Same-Day Heating Oil Delivery Guide
Looking for a same-day delivery of heating oil? There is nothing worse than realizing you are out of heat or out of hot water in the house, especially on a cold winter day.
If you realize that your heating oil tank is empty, but you are not able to get a delivery right away, be sure to check out our guide What to Do If You Run Out Of Heating Oil. There we’ll walk you through the best next steps to take until your service provider arrives.
When it comes to same day heating oil deliveries, you may be asking yourself:
How do you get heating oil deliveries on the same day?
Can you run to the gas station and get heating oil?
Do they sell heating oil at a big box hardware store?
We will cover the answer to all these questions in this post below.
Is Heating Oil the Same as Gasoline?
It can be tricky to keep track of how each fuel type differs from the next. But it is important that you clearly understand that gasoline is not the same thing as home heating oil. It is vital that you do not substitute gasoline for heating oil in your home heating system.
While gasoline and home heating oil are both technically produced from crude oil, they have different characteristics that effect how they should be used.
Gasoline has lower BTUs and is less stable. Heating oil is denser and has higher BTUs, which means it produces more heat when burned. It is also more stable than gasoline. Heating oil is more refined and has a higher burning temperature. This makes home heating oil less flammable. It is much harder for heating oil to catch fire. It also produces minimal vapors when burned.
In summary – do not substitute gasoline for heating oil in your home.
Can I Put Diesel Fuel In My Heating Oil Tank?
While gas from the gas station – i.e. the same gas you put into your vehicle — is not safe to use in your home heating oil system, if you are looking for a heating oil substitute to hold you over until your next heating oil delivery, diesel fuel can in fact be an option for you.
You can learn more about how to use diesel fuel as a temporary substitute for home heating oil in our post, Can I Put Diesel Fuel In My Heating Oil Tank.
While we don’t recommend regularly using diesel fuel as a heating oil substitute, it can in fact burn safely in your oil burner until your heating oil delivery can get there.
Why Can’t I Get Same-Day Heating Oil Delivery?
Most companies do their best to offer same day heating oil deliveries. But it is not uncommon to find a lack of companies available when you need a same-day delivery. Why? Well, the answer has to do with both supply and demand factors.
Backed Up Supply Chain
The first factor that will impact this is weather. In extremely cold weather, everyone is cranking up their thermostats and burning more oil to heat their homes and businesses.
Refineries where heating oil comes from have limited capacity for producing home heating oil so when consumer usage spikes, there can be production delays. This can force some heating oil companies to have to wait to purchase more inventory before they can deliver any heating oil to your home.
Generally speaking, most heating oil companies are well versed at predicting usage and will usually have enough to meet demand. But with great demand also comes with capacity restraints.
Immediate Surge in Demand
Sometimes your heating oil dealer has enough oil supply but not enough capacity to deal with the peak in demand. This is especially common in extreme weather. As you can imagine, when the cold weather hits – or worse, when there is a snow storm impending – homeowners begin frantically scheduling their heating oil deliveries. There are only so many deliveries each company can handle in a day and this may cause the lack in same day delivery availability.
Does It Cost More for Same-Day Heating Oil Deliveries?
It depends on the company. Most companies will charge some sort of fee for a same day delivery. This charge is not to penalize you. Rather, these fees exist to cover the additional cost incurred to keep a delivery driver working on over time and to route a truck to your area last minute.
Regardless of fees, the price per gallon for your heating oil should not change. This will typically still be quoted the same regardless, but a flat same day delivery fee may be added onto your final bill.
How Can I Save Money on Same-Day Deliveries?
The absolute best way to save money on same-day deliveries is to avoid needing them all together. Plain a simply – don’t wait until it is an emergency.
1. Set Weekly or Bi-Weekly Reminders to Check Your Tank
Depending on your home’s heating oil usage, it is always best to set a reminder on your smart Phone, Alexa, Google Dot device, etc. that prompts you to check the gauge on your oil tank to see how much fuel you have left. Just like you never want your car’s gas tank to run down to empty, you do not want to let your heating oil tank get to empty either. It can cause a whole slew of problems aside from just a lack of heat in the house.
2. Order at a Quarter
When your tank has about a quarter of a tank left of heating oil, that is the best time to schedule your order. This leaves more than enough time for your heating oil company to get to you before you run out.
3. Book Early in Advance of Snowstorms or Other Severe Weather Forecasts
Stay up to date on the weather. As soon as you hear that temperatures will be dropping and/or that there will be a snowstorm coming, schedule a heating oil delivery. Do not wait.
Book Your Heating Oil Delivery Online with Star Home Heat
At Star Home Heat, we make ordering heating oil easy. Simply enter your zip code, tell us how much fuel you need and when you want it, and your delivery will be on its way.
