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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

Before the grass grows too high…

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The grass is sprouting back to life and flower buds are appearing on trees and shrubs. Reminders of late autumn are still scattered about an old, dried crabgrass stems are still poking out around the heating oil tank. Soon it’ll be time to get the mower tuned up and running again.

It’s a great time to begin outdoor spring cleanup. It’s still cool enough to not break a sweat while you do it and the grass doesn’t need mowing – yet. Make a short list and tackle what you can.

Rake up leftover leaves so the ground can “breathe” and allow new growth to thrive. You can feed those decomposing leaves to your compost bin if you have one. Trim back dead plants and flowers so they can begin new growth, then spread some fresh mulch in planting beds if the old mulch is getting a bit thin. This will dress things up while protecting emerging plants and flowers.

If you have an above-ground, home heating fuel tank or outdoor air conditioning unit, inspect the area around it. Trim back any overgrowth by hand so the heating oil delivery person or air conditioner tune-up specialist has easy access. You might consider spreading some landscaping stones beneath or around the base to keep weeds at bay.

While you’re at it, check the heating oil level in your tank and call us to top it off if needed so you’re prepared for the next bout of cold weather – hopefully not for months!

Need a refill of home heating oil? Call Hillside HVAC to schedule a delivery. In Delaware: 302-738-4144. In Maryland: 410-398-2146.

Happy Tax Day! Now go test run your air conditioner

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Don’t get caught unprepared for the heat

It is only April and nobody wants to turn on their air conditioner yet. However right now is the perfect time to give your unit a “test run”. The hottest weather will be here before we know it. Hillside suggests giving your unit a few hours of run time before the heat comes and stays. This could avoid aggravation later when you turn on your air conditioning unit for good.

Need service or considering a tune-up on your air conditioner? Consider Hillside. A tune-up of your air conditioning system can pay for itself over time. A tuned-up system is more likely to perform optimally, most efficiently, and avoid untimely breakdowns.

See if an air conditioner tune-up is right for you.

Don’t get caught on the first 90-degree day this summer in the uncomfortable heat. Try out your air conditioner soon to make sure it is going to be there when you need it in a few weeks.

Don’t have air conditioning? Hillside can help with that too! Hillside does installations of all types of indoor air comfort systems, including ductless air conditioners.

Call Hillside HVAC now to schedule your air conditioner service appointment. In Delaware: 302-738-4144. In Maryland: 410-398-2146.

Best Strategy for Clearing Snow

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Last winter we got pounded with snow. Storm after storm at one point dumped a lot of the cold, wet stuff at once. I’m asking myself now, how can I be better prepared to manage the snow?

Like you, Hillside HVAC keeps an eye on the weather forecast and strives to schedule heating oil deliveries to our regular, automatic-delivery customers in advance of a major weather event. This ensures that our customers don’t go without heat in the winter and our trucks aren’t put at risk of getting stuck in the snow. However, there are more reasons than just your heating oil delivery to keep the snow cleared from your sidewalks and driveway, and the better you manage snow removal, the easier it will be to maintain safe passage to and from your home.

Use preventive measures. Spray a liquid ice-melt on steps, walkways, and driveways or use a gravel ice-melt before it begins snowing. Be sure and choose a pet-safe ice melt – that is, one that is salt-free – on surfaces where your pet will be walking. A pet-safe ice melt, such as Safe Paw, will prevent poisoning from ingestion and dried out pads on the paws, which can be painful.

Choose your tools wisely. Shovels are the most common tool, yet there are so many varieties of them! Choose one that works for your situation. If you have an uneven surface, you might consider a plastic shovel that will slide more easily over jagged edges than a metal one. For pushing heavy snow, you might consider a wheeled shovel or wheeled scoop that’s easier to move heavier loads along the ground. For breaking up ice, grab your garden spade that normally wouldn’t see the light of day until spring and put it to good use.

If you have large areas to clear or are concerned about the strenuousness of shoveling, an investment in a snowblower might be your tool. From a few hundred dollars to over a thousand, you can find the machine that is the right fit for you. For smaller areas reachable with an extension cord, an electric powered snow blower will do. For greater range, though, a gas-powered, single-stage snow blower will clear up to a two-foot wide path for you, while a two-stage snow blower is better for gravel drives and for clearing wider paths. Keep in mind that annual maintenance is required to keep your gas-powered snow blower operable from year to year.

Tip: Apply a polymer spray especially for snow removal tools OR a nonstick cooking spray to shovels and/or your snow blower auger to keep snow from sticking.

Timing is everything! If the forecast is calling for a heavy accumulation of snow, consider planning to clear snow in incremental periods of time to avoid having to attack it all at once. This is more challenging if a snowstorm is moving through your area overnight, when it’s too dark to see and when most people would rather be sleeping.

Don’t forget the marshmallows for your hot chocolate breaks! If you’re not yet on Automatic Delivery for your home heating oil, call Hillside HVAC to set it up. In Delaware: 302-738-4144. In Maryland: 410-398-2146.