What a Safe Heating Oil Delivery Sounds 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.