How to Take Care of Your Home Oil Heating Tank

Posted: Feb 19, 2012
Author: Bumgarner Oil

In order to keep your home warm throughout the winter, it’s important to make sure your home oil heating tank stays in proper working condition. This article from the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality explains how to maintain your home oil heating tank, as well as how to tell if your tank is leaking and what needs to be done to prevent further damage if that happens. Here are a few of the highlights:

• Thoroughly inspect both aboveground and underground home oil heating tanks quarterly to check pipes, fill lines, valves, and gauges for any signs of rust, decay, or staining.
• Your home oil heating tank may be leaking if fuel consumption goes up even when the weather is not uncommonly cold, if there is dead or dying vegetation near the tank, if there are oil odors in the house or coming from the ground, if the soil around the tank or the fill pipe appears darker or stained, or if there is an oily rainbow sheen on the water underneath the tank.
• Contact your insurance company to make sure you know exactly what your policy would cover in the event of an oil leak.
• If you have an aboveground tank, be sure to check the pad or drip pan underneath it often and replace it when necessary.
• Always keep your furnace & pipes in good working order.
• Keep your roof and the eaves nearest to your aboveground tank free from ice in the winter.
• If you are no longer using your home oil heating tank, close it properly and remove the fill pipe or bolt it shut.