What is the Cost to Fill an Oil Tank?

Need to top off your oil tank before the cold season begins? Or, maybe you’re just investigating costs so you can do a proper comparison before committing to oil heating? Or, maybe you’re comparing multiple heating oil suppliers to determine who has the best oil prices on the Cape. Then it’s important to know what it’s going to cost to fill your oil tank, now and in the future.

While it’s impossible to say for certain how much your tank of heating oil will cost in a particular month, we can help you understand the general ballpark of pricing at the moment. We can show you what might influence prices to go up or down. And, we can give you tips on how you can control costs with savvy purchasing habits in the future. Continue reading our blog post to learn what it will cost to fill an oil tank on Cape Cod.

An Example of a Typical Oil Tank Filling on Cape Cod

Barring something unusual, there are always going to be two factors in the price of filling your oil tank: the current price of heating oil and the size of your oil tank. To help you understand what filling your heating oil tank might cost, let’s use a typical oil price and a typical tank size of 275 gallons. Of course, this can change based on your own circumstances. For example, there are other oil tank sizes, including 330, 550, and 660 gallons. These sized tanks are typically for larger homes on Cape Cod. But, for this exercise, we will use a 275-gallon tank, as it is one of the most common tank sizes. This will give you an idea about what you might be able to expect.

Around this time of year, it is possible to see oil prices range between $1.75 and $2.25 per gallon. Of course, this comes with the caveat that this could change based on many variables in the future. Please always check our homepage for the current and most up-to-date heating oil price right now. For 275-gallon tanks, you’re looking at heating oil costs of somewhere in the range of a few hundred dollars. Obviously, with a bigger tank, the final price will be higher for the full oil tank to be filled. Depending on how cold it gets, how well your home is weatherproofed and insulated, and how warm you like to keep things, a standard residential tank like that can last you through the entire cold season and the cold days on either side.

Related Post: How Long Will A Tank of Oil Last?

Factors that can Increase or Decrease the Cost of Heating Oil

Of course, as we mentioned before, oil prices fluctuate in response to supply and demand. This, in turn, changes the price of filling an oil tank throughout the year. It doesn’t take much of a shift up or down to have a drastic effect on your bottom line, either; cut a little more than three cents off the cost per gallon, and you’ve saved ten dollars. Add ten cents per gallon, and now you’re spending $27.50 more on a refill. And swings larger than that aren’t uncommon throughout the year!

As a general rule, oil is going to become more expensive as the weather gets colder. This is because demand will increase as people run their heating systems more and either run dry or notice that they’re low. Heating oil providers don’t have an infinite stock of oil available at all times. So, they’ll drop prices to move stock when it’s not selling well and prices will increase when they’re at risk of running dry.

Unexpected events can cause unexpected changes in the price of heating oil as well. This is much like the way the price of gasoline or milk can suddenly fluctuate due to politics, natural disasters, etc.

Related Post: Why Spending More Time At Home Contributes to Increased Heating Oil Use

How to Minimize Your Heating Oil Costs

If you want to spend as little as possible on heating oil each year, it’s important to secure a full tank of oil each year when prices are at their lowest. This is rather than going for automated service and simply topping up when you run dry. Check historical oil prices in your area for discount oil during the warm months or early-season months to determine the absolute best time to stock up.

This works even better if you’re frugal with your heating, have a larger-than-typical oil tank, or have your home thoroughly winter proofed to minimize the need for heating.

Learn More about The Oil Peddler on Cape Cod, MA

The Oil Peddler provides affordable COD heating oil deliveries throughout the Cape Cod, MA area. If you’d like to learn more about minimizing costs for heating oil delivery, or would like to see what oil prices look like for one-time delivery at the moment, check out our prices on the front page at https://oilpeddler.com/, contact us online, or call us at 508-398-0070 to inquire about a delivery today!