What to Do If You Run Out of Heating Oil

There is nothing worse than ending up with no hot water, or worse, ending up with no heat in the dead of winter. While running out of heating oil is definitely preventable, the truth is that it is not uncommon for this to happen.

This step-by-step guide will walk you through what to do if you run out of fuel.

Step 1: Confirm that you out of home heating oil.

There could be several reasons that your heating oil system may not be working. As soon as you notice a lack of hot water or heat in your home, the first thing you should do is double check whether or not you are actually out of heating oil.

You can do this by heading to your heating oil tank and looking for its gauge. Most tanks are equipped with a float-style gauge near the top. You will see a little disk inside the gauge’s plastic cover. This disk floats to indicate what level of fuel you have within the tank.

The truth is, these gauges don’t always work perfectly especially when they are old, but you should still be able to get a general idea of how full or empty your tank is.

If the disc is above the 1/8 mark, you may still have oil in the tank. To double check that the gauge reading is accurate, unscrew the plastic cover of the gauge. Press gently on the disc with your finger. If there is in fact oil still in the tank, you will see the disc slowly rise back up which lets us know that the float inside is rising up on the oil that is inside of the tank.

If the gauge rises back up to at least 1/8th, it means you have oil in the tank. The lack of hot water or heat in your home is likely coming from another issue within your heating system. Skip the steps below and call a local service technician.

Step 2: Schedule an oil delivery with a local provider as soon as possible.

Once you have concluded that you are in fact out of heating oil, schedule a heating oil delivery. If it is morning or early afternoon, you may be able to get someone there that day. But if you cannot find an oil company with availability same-day, get yourself scheduled for whatever is the next soonest availability. You can use a site like ours to quickly search your zip code and find low every day prices with the soonest availability. We make it easy to do the entire process online so that you don’t need to call around a bunch of places to compare prices. You can do your entire scheduling and purchasing process right from your computer or Smart phone.

Step 3: Purchase 5-10 Gallons of Diesel Fuel From Your Local Gas Station

Many don’t realize this but diesel fuel and heating oil are nearly identical petroleum fuel products. Heating oil is diesel fuel. One way they differ is that heating oil and diesel fuel from a gas station are dyed different colors for tax regulation reasons. This is why diesel fuel from a gas station is a lot pricer than what you would pay for home heating oil. Costs aside, they are essentially exactly the same product.

This means that diesel fuel can be used as a substitute fuel in your fuel oil tank if you are in a pinch, and it will burn just as well as heating oil.

If you are asking yourself, “if heating oil and diesel fuel are the same, then why don’t I just fill up my heating oil tank with diesel from the gas station since it’s quicker?”, the answer is because of price. Your cost per gallon on diesel fuel will be a lot higher than your cost per gallon on home heating oil, which again, ties back to government-imposed taxes. So while diesel is totally fine as a temporary fix to hold you over, you would never want to fill up your entire tank from the gas station’s diesel supply.

Don’t forget that you want DIESEL, NOT gas.

Gas that you see at your every day gas station is a lighter weight distillation and it cannot be used in your home heating oil furnace. Do NOT put ordinary vehicle gasoline in your oil tank. It will damage your furnace and cause a whole slew of other problems.

Ideally we would recommend you buy a yellow fillable can from the gas station to fill with diesel fuel. (The reason we recommend yellow rather than red – the red jugs can often be confused for gasoline. Again, you only want DIESEL – NOT gas).

5 gallons of diesel fuel should be enough to get you through the night depending on the size of your house and how cold it is outside but to be safe, 10 gallons will buy you a bit more time.

Step 4: Turn Off Your Oil Burner

We recommend that you turn off your furnace before pouring the diesel into your heating oil tank. This will allow any sediment that was stirred up by diesel being poured into the tank to settle, making it less likely to clog the system. We’ll turn the furnace back on about 10-15 minutes after you finish pouring the diesel in. But for now, just focus on turning it off.

Step 5: Pour the Diesel Fuel into Your Heating Oil Tank

When adding the diesel fuel to your heating oil tank, do not do it from the basement. We advise against doing it that way. Instead, identify the fill position on the outside of your house. This is where the oil truck typically hooks the fuel truck’s hose up to pump fuel into your tank.

Open the fill cap and slowly pour the diesel into the fill pipe. It will make its way into your oil tank. When you’re done, put the fill cap back on and head back inside.

Step 6: Wait 10 Minutes Then Re-Start the Burner

This will give the tank enough time to settle any sediment that may have been kicked up while you were pouring diesel into the tank. Letting this sediment settle will reduce any chances of clogging issues. Once 10 minutes has passed, you can press the burner’s reset button. Usually it is a big red button. Once you press the reset button, you will hear the system start up.

After about 15 seconds, it will either stay on, which is a good sign, or it may shut back down. If the burner shuts back down, Press the reset button once more. See if that does the trick to help bleed some air out the lines. But do not press the reset button more than 2 or 3 times. If the system does not start at this point, you may have other issues and need to contact an HVAC technician.

Set Bi-Weekly Reminders to Check Your Tank Gauge

We hope this guide was helpful to provide an alternative solution in the event that an emergency heating oil delivery isn’t available as quickly as you may need it. But don’t forget – an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Just like you would never let your car’s gas tank get to empty, you should never let your home heating oil tank get to empty either.

Especially during the winter months, it is a good idea to set a reminder on your Smart phone, Alexa, Google Dot, or whatever is useful to you. Be sure to check your fuel levels at least once every other week, if not weekly. Our rule of thumb is: re-order at a quarter.