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Throughout the heating season, homeowners in our service area usually need anywhere from 700 to 900 gallons of heating oil during a normal winter. If you have a 1,000-gallon underground tank, in theory, you could possibly make it through the heating season if that tank is full right now. Keep in mind, however, that the capacity of a 1,000-gallon tank is only about 900 gallons. That’s because space needs to be left in the tank to allow for expansion and prevent any spillage upon delivery.
This is but one example. Many of our customers own 275-gallon aboveground heating oil tanks, which typically hold about 230 gallons of fuel when full. A full tank should give you enough heating fuel to last from 4-6 weeks if you own a 2,000 square foot home.
Of course, these are just rough estimates. Many variables affect the amount of fuel you consume. This includes the outdoor temperature, the size of your home, the quality of insulation in your home, the efficiency of your heating system and how well it’s been maintained, and the thermostat setting you choose.
Here’s one way your actual usage can vary. In an average size home, (about 2,400 square feet), if the temperature during a 24-hour period averaged 20 degrees, you probably would burn about seven gallons. On the other hand, if the average temperature was 40 degrees the next day, you would probably use a shade under 4 gallons during that time.
If you call us to order fuel, make sure to check your heating oil tank regularly—especially in the middle of a cold snap. Don’t wait until your fuel level gets too low. We recommend calling when your oil tank is about ¼ full.
Automatic delivery is a free service that takes away the hassle of having to check your tank and order your fuel. It also lowers the risk of running out of heating oil. We can install a device that wirelessly monitors your fuel usage so we will always know the actual amount of fuel in your tank.
Read more about heating oil delivery.
After a snow or ice storm, please clear a path to your oil fill pipe or aboveground tank so your driver can reach it quickly and safely. We also need you to shovel/plow your driveway so it is free of snow and ice. Safety codes prohibit us from trying to navigate slippery driveways. Our trucks need a space wide enough for an ambulance to get through.
If you have an oil furnace, change or clean the air filter a few times during the heating season. A dirty filter compromises efficiency and can even result in a shutdown if it gets clogged with dust and other particles.
If you have a steam boiler, check the water gauge periodically. Low water levels are a leading cause for boiler shutdowns. Steam boilers should also be flushed when the water in the gauge looks rusty. Talk with us if you’re not familiar with this procedure.
If you have a hot water boiler, its automatic filling system, controlled by the pressure-reducing valve, should maintain the proper water level at 12 to 15 psi of pressure. If there isn’t a pressure-reducing valve, manually feed the boiler by opening the water feed valve until the boiler pressure reaches 12 psi.
Finally, for safety’s sake, keep the area around your oil boiler or oil furnace as clean and clutter-free as possible. Never store anything flammable anywhere near your system.
Founded in 1926, Wilson Oil and Propane strives to provide excellent service to our customers every single day. Always feel free to contact us if you have any concerns or questions about staying safe and warm this winter. Remember, we’re The People You Can Trust.
A propane tankless water heater is a great alternative to a traditional storage tank water heater, which constantly uses energy to heat and reheat water and wastes a lot of energy in the process. Since going green (and saving money) is very important to most homeowners, a tankless heater represents a fantastic investment. Tankless units allow you to easily reduce waste and make your home more energy-efficient while adding to its value as well.
While it’s true that a tankless propane water heater has a higher upfront cost than a traditional storage tank water heater, you’ll discover that you can save a lot of money on your water heating expenses over time. It’s estimated that you can save more than $150 a year in annual energy costs compared with electric tank storage models.
A propane tankless water heater is so compact in size that it can easily be mounted on a wall. These units are about the size of a suitcase, which allows for installation in crawl spaces, attics, closets and other tight spaces.
How can something that small deliver a comparable amount of hot water than an old tank storage water heater? It’s simple. When you turn on your hot water faucets or an appliance, a flow sensor will activate a propane gas burner to heat the water. The heating will continue until you turn off the faucet, which shuts off the gas burner.
Isn’t that a better option than relying on your old storage tank water heater to heat water and store it for when you need it? This is not an ideal situation as the tank will lose heat over time, especially if the hot water tank is in an unheated space. And that costs you money!
By switching to a tankless model, your energy efficiency can improve by up to 40% and you’ll have access to virtually unlimited amounts of hot water – because you won’t have to worry about the tank draining and having to refill and reheat.
There are two key factors that need to be considered when deciding on the type of tankless water heater that meets your needs.
1. Flow Rate: This is how much hot water you will need at any given time.
2. Temperature Rise: This is the difference between the incoming cold-water temperature and the desired temperature .
You will need a professional like Wilson Oil and Propane to calculate which fixtures you plan to operate simultaneously and how much hot water each will use.
So, depending on key factors like how many tubs and showers you have, how often you’re running appliances like a washing machine or dishwasher, and how many of these would be in use at once, we can customize your tankless water heater to suit your needs and always deliver all the hot water you need.
As you consider your requirements, or if you need some help figuring out what’s most important, get in touch with us. We’ll walk you through the process and help you get a better understanding of your household’s hot water needs.
Please check out our Specials page to see how you can save money right now on your purchase of a Rinnai tankless water heater.
Read about a water heater installation for your Delaware Valley home and then contact us to request a free estimate.
Propane autogas describes propane when it is used as a fuel for vehicles. Propane autogas is the world’s most popular alternative fuel, which is defined as any product that bypasses the two big traditional petroleum fuels: gasoline and diesel.
According to the Propane Education & Research Council, there are more than 60,000 propane autogas commercial vehicles on the road today, including a wide range of delivery fleets. Because propane autogas is such an efficient fuel, truck routes can extend to over 300 miles on a single refuel.
Besides light-duty and medium-duty trucks, propane autogas also powers school buses, taxis, shuttles, forklifts, commercial lawnmowers and more. To keep all these wheels in motion, there are thousands of propane autogas fueling stations in the U.S., with stations in every state.
American-made propane autogas is an extremely safe, clean-burning alternative fuel that doesn’t require the same expensive repairs and replacement parts compared to other fuel vehicles. Let’s take a closer look:
Propane autogas fleet operators can also save money by taking advantage of the Alternative Fuel Tax Credit, which is part of the Inflation Reduction Act passed by the U.S. Congress. You may qualify to claim a credit for every gasoline gallon equivalent of propane autogas purchased.
The credit is available through December 31, 2024, and extends back to January 1, 2022. The National Propane Gas Association (NPGA) estimates that this credit will be a $200 million boon to the propane industry annually.
At Wilson Oil & Propane, we believe so strongly in propane autogas that we run the majority of our vehicle fleet on it. By relying on propane autogas, we have already displaced tens of thousands of gallons of gasoline and diesel fuel. We can help you do the same!
Make us your propane autogas partner, and we’ll help you save time and improve your bottom line even further. We’ll set you up with a secure storage container and put you on a delivery schedule to suit your needs. Instead of your employees losing time stopping at a fueling station every day to fill up with gasoline, we’ll deliver to your business so you can get to your customers faster.
See how much your fleet could save on average by switching to autogas. For a FREE comprehensive savings estimate, please contact us today.
Sources:
https://allianceautogas.com/
https://propane.com/
https://www.npga.org/
https://www.fleetowner.com/
One heated debate occurring in some households during the months ahead will involve thermostat settings. As in, how low can you set your thermostat during the winter without causing problems—and how much can you really save on heat?
While finding a balance between comfort and savings is not easy because every family and home are different, the U.S. Department of Energy says you can easily save energy in the winter by setting the thermostat to 68°F while you’re awake and then moving it about 8°F lower while you’re asleep or away from home.
The lower the interior temperature, the slower the heat loss, according to Energy.gov. So, the longer your house remains at the lower temperature, the more energy you save, because your house has lost less energy than it would have at the higher temperature.
The same concept applies to raising your thermostat setting in the summer — a higher temperature inside your home will slow heat gain into your house, saving you energy and money on air conditioning costs.
The Energy Department concludes that you can save as much as 10% a year on heating and cooling by simply turning your thermostat back 7°-10°F for eight hours a day from its normal setting.
Sounds good so far, right? But here’s a caveat. When the temperature inside your house drops too low (below 60°F,) the risk for frozen pipes goes up a lot.
Most bathroom and kitchen pipes are not insulated, so they rely on your home heating system to keep them warm. Without adequate exposure to heat, these pipes can freeze and because of this expansion, eventually burst. This can cause severe water and structural damage that could cost thousands of dollars to repair. There are countless stories of people returning from a winter vacation only to find a water pipe had burst and flooded their home.
An easy way to avoid problems and make your life easier is to install a smart programmable thermostat, which will help you keep temperatures low while you’re away and higher while you’re home during the winter. Why waste time adjusting your thermostat every day? Plus, you can monitor your home’s temperature anytime, from anywhere.
Read more about smart thermostats.
Founded in 1926, Wilson Oil and Propane strives to provide excellent service to our customers every single day. We provide prompt, professional HVAC service and reliable heating oil delivery and propane delivery. Contact us today to schedule a delivery.
More people are environmentally conscious than in the past and therefore want to find an energy-efficient fuel source that is right for their personal use while being safe for the earth.
Propane gas is a perfect choice for those who strive for environmental responsibility, as it is nontoxic and produces minimal emissions, according to the nonprofit Propane Education and Research Council. Propane is also harmless to soil or groundwater – an important element for being considered a “green” fuel.
Propane is also a low-carbon fuel that does not adversely contribute to the greenhouse effect. In fact, because of its lower greenhouse gas emissions, the US Environmental Protection Agency gave propane its stamp of approval as a clean-burning alternative fuel.
Fuel efficiency is crucial for any product to be considered an environmentally friendly energy source. Increased efficiency means decreased harmful emissions, and propane is one of the most efficient fuels around, with many propane appliances rated 90% efficient or higher. Because propane is highly combustible, it produces a large amount of power with a small amount of output. In other words, you get more bang for your buck, both financially and energy-wise.
While propane gas is nontoxic, it can displace the air in a person’s lungs when inhaled, making it difficult to breathe if exposed to propane gas in high concentrations. In other words, propane hogs up the air in the lungs that a person needs to breathe. But symptoms related to propane vapor exposure stem from oxygen depletion, not from any toxic attributes of the propane itself.
Here are just a few of the reasons why propane is one of the safest ways to power your home:
The bottom line: propane is one of the safest sources of energy around – not to mention one of the most versatile and efficient ways to power just about any equipment you need to keep your family safe and comfortable in any season.
Family-owned, community-focused Wilson Oil and Propane can help with all your propane needs. We offer competitive prices and would love to share more about how propane would be a great choice for you – and the environment. Contact us about getting a propane delivery.
No household in the Delaware Valley wants to be without air conditioning in the summertime. But, let’s face it, cooling costs can add up quickly when we’re dealing with multiple heat waves.
That’s why many people wonder, how much electricity does my air conditioner actually use? To get to that answer, we need to determine how many kilowatt hours (kWh) your central air conditioning systems consumes.
Your kilowatt usage will depend on a range of factors, including the capacity of the air conditioner (rated in BTU or tons) as well as its efficiency rating, measured as SEER.
Electric consumption is also influenced by how long your air conditioning system operates each day, the outdoor temperature. thermostat settings and the quality of your home’s insulation.
Here is one example to give you a general idea of how many kWh of electricity a central air conditioning system uses.
A typical 2,000 square-foot home usually needs a 36,000 BTU, or 3-ton, central A/C system. On average, this size cooling unit uses between 1.5 and 2.8 kWh of energy per hour. If an air conditioner of this size operates for eight hours a day, it would use between 360 and 650 kWh of energy each month. If you use 500 kWh per month, for example, you would need to multiply that number by the price your electric utility charges per kWh. Read more about how much electricity an A/C system uses.
While 360-650 kWh of energy each month may seem like a wide range, remember the variable factors that come into play, including the outdoor temperature, the insultation quality of your home, thermostat settings and the overall efficiency of your system. You also need to keep in mind that if you get an annual cooling tune-up, your unit will run more efficiently and save you up to 15% on your monthly energy bills. You will also extend the life of your cooling equipment by being diligent about annual maintenance.
In terms of the actual cost, the national average for electricity is 16.14 cents per kWh. In our region, the cost is slightly higher. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, as of May 2023, the average residential cost per kWh in Delaware is 16.65 cents, while in New Jersey it is 17.18 cents and it’s 18.26 cents per kWh in Pennsylvania.
If you think you’re spending too much money on repairs or your electric costs keep climbing every summer, consider replacing your central a/c system. Although there are exceptions, the performance and reliability of central air equipment usually deteriorates after 15 years.
Today’s high efficiency systems are as much as 60% more efficient than the models of yesteryear. This will drastically lower your utility bills. And that’s why the purchase of a new system is an investment with a return, not just an expense.
But like any investment, you have to do some research to make sure you make smart decisions. Here are some of the most common mistakes we’ve seen people make when they purchase a new central air conditioning system.
Please contact us to learn more about what you can expect from your A/C installation. We will be happy to provide you with a free estimate on your new air conditioning replacement system. We install all major cooling system brands, from high-efficiency central air conditioning systems to heat pumps, including mini-split ductless systems for more targeted comfort.
How does Bioheat® fuel compare to traditional heating oil from the past? First, a primer: Bioheat fuel is a blend of renewable biofuels and ultra-low sulfur heating oil. Biofuels, a gallon-for-gallon replacement for petroleum fuel, are made from organic and recycled ingredients like used cooking oil, soybean oil and animal fats.
You can use Bioheat fuel in your current home heating system without modification. But here’s the key difference: Bioheat fuel represents an enhanced eco-friendly alternative to conventional heating fuel.
You don’t lose any heating power with Bioheat fuel. On the contrary, it burns much more efficiently, reducing heating system maintenance, improving energy efficiency and reducing emissions. And it has the highest Btu content of any alternative fuel!
Bioheat® fuel is not only helping to reduce carbon emissions right now, it will continue to reduce emissions each year as it evolves into B100, an all-biofuels home heating fuel.
How does Bioheat fuel accomplish this? Its already low carbon emissions are considered recycled carbon since that carbon becomes fully absorbed by the organic materials contained in biofuels.
In contrast, when traditional fossil fuels that do not contain biofuels are burned, they take carbon that was originally stored in the ground and release 100% of that carbon into the atmosphere, where it will remain for decades.
Bioheat fuel cuts harmful greenhouse gas emissions significantly because biofuels achieve emissions reductions of at least 50% compared to petroleum. Using Bioheat fuel instead of traditional heating oil means reductions not only in carbon dioxide, but in sulfur dioxide, particulate matter and mercury.
Our efficient and clean-burning Bioheat Plus® fuel—which has a 20% biofuel blend— saves you money on fuel and equipment service. It also burns cleaner than natural gas because it generates fewer greenhouse gas emissions. Methane—the main component of natural gas—has the capacity to trap so much heat in the atmosphere that over one century, one ton of this gas causes 32 times as much warming as one ton of carbon dioxide.
Because Bioheat fuel is so clean-burning, you’ll get higher efficiency from your home’s heating system. With today’s high-efficiency oil furnaces and oil boilers, you could reach efficiencies of 90% or higher. Heating oil gets your home warmer faster than natural gas or any other fuel.
A heating-oil-fired furnace or boiler can also last about 25 years, while the life expectancy of a natural gas furnace or boiler can be as little as 10 years.
Bioheat fuel is better for heating systems because it burns cleaner and leaves fewer deposits on heat exchangers. That means fewer breakdowns and a longer life for your furnace or boiler.
When the utility companies try to persuade people to convert from oil to natural gas, there’s never much talk about safety. That’s because, hands down, heating oil with a biofuel mix is the much safer fuel option.
With heating oil, you can safely store fuel on your property with no dependence on underground pipelines. Heating oil cannot explode—even if you drop a lit match into it. Heating oil is also much safer in the case of a carbon monoxide leak because you will get a warning sign about a malfunction—unlike with natural gas.
Read more about heating oil delivery and premium B20 Bioheat Plus fuel from Wilson Oil and Propane.
The key to saving energy and money is improving efficiency! And when it comes to improving the energy efficiency of your HVAC system, one of the best things you can do is schedule an annual system tune-up.
This vital preventive maintenance service not only ensures that your system is running properly, it will also keep your boiler or furnace operating at peak efficiency. In fact, a tune-up can help reduce annual heating fuel usage by 5-10%!
A tune-up also allows our expert technicians to spot minor issues before they become big problems (worn parts, a burner that’s out of adjustment, etc.)
So, what actually happens during an HVAC tune-up? Since another heating season is upon us, we’ll limit this discussion to heating tune-ups, and delve into air conditioning maintenance at a later time.
First, the type of maintenance tasks we do depends on whether your heating system is a boiler or furnace. This is because the mechanical components are very different. As one example, a boiler uses a circulator pump to push hot water into your home’s piping. On the other hand, a furnace uses a motor to blow warm air through ductwork.
There are similarities, however. For example, all boilers and furnaces have either an oil or gas burner, which we need to check and adjust. The combustion chamber is another common feature. When our technician does a tune-up, he will inspect the combustion chamber for any deficiencies.
The tune-up checklist our technician follows will be different for a heating oil system as compared to a propane gas heating systems.
To give you a better idea, here is the tune-up checklist our technicians follow for heating oil systems:
And here is the tune-up list we follow for propane gas heating systems.
To make it easier to keep your heating system properly maintained, we recommend enrolling in a service plan. On the heating side, we provide our customers with a heating oil service plan, a propane/natural gas service plan and a heat pump service plan.
All of our service plans cover the cost of an annual preventative maintenance tune-up. Service plans from Wilson also include free parts and labor for many heating system repairs, priority service, no overtime charges, and a $75 annual credit that can go towards the purchase of new equipment from us.
Read about our service plan coverage.
Wilson Oil & Propane is the company that people in the Delaware Valley region of Pennsylvania, Delaware and New Jersey can depend on when they need HVAC maintenance or HVAC repair of their heating systems. Our service area includes the towns of Media, Wallingford, Swarthmore, Springfield, Broomall, and Newtown Square.
We have the professional technicians who can handle all types of HVAC service, from annual maintenance to emergency heating system repairs to top-notch heating equipment replacement.
Become a Wilson Oil and Propane customer and start meeting The People You Can Trust.
With temperatures finally cooling off, we can turn more of our attention to getting our homes ready for the winter season. One question that always comes up around this time of year involves the outdoor condensing unit of central air conditioning systems.
Some people think it’s best to keep the unit covered to protect it from winter’s wrath. At first, this seems logical, but here’s why we advise you not to do this.
First, modern outdoor cooling units have been built to withstand harsh winter weather conditions. This obviously eliminates the need for a cover. But there’s another important reason: completely covering up your outdoor air conditioner unit can allow moisture to build up, eventually leading to the growth of harmful mold.
With that said, there is something you can do with your outdoor A/C unit in the months ahead. Keep the area around the condenser clear of debris, such as leaves and twigs. Keeping the outdoor unit free of any obstructions will help minimize the chance of excessive moisture collecting within your unit. Of course, you’ll want to clear this area of snow and ice after a winter storm.
To protect and help extend the life of your outdoor A/C unit, it’s important to have the indoor coils cleaned regularly to ensure it continues to work efficiently. Dirty coils will compromise the performance of your central air system. Your home will not get as cool as before and you’ll spend more on electricity.
Cleaning the coils is just one of the tasks our technicians perform when they do an air conditioning tune-up. The best time to do this is in early spring, before the weather heats up. Our technician will also clean and inspect the fan and motor assemblies, as well as making sure the condensate drains are clear of any debris.
During this time, they can also make minor repairs that can improve air conditioning performance and potentially help prevent bigger issues and a higher repair cost in the future.
While we’re on the subject of preparing for winter, this is the time of year when you’ll want to test your heating system and make sure it’s working as it should so you’ll be all set to go when your home really needs heat.
If you turned your thermostat a few degrees above room temperature but your heating system doesn’t turn on, follow these steps:
If you still can’t get heat, contact us for service.
The best way to avoid having a no-heat problem this winter is to get heating maintenance done now. Wilson offers service plans that cover the cost of maintenance and provide repair coverage.
Don’t delay in scheduling your tune-up. Now that it’s autumn our schedule is already filling up and we’ll get busier and busier the closer we get to winter.
Regular maintenance for your heating system is worth the investment. A heating system that doesn’t receive regular maintenance will lose efficiency and cost you more to run.
By getting a tune-up now, you’ll enter winter knowing your equipment is running safely and efficiently. Plus, since most breakdowns can be avoided with regular maintenance, getting a tune-up now will allow one of our expert technicians to find and fix any minor issues before they become more serious and costly.
Wilson Oil & Propane is the company that people in the Delaware Valley region of Pennsylvania, Delaware and New Jersey can depend on when they need us.
We have the professional technicians who can handle all types of HVAC service, from annual maintenance to emergency heating system repairs to top-notch heating equipment replacement.
Become a Wilson Oil and Propane customer and start meeting The People You Can Trust.
While nearly one in 10 households in Pennsylvania rely on clean-burning propane for home heating, propane has also been making inroads by powering motor vehicles in the Keystone State with efficient, clean-burning autogas.
Propane autogas is the world’s most popular alternative fuel, which is defined as any product that bypasses the two big traditional petroleum fuels: gasoline and diesel.
According to the Alternative Fuels Data Center, 60% of alternative-fuel vehicles nationwide now run on propane, from school buses to vans and fleet trucks to forklifts, lawnmowers and farm tractors. It is the third most popular vehicle fuel, next to gasoline and diesel.
So why should you consider converting your business fleet to propane autogas? In short, it’s a big money-saver.
Here are three key areas where propane-fueled vehicles have a distinct edge over those that rely on diesel or gasoline.
Fuel: Historically, propane has been less expensive than both gasoline and diesel. You can generally count on an average savings of $1 per gallon when you fill up with propane autogas.
Fluids: New, lower emissions diesel technology presents extra costs because diesel emissions fluid needs to be purchased, stored and changed. Plus, in cold temperatures, diesel vehicles need anti-gel fluids to prevent fuel filters and fuel lines from clogging. If your business fleet runs on propane autogas, however, you will benefit from reliable performance in any type of weather without the need and extra expense of additional fluids.
Filters: To meet emissions requirements, today’s diesel technology requires diesel particulate filters that must be cleaned. Excessive idling accelerates cleaning intervals. These extra maintenance expenses just add more to the total cost of ownership.
Read more about propane autogas and how it improves your maintenance bottom line when compared to diesel, gasoline and electric vehicles.
For fleet owners who want the cost benefits of propane autogas but need the flexibility of a gasoline backup or who aren’t ready to purchase new vehicles, EPA-certified bi-fuel conversion kits can be installed on existing gasoline-powered vehicles.
You can count on propane refueling technology to deliver as dependably as the vehicles themselves. Refueling with propane autogas is quick, quiet and safe. It’s the same experience as refueling with gasoline, making the transition to propane autogas easy for business fleets.
Propane autogas fleet operators can also save money by taking advantage of the Alternative Fuel Tax Credit, which was recently passed by the U.S. Congress as part of the Inflation Reduction Act. You may qualify to claim a credit for every gasoline gallon equivalent of propane autogas purchased.
The credit is available through December 31, 2024 and extends back to January 1, 2022. The National Propane Gas Association (NPGA) estimates that this credit will be a $200 million boon to the propane industry annually.
Make Wilson your propane autogas partner and we’ll help you save time and improve your bottom line even further. We’ll set you up with a secure storage container and put you on a delivery schedule to suit your needs. Instead of your employees losing time stopping at a fueling station every day to fill up with gasoline, we’ll deliver to your business so you can get to your customers faster.
To get your propane autogas wheels in motion, please contact us today.
