What to know if you're moving

Originally published January 30, 2015
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Crowley Is Moving - and - How to Determine How Much Oil Is in Your Tank When YOU Move!

By the time you read this, the Crowley Fuel office will have moved from 167 North Main Street in North Brookfield to 8 Mill Street, North Brookfield. We hope you will come by to see our new space in the future and especially on February 13 when we will be having an Open House with gifts, prizes and tours.
 
Moving to the new office is quite a big deal that require lots of work, expense and planning, but it does give us more space to better serve our customers. When you visit, you’ll be pleased to see our new parts, wood pellet and vehicle areas. Our trucks will be under cover and ready for service!
 
When people move to a new home, it is also a big deal. I’ve received a number of calls from customers inquiring about the heating side of moving. The most frequently asked question is, “What do I do about the oil that is left in my tank?” The simple answer is that you get paid for it by the buyers of your home at the closing. Just let your attorney know how much oil is in the tank a day or two before the closing.
 
The easy way to determine how much oil is in your tank is to go by the gauge. When a tank gauge reads Full you have 250 usable gallons, ¾ Full is 188 gallons, ½ Full is 125 gallons, and ¼ Full is 63 gallons. This is all fine if your gauge is resting exactly at these levels, but what about if you are half way between ¼ and Empty? You can make a guess at how much oil is in the tank, but you are taking a chance on shortchanging someone, and I hope that it’s not the buyer.
 
The precise way to determine how much oil is left in your tank is to open one of the ports on the top of the tank and stick a measuring device down to the bottom. Below is a chart that shows the amount of oil at each inch mark. Please be sure to put the plug securely back into the port after measuring the oil level! If you don’t, the result could be a release of heating oil in the home and an expensive clean-up.
 
The second most frequently asked question is from people who move into a home with oil heat. These are often people who are first-time home buyers or who have never had oil to heat their home. In a future blog I will explain the basics that every homeowner should know about oil heat.

Bob

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