Maintaining Your Heating Oil Tank: 3 Key Tips
Heating oil tanks are built to last for decades with minimal maintenance – but minimal doesn’t mean no maintenance. To make sure it remains safe and compliant with Pennsylvania safety and environmental regulations year after year, your tank will need at least some regular care.
Here are three tasks to tackle in the coming weeks to keep your oil storage tank working safely as we transition from fall to winter here in Pennsylvania:
- Look for obvious signs of wear – Pay particular attention to the:
- tank supports and leg brackets – Make sure they are not missing, rusted, buckled, bent, or separating from the tank; remember, a full 275-gallon tank can weigh over a ton!
- tank platform – Look for cracks and other deformities
- tank body, connectors and pipes – Look for signs of corrosion, pitting, holes, leaking pipes, loose joints, and loose fittings.
- Keep your tank at least half full – When a tank contains more air than water, condensation (water droplets) can form on the tank’s interior walls as temperatures change from season to season. This condensation creates two big problems for your heating system: first, moisture encourages bacteria growth in your fuel, which will eventually degrade your heating oil to a thick sludge that will jam your fuel lines and reduce efficiency. Second, water will eventually sink to the bottom of your steel oil tank (since it’s heavier than oil) and corrode it from the inside out – a problem you often won’t see coming until it’s too late (unless you follow step three below).
- Get regular oil tank inspections from a heating pro – Even a thorough visual inspection won’t reveal every potential oil tank problem – but a 25-point professional heating tank inspection from Oehlert Bros. will. Our inspections follow guidelines from the National Oilheat Research Alliance (NORA) – the most respected organization in the business.
The best part? You’ll get that inspection FREE when you sign up for an Oehlert Bros. heating service plan!
Need an oil tank inspection in Berks, Chester, or Montgomery County, PA? We can help. Contact Oehlert Bros. today to learn more about heating oil tank inspections in central PA!
