Say Goodbye to Worrying About Your Heating Oil Supply

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When winter sets in, are you constantly monitoring your heating oil tank or scrambling at the last minute to arrange an emergency delivery so the tank isn’t empty? At Hillside, we offer automatic delivery of home heating oil—for FREE. That’s right! Unlike some other companies, we do not charge extra for this service.

We want you to have peace of mind that your tank will never run low or run out. Scheduling for automatic delivery is done using degree days. Hi-tech computer algorithms calculate your usage and delivery dates based on previous weather conditions and your home’s usage history. Keep in mind that while we do our best to accommodate last-minute deliveries, it is not always possible to accommodate these requests. With Hillside monitoring your usage and making automatic deliveries, you can remove your worry— and an ongoing chore from your to-do list.

Check out our heating oil delivery options at www.HillsideHVAC.com/oil-delivery, or call us to see if automatic delivery is the right option for you!

What a Safe Heating Oil Delivery Sounds Like

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Do you have a basement oil tank?

If you do, you should hear a whistling noise whenever our driver makes a delivery. This is perfectly normal.

In addition to your oil tank, your heating oil storage system includes the fill pipe, vent pipe and vent alarm. Our driver connects the hose from his oil truck to the fill pipe when making a delivery of fuel. As oil flows into the tank, air is pushed back out. As the air goes through the vent alarm (located between your tank and vent pipe), it makes a whistling sound. When the whistling stops, the tank is just about full.

This prevents overfilling and the possibility of a spill. Safety codes do not allow us to deliver your fuel if the vent alarm is not working.

Do You Have the Proper Piping?

Other safety codes must be followed so we can ensure safe deliveries to your home. One of the most important codes involves your fill and vent pipes. Older piping made from Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) must be replaced because this plastic piping becomes brittle during winter conditions, making it more likely to crack when a tank is being filled.

This is such an important issue that many insurance companies are now enforcing a No-Fill mandate for tanks with PVC piping.

If this is an issue for you, we can easily resolve it by upgrading your plastic piping to more durable iron or copper piping. If you have any questions or concerns about your oil storage system, please feel free to contact us.

Great news about oil prices, filling safety, no heat tips, and more!

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Prices Are Down and Savings Are Up

Because of falling oil prices, most people have been saving a lot of money on heating costs over the past two years.

(Crude oil prices recently plunged to their lowest level since December 2003!)

We encourage you to invest your fuel savings back into your home so you can save even more money.

We’re ready to help! Whether it’s a repair, a tune-up or a new furnace, boiler, water heater or oil tank, our trained technicians can take care of virtually any issue that affects your home comfort.

We can also help you save money and increase your peace of mind with our Heating Maintenance Plan.

Some customers who have replaced old, inefficient oil boilers have cut their annual heating expenses by as much as 40%! And paying for your replacement equipment is as easy as pie, thanks to great financing programs.

Low prices won’t last forever, so let us know how we can help!

Contact us today to request a free estimate on new heating equipment. We also welcome your call: 302-738-4144 (Delaware) or 410-398-2146 (Maryland).

What Does a Safe Delivery of Fuel Oil Sound Like?

Do you have a basement oil tank? If you do, you should hear a whistling noise whenever our driver makes a delivery. This is perfectly normal.

In addition to your oil tank, your heating oil storage system includes the fill pipe, vent pipe, and vent alarm. Our driver connects the hose from his oil truck to the fill pipe when making a delivery of fuel. As oil flows into the tank, air is pushed back out. As the air goes through the vent alarm (located between your tank and vent pipe), it makes a whistling sound. When the whistling stops, the tank is just about full.

This prevents overfilling and the possibility of a spill. Safety codes do not allow us to deliver your fuel if the vent alarm is not working.

Do You Have the Proper Piping?
Other safety codes must be followed so we can ensure safe deliveries to your home. One of the most important codes involves your fill and vent pipes. Older piping made from Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) must be replaced because this plastic piping becomes brittle during winter conditions, making it more likely to crack when a tank is being filled.

This is such an important issue that many insurance companies are now enforcing a No-Fill mandate for tanks with PVC piping.

If this is an issue for you, we can easily resolve it by upgrading your plastic piping to more durable iron or copper piping. If you have any questions or concerns about your oil storage system, please feel free to contact us.

Ask the Expert

Q: What’s the first thing I should do if my heat stops working?

A: The first thing you need to do is to stay calm. Remember there are many simple reasons that can cause your heat to stop working. Sometimes, you may even be able to fix the problem yourself.

Here are common reasons for losing heat:

You may have tripped a circuit breaker or blown a fuse.

Your oil tank may be empty. Consider automatic delivery.

Your thermostat may be on the wrong setting. Also, if the display screen on a digital thermostat is blank, you either need new batteries or the power supply has been interrupted.

The power switches to your heating system may have been turned off accidentally.

As a last resort for getting your heat back, press the reset button on your oil burner once. If your furnace or boiler starts to run again but shuts down after a few minutes, do not press the reset button again. Pressing it more than once can flood the system with oil and result in a costly repair.

For your convenience, we have put together a No-Heat Checklist that gives you a step-by-step guide that shows you everything you should check before calling us for emergency service. Why not bookmark it now for easy access?

If you go through all of these tips and can’t figure out the problem, it’s time to call us: 302-738-4144 (Delaware) or 410-398-2146. (Maryland).

When our service technician arrives, tell him everything you did to the system and if anything out of the ordinary happened, such as an unusual noise, smoke or a strange smell.

In many cases, this will help our technician find the problem—and get your heat back on—faster.

More Hot Tips

  • Mark the circuit breaker (or fuse) that controls your heating system.
  • Make sure you know the location of your system’s power switches.
  • Regularly check the condition of your furnace filter, or the water gauge level if you have a boiler.

Recent Testimonials from Hillside Customers

Hillside is always proud to boast when our employees receive reviews from customers. Our service department has been busy tuning up and repairing equipment. Here are a few recent testimonials from customers of Hillside’s maintenance, repairs, and installations.

“George & Randy were courteous and very pleasant. They did a great & timely job.” -Karen Mc. from Newark 1/28/2016

“Mike was great, he explained everything he was doing. Thank you.” -Walter C. from North East, MD 1/20/2016

“Great work!” -Slavin Insurance from Elkton, MD 1/7/2016

“Excellent job by Mike & Luke! Good teamwork!!!”” -Lois Mc. from New Castle 12/2/2015

“Mike & Randy were a good team. Mike especially went the extra mile for service.” -Elaine K. from Newark 12/17/2015

“The tech explained keeping the furnace clean & tuned helps extend furnace life.” -Tom G. from Newark 12/22/2015

Give Hillside a call for prices and options: DE: 302-738-4144 or MD: 410-398-2146

Low Oil Prices Save you Money this Winter

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Here’s how to stay warm for less. The weather outside may soon become frightful, but the unexpected plunge in heating oil prices continues to be delightful.
Because heating oil prices have reached their lowest point in nearly a dozen years, you can expect to see savings on your heating costs once again this winter.

We encourage you to invest these fuel savings back into your home so you can save even more money.

We’re ready to help! Whether it’s a repair, a tune-up or a new equipment installation, our trained technicians can take care of virtually any issue that affects your home comfort.

If you ask us to install a new heating system, you’ll notice the difference right away. A new high-efficiency heating system will keep your home toasty warm—no matter how low the temperatures go! And because a new boiler or furnace uses a lot less fuel than older models, you can reduce your annual heating costs by 30% or more.

We can help you save even more money and increase your peace of mind further with our Heating Maintenance Plan.

As we move deeper into winter, we hope you will contact us about some of the ways we can keep you more comfortable and save you money.

Recent Testimonials from Hillside Customers

Hillside is always proud to boast when our employees receive reviews from customers. Our service department has been busy tuning up and repairing equipment. Here are a few recent testimonials from customers of Hillside’s maintenance, repairs, and installations.

“Great work!” -Slavin Insurance from Elkton, MD 1/7/2016

“Mike was so helpful, taking time over the phone to me at work.” -Marianna Mc. from Wilmington 1/6/2016

“Excellent job by Mike & Luke! Good team work!!!”” -Lois Mc. from New Castle 12/2/2015

“Your company has the best employees I’ve ever seen!” – Doug M. from Wilmington 12/7/2015

“The tech was excellent in all respects. I would highly recommend him and your company.” -John & Patricia B. from Bear 12/7/2015

“Great, honest service!!” -Victor & Christine P. from Wilmington 12/15/2015

If your system is in need of repair, replacement, or maintenance, mention this email and receive $50 off the standard rate of a service call! We promise YOU will be the next Hillside customer writing a positive testimonial.

Give Hillside a call for prices and options: DE: 302-738-4144 or MD: 410-398-2146

Facebook contest – Win 100 gallons of heating oil FREE!

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We had so much fun last time, and the response was great. Let’s do it again, another 100 gallons of home heating oil will be given to a random person onHillside’s Facebook Page

The contest is easy, go to THIS post on Hillside’s Facebook page, like it, and tag a family member or friend in the comments that might also like a chance to win 100 gallons of home heating oil FREE.

Also follow along with Hillside and Charlie the Dog on social media Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. Winner picked at random from ALL entries on or around Wednesday December 2nd, 2015.

Winner will be contacted and annouced on social media on or around Wednesday December 2nd, 2015. Please make sure you use heating oil or have someone you can donate to.

Interested in Budgeting Your Heating Bills This Winter?

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It is a little early to think about heating your home, we understand. Hillside recently put out an announcement starting the budget season for this winter’s upcoming deliveries. Did you miss out? If so, it’s not too late to get on a budget plan for your heating bills. Hillside’s budget plan is very simple, we estimate your annual expenses with us and divide that amount over monthly payments. Much more information can be found here.

If you are interested give our office a call, 302-738-4144 or 410-398-2146. Take advantage of a free payment tool that we offer.

Home heating oil prices continue to drop

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Heating Oil Prices Dropped!

Heating oil prices are starting to drop again. After a small spike during the extremely cold months, prices have gone down again. Hillside is currently at our lowest retail price this winter, and the lowest retail price in almost 5 years. If you were trying to ride out the winter without purchasing more home heating oil (who can blame anyone for that) but won’t quite make it, now might be a good time for a refill. We wish we had a crystal ball and could see into the future, but the fuel market is the most unstable and unpredictable beast known to man.

Hillside is proud to be the only full-service home heating oil company in the area to post our price for everyone on the front page of our website 24/7 www.HillsideHVAC.com

If you read our articles and have read this far, please mention this article dated March 25th, 2015 and receive and extra 10 cents per gallon off your next fill up! This may not be used in conjunction with any other offers, discounts, or promotions. Thank you for your loyal support of Hillside and our local, homegrown, family business.

Free Tank-Guard giveaway, once a week through February

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Oil Tank Warrant with Tank GuardHillside Oil Heating & Cooling is going to choose a random winner for a FREE ($79 value) year of enrollment in our Tank-Guard program each week in February! Winners will be picked from entries on our Facebook page. If you are interested in winning a year of free protection on your home heating oil tank, head over to Hillsides Facebook page (www.fb.com/HillsideHVAC) and get yourself entered! Entering is simple, check out THIS FACEBOOK POST, like it and tag someone else in the comments that might like to win. Feel free to add a picture of your oil tank and be as fun or creative as you like. Winners announced each week in February.
*Make sure you can use this service or have someone to donate it

Tank-Guard is a warranty program offered by Hillside for home heating oil tanks. It is protection for above ground and basement heating oil tanks up to 330 gallons capacity. The annual cost for enrollment is $79. The nuts and bolts are that if your home heating oil tank leaks while covered under the Tank-Guard program, Hillside will replace it at no additional cost. The only requirement for enrollment is a visual inspection of your existing tank by a Hillside representative.

The Tank-Guard program is very affordable and fantastic coverage. Please make sure you are eligible for the Tank-Guard program or have someone to donate it to, before entering, the tank must be above ground or in your basement, and 330 gallons or smaller.

Warm Their Hearts (and Homes!) this Holiday Season

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Give the gift of warmth + 10% Bonus for you!

Last year for Christmas I gave Dad another flannel shirt. Something to keep him warm this winter, I thought. Another year, I gave him a new hat-and-scarf set. (Come to think of it, I hadn’t seen him wear those.) I’ve clearly been having trouble coming up with the perfect gift for a retiree who already had enough “stuff.” Then someone suggested giving the gift of warmth. Bingo!

Hillside Charlie Holiday gift cardThere are some people in your life for whom buying gifts are challenging. They seem to already have everything they need or don’t have room for more “stuff.” This winter, when you run out of gift ideas, consider giving a gift that truly says to your loved one that you care about their comfort and wellbeing this winter. A gift card from Hillside HVAC ensures their heating oil tank will be full and their home will feel “delightful,” even when the weather outside turns “frightful!”

10% of gift certificate value purchased will also be given to the purchaser (you) as an added Thank You from Hillside.

Having trouble coming to a consensus as a group on what single gift to buy that special someone? A Hillside HVAC gift card is the ideal group gift for parents, grandparents and other special people in your life this holiday season. No more arguing over electronic gadgets they’ll never figure out how to use or fancy home appliances they may never take out of the box. The gift of home heating oil may not be sexy and may not have a “coolness” factor, but it’s practical and it will certainly be appreciated!

The gift of warmth is genuine and one that comes from your heart.

To give someone special in your life a Hillside HVAC gift card, give us a call! In Delaware: 302-738-4144. In Maryland: 410-398-2146. Or visit our office at 40 Brookhill Drive, Newark

Cold weather is here, time to start planning

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oil deliveryWaking up to a layer of snow the other morning was a surprise to some of us. For others, it was the realization that the cold weather is probably here to stay. Along with the cold weather comes a much busier time for us here at Hillside. We try as best we can to accommodate all orders and delivery requests for heating oil. But as we get busier that means we start to schedule deliveries up to several days out. There are only so many gallons that fit on an oil truck and so many hours a day we can work (these are actual laws enforced upon us). Please take this opportunity to check the level in your tank and plan accordingly.

Hillside’s automatic delivery heating oil customers have nothing to worry about, we have you covered. We do all the planning so you don’t have to worry about running low on heating oil. If you are not on automatic, consider the change. It can save you headaches, troubles at home, and possibly even money in the long run. Give us a call or check out our website for information or to sign up www.HillsideHVAC.com/oil-delivery

Since you are here and read this far, take this opportunity to enter yourself for 100 gallons of home heating oil FREE! Entering is simple only takes a minute.

Thank you to all our customers that support local, homegrown, family business. Have a great weekend!