Question: My heat is off, what should I do?
Answer: Simple self-assessed solutions.
Question: Why is oil heat the best choice?
Answer: Oil heat is the best heat simply because it is cheaper, safer, cleaner and far more efficient than other heating methods. Oil heat is safe and it gives you one less thing to worry about, it doesn’t explode. Oil poses one of the lowest risks of carbon monoxide poisoning to your family. The Consumer Product Safety Commission found that gas units are associated with 92% of carbon monoxide deaths in homes while oil is less than 10% of that. Over the years oil heating systems have regularly outperformed other fuels in terms of efficiency. Heating oil is nontoxic, contains no carcinogens and is biodegradable.
Question: How does oil heat compare to propane and electric?
Answer: Oil heat outperforms electric or gas heat. In order to compare oil to electric heat, you must know that one gallon of oil has 138,690 BTU’s of energy and one kilowatt per hour (KWH) has 3413 BTU’s worth of energy. An oil heating system operating at 84% efficiency produces 116,500 BTU’s of energy to heat your home. By dividing 116,500 by 3413, we see that it takes 34.13 KWH to produce the same amount of energy. At $.10 per KWH, the equivalent price for oil would be $3.41 per gallon.
Compared to gas heat, you have to know that a gallon of propane produces 91,500 BTU’s of energy. Allowing for equipment efficiencies being the same it takes 1.52 gallons of propane to equal the energy output of 1 gallon of heating oil.
Question: Why should I maintain my heating system?
Answer: A well-maintained heating system lasts longer, uses less fuel, runs cleaner and needs fewer repairs. For all heating systems you should have one of our professional service technicians tune up and clean your system annually. A clean system can save you 10-30% on your annual heating bill.
Some helpful tips for saving money:
Question: Do you have your own storage facility and terminal?
Answer: Yes. We store all of our products right on site, at our three local storage locations. Our storage facilities are on full compliance with DPCC & SPCC regulations. Here at Fredericks we ensure that we will never run out of oil because we always keep an inventory, and you will never be left without oil.
Question: Is your service in house, or contracted out?
Answer: We have a full staff of courteous professional technicians that will gladly assist you in any of your service needs or concerns. All of our service technicians live locally so you will never be left in the cold.
Question: What are the different protection plans?
Answer: Here at Fredericks Fuel we want to make sure that you are protected. In doing so, we offer different plans to ensure your safety and protection.
Question: What are my different payment options?
Answer: We offer numerous different payment options.
Question: Why do my oil lines gel up?
Answer: When heating oil does begin to gel, and before it has become actually too viscous to flow at all in the heating system oil piping, wax particles (wax platelets or little spheres of wax or in some articles, alkane wax crystals) have already begun to form in the fuel. The wax platelets form first from the long hydrocarbon chains that are a component in the heating oil (or diesel fuel). It is these waxy particles that can clog an oil line or even oil fired heating boiler, furnace or water heater.
Question: What is the purpose of the whistle on the top of my tank?
Answer: The whistle on the top of your tank is simply a device that tells the driver when the tank is full. When the air stops flowing through the ventilation, the device will stop whistling.