Save on Home Heating Oil with Routine Radiator Maintenance
One thing that homeowners across the country have in common is the desire to save on their energy bills. With the cold temperatures of the Northeastern United States, the cost of home heating oil alone can put you into a tailspin during the coldest winter months! While you don’t exactly want to shiver in the cold, you also don’t want to spend your vacation fund on home heating oil. I think we can all agree that a long weekend down the shore or seeing a few Broadway shows sounds a whole lot better than breaking your budget due to the home heating oil prices today.
Star Home Heating Oil agrees. As part of the heating oil delivery industry, our goal is to keep heating oil prices low for homeowners across Brooklyn, Queens, Suffolk, Nassau, and Staten Island, New York. One way that we are able to do this is by having a simple-but-intuitive platform for homeowners to search for heating oil prices by zip code. Another is to pass along all the helpful, cost-saving heating oil tips we can!
Radiator Maintenance Can Reduce Your Heating Oil Use
Many of New York state’s apartments and homes are fitted with cast iron radiators fed by a furnace that runs on home heating oil. While they are an older technology, radiators can still be very efficient in providing warmth to your home, so a little heating oil can go a long way if you treat them right. That’s right, a little radiator maintenance can help you save on costly fuel oil bills, and reduce the number of times you need a heating oil delivery refill during the winter.
Radiator Maintenance Steps
Read below for some easy steps to properly maintain your steam heat radiators to get them working at peak efficiency. Doing so will, in turn, help reduce your heating oil usage and combat home heating oil prices today!
Check the Valves and Pipes for Leaks
The first step in steam heat radiator maintenance is to check for any potential leaks. If your radiator is leaking heating oil, you could be unknowingly spending a lot of extra money on utilities each month. Be sure to check the pipes and joints leading up to the heating oil radiator, as well as the main body. If you notice any signs of dampness or wet spots, it’s best to call a professional who can assess and repair any damage to your radiator.
Clean the Radiator Fins
If you don’t detect anything visibly wrong with your heating oil radiators, then it’s time to move on to a good clean! It’s amazing how much dust and dirt can build up over time. This can dramatically affect the amount of home heating oil your furnace burns each month. A simple vacuum cleaner with a soft brush attachment should do the trick when it comes to cleaning the fins of your heating oil radiators. Be mindful not to use too much suction or you may damage them. Once finished, give the radiator fins a thorough wipe down with a soft cloth or paper towel so that they are free of dust and dirt.
Clean out All Air Vents
The condition of your home’s air vents can impact the efficiency of your home heating oil system. They can become clogged with dust, dirt, and even fur over time. This debris can restrict airflow and cause your heating oil furnace to burn through more fuel oil than it should. This is why cleaning your air vents is an important step in your home radiator maintenance. To clean out your air vents, use a vacuum cleaner or soft brush attachment to remove any accumulated debris, making sure that all air vents are completely clear before moving on to the next step in your radiator maintenance.
Bleed Your Radiators
Bleeding your fuel oil radiators may sound a little scary, but it is an important part of your radiator maintenance. Bleeding involves releasing excess air from inside the radiator which helps keep the air pressure levels steady throughout your home’s heating oil system.
From here, you will need to locate the bleed valve on your heating oil radiator. It should be at or near the top of the radiator, and it looks like a small, hexagon-shaped valve. Place a bowl underneath the valve. Using an adjustable wrench, unscrew it a little until all the air has been released. Stop when you can begin to hear a hissing sound coming from the valve. This hissing sound lets you know that all air has been removed from the inside of the heating oil radiator. Now, tightly close off the bleed valve and repeat these steps for each one of your home heating oil radiators until all of them have been bled.
Test Your Radiator System for Efficiency
Once you have checked for fuel oil radiator leaks and have cleaned out the fins and all of the air vents in your home, you should then test your radiator system for efficiency. This involves turning on your individual radiators one at a time and measuring their temperature. This can be done with an infrared thermometer that you can purchase from a hardware or other major online retailer. If some of your heating oil radiators don’t seem to be producing heat as they should, then it’s likely that they need some kind of repair or adjustment. We recommend having your local HVAC specialist take a look. It’s a good idea to have them check your radiators when doing your recommended heating oil furnace maintenance, especially if you have noticed a drop in their performance. From there, they can see if any worn-out components need to be replaced, or if they need to add insulation around them to help them retain more heat generated by your home heating oil furnace.
Radiator Maintenance Helps Reduce Your Heating Oil Bills
Proper maintenance of steam heat radiators not only reduces your home heating oil use (which saves you money) but also ensures that they operate safely and efficiently throughout their lifespans. By following these simple radiator maintenance steps, including checking for leaks, cleaning radiator fins and vents, and bleeding your heating oil radiator, you can easily ensure that your home stays warm this winter without breaking the bank from the expensive cost of home heating oil!
The Benefits of Working with Star Home Heating Oil
Star Home Heat is proud to provide a discount heating oil resource to New York state homeowners. For your convenience, our easy online platform allows you to take your fueling needs into your own hands. Whether you’re in Albertson, Westbury, Bayside, Little Neck, or anywhere in between, you can do a quick search on heating oil prices by zip code, and in a matter of seconds, get the lowest home heating oil prices available in our network of pre-vetted, reliable heating oil delivery providers. That puts you in charge of deciding if the current price of fuel oil is right for you. From there, you can be connected with reputable heating oil companies in a few easy steps, and your fuel oil is on its way.
