Winter is here and a lot of us are running our heating system non stop these days. Here is some advice to make certain your oil burner is running as smooth as it possibly can.
Get A Tune Up
You do not want to go several years without getting a tune up on your oil burner. This applies to everyone no matter if they have a furnace or boiler. You need to get an inspection at least once every two years and it needs to be done right.
There are a lot of hidden “energy hogs” that could be costing you a lot of money in extra heating bills every month that you are not aware of. The price of natural gas and heating oil is not going down, if you have not noticed, so you want to make sure you are getting the most bang for your buck.
They have the right tools and knowledge to scan your whole system, check your spark (or transformer), nozzles, pump, or wiring. Unless you have been trained on these things there is no way you could do this by yourself.
Get Your Tank Cleaned
If you have a holding tank, which you will if your system runs of heating oil, than you need to get it cleaned every so often. How often, I really do not know, but moisture does build up in there and it can clog your nozzles.
Sometimes they take care of this when you get a tune up for your oil burner and sometimes they do not but you should make certain it gets done.
Get Quality Replacements
When you replace your nozzles or actual burners from time to time I would recommend you get quality replacements and not the cheapest thing you can find. I am a huge fan of Beckett oil burners because they have been around the longest and their stuff rarely breaks down (unless it was not maintenanced properly). Weil Mcleans are good as well.
There are other really inexpensive models on the market and you might save a little on the front end but on the back in they will cost you hundreds maybe thousands.
Make Your System More Effiecient
There is a tool that I love called the Beckett Heat Manager that will make your whole oil burner system run a lot better. This little device that you can get for under $200 will decrease your fuel consumption by anywhere from 10% and can be as much as 20%. I personally saw a 15% decrease in fuel consumption. Keep in mind I have a waste oil boiler so your results could be a little different but the process is the same.
