never keep track of how much oil is left in the tanks. For that reason, we use a company that can deliver on a moments notice.
Price and service. Ask what services they provide. Automatic refills? 24-hour repair (at what fees? Cleaning? Year-round billing (lets you pay a set payment each month to even out the payments)? Yearly service (get this done before you need to turn the furnace on)?
20 years experience with these beasties. Gravity feed oil furnaces can go out and you’ll wake up freezing in the night. The oil can keep feeding and the fire chamber has gallons in it. Don’t light it until you are sure the fire chamber isn’t flooded. You’ll end up with a chimney fire or worse. I would ask the owner to have the chimney swept and the liner checked before winter heating. You need to watch out for the oil company over filling the tank into the basement, and for just using pipes that the oil don’t go into. They’ve been known to fill pipes that connect to nothing or say the exhaust pipe for a water heater. A basement with a hundred gallons of heating oil on the floor is very hard to clean up. Also make sure the on off valve on the tank works before you fill up, and that the oil filter is clean. Oil up the fan motor and replace the air filter with a quality filter rated to remove dust, dander, house fibers, and smoke. Oil furnaces can soot up the house, and it doesn’t wash off a lot of stuff. Make sure the exhaust pipes are not rusted and that they can not fall apart. You want something that is locking them together. The other posters have the dealers down pat. Keep track of the amount in the tank. The company may bill you for more than they could have put in, and they won’t be there as soon as you call for delivery. They easlily add $100 bucks to make an emergency trip.
#1 important thing for anybody with a gas appliance. Get a carbon monoxide detector, and check the ones you own for problems.
Make sure famable material isn’t close to the furnace or exhaust pipe.