Home heating oil is essential for keeping your family comfortable and safe when temperatures start to plummet. Unfortunately, it's easy to overlook how much heating oil is left in your fuel tank, which could cause you to unexpectedly run out of fuel at a time when it's needed most. Here’s a closer look at why you should monitor your heating oil levels and how to do so.

Why You Should Monitor Your Home Heating Oil Supply

Monitoring your heating oil levels will ensure you don’t run out of fuel during the middle of winter when freezing temperatures can create a potentially dangerous situation. Running out of fuel can also create added expenses since emergency deliveries are often more expensive than regularly scheduled fill-ups. 

Fuel prices tend to fluctuate during the year—if you run out during the winter, you'll likely pay far more than if you topped off in the fall. Additionally, when fuel runs low, sludge buildup can get pulled into the supply lines, resulting in clogs that might shut the system down entirely.

How to Keep Track of Home Heating Oil Levels

You can use several methods to monitor home heating oil levels. The most basic is a float inside the tank, which connects to a top-mounted gauge that displays how much fuel is left. Though generally reliable, it's easy to forget to walk out to the tank to check fuel levels.

Fortunately, new smart sonar gauges make it easy to check fuel levels at any time. These systems use ultrasonic waves to determine how much fuel is left and communicate that information to an app. Some devices even provide weekly email updates or automatic alerts when fuel levels are getting low.

If you need help managing your home heating oil levels, contact Ike’s Fuel in Douglas, AK. Serving the Juneau area since 1966, the family-owned company provides an Auto Fill program that uses your tank size and local weather conditions to estimate when the next oil delivery is needed, so you’ll never have to worry about running out of heating oil. To learn more about this and other services, visit them online or call (907) 364-3420.