We all have busy lives and remembering the last time you had oil delivered can be difficult to keep tabs on with everything else on your to do list. So, if a cold snap hits you may not know if your tank is full enough to keep your family warm. That’s where learning to read an oil tank gauge can come in handy!
Most fuel tanks are 200 gallons in size and reading your gauge is like reading the gas gauge in your car. Read the gauge on the top of the tank. It will tell you if you are 1/2 full, 1/4 full, or near empty. It should look like one of the gauges shown below. The yellow/red disk can be used to approximate how full the fuel oil tank is. Because of the rounded bottom of a fuel oil tank, the gauge will go from 1/4 to empty quicker than it will go from 1/2 to 1/4. As such, it is very important to reorder oil when the gauge is reading 1/4 full to prevent a runout.
But how accurate is a heating oil float gauge? Since these are not precision heating oil tank gauges, they should only be used as an approximation of how full a tank is. Because of the moving parts inside, these can also be prone to wear over time. If you suspect your heating oil float gauge is stuck, simply unscrew the plastic vial by hand. Use your finger to press the disk down. If the gauge is not stuck, the disk should easily move down, then slowly float back up and remain up, indicating the arm is moving freely. One of the ways a heating oil float gauge can get stuck is by simply rotating inside the fuel oil tank. This can happen over time, and the result is the float is wedged against the side of the tank, unable to move. Another problem that can arise is the float itself becoming less buoyant over time. Call your local West Nova Fuels/Superline Fuels branch if you need any assistance with your Furnace Oil gauge.
Keeping an eye on your gauge should help make sure you don’t run out of heating oil but if you want to make it even easier you can sign up for automatic delivery and let us relieve the stress of monitoring your oil tank! We offer worry-free automatic delivery service that will determine when you need oil to be delivered to your home. Signing up for automatic delivery is very easy and best of all, it’s free!