Oil Heat – Do I Need To Run It To Keep The Oil From Gelling?
I have oil heat. I live in Montana, it gets pretty cold here during the winter (can get below 0 degrees easy). My house heats on oil, but we also have a fireplace, and some electric heaters to heat the house. We have the oil as a last resort, and have our thermostat set to turn on if the house gets below 58 degrees. It hasn’t turned on all winter (due to our fireplace, and electric heaters). I don’t want my oil to go bad, so I’m wondering, do I need to run it every so often to keep the oil from gelling or going bad? How often? Why do I need to run it? What makes it so I have to run it?
We have type 2 oil.
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January 3, 2010 @ 8:39 am
You could just add some #1 fuel oil to your tank, which then becomes a blended oil. The recommendation would be 60% #2 and 40% #1. This oil will not gel at below 0 temperatures.
That is if your tank is outside. If your tank is in the basement, as some are, you don’t have to worry about it. Just buy straight #2.
Edited: Just tell your fuel oil company you want blended oil. They know what to give you. I would bet they sell blended oil all the time in your area.
January 3, 2010 @ 12:45 pm
Shouldn’t gel if the tank is inside. It’s best to keep the tank as full as possible to reduce condensation area.
Diesel for engines has a listed shelf life of 18-24 months without additives . . .so you are good for at least that length of time – after that I’m sure it would still burn in the furnance, but with less effectiveness/BTU per gallon.
January 3, 2010 @ 5:14 pm
add some antigel to the tank your oil supplyer has it,
January 3, 2010 @ 10:54 pm
The oil will be fine.. it has to get well below freezing for the oil to jell and if it does you can just warm the lines to the boiler to get it going.
But… your oil heat is far less expensive to run then the electric heaters, may be you should use electric as your final back-up heat and the oil heat to back-up the fireplace.
January 4, 2010 @ 4:22 am
No you do not have to run the furnace to keep the oil from gelling. The company you buy your oil from should have an additive that you add to the oil to keep it from gelling….you could also put heat tape around the line to help keep it warm(this is what I do at my business location)..
January 4, 2010 @ 9:18 am
It will gel when it gets cold (if it gets really cold) so you can get a conditioner for it or mix it with number one oil (half & half) so it doesn’t gel. Maybe run it a couple times a week to keep it good.
Maybe call your oil company and ask what they think.