Cincinnati Vulcan - Home Heating Oil - Oil Burning Furnace Troubleshooting Guide

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Oil Burning Furnace Troubleshooting Guide from Cincinnati Vulcan

If you are having trouble getting heat, follow these steps.

Check to be sure that the oil burner switch is on
Check your thermostat. Be sure it is set above the room temperature. *Note: If you have a heat pump attached to your furnace you will want to set the thermostat to "emergency heat".
Check fuses or circuit breakers.
Check your fuel oil tank to see if you have fuel. (Do not trust the old tap and echo test to check if you are out or low on fuel. Your tank will almost always have an echo or hollow sound if you tap on it with your hand or any item. Please tap on gauge or if at all possible insert a stick to the bottom and see how many inches of oil you have.)
Press the reset button on the burner relay ONLY ONCE.

If these steps don't work, please contact a professional to service your furnace. Cincinnati Vulcan works with and recommends these companies.

Most of the gauges used today have markings similar to those on a cars' gasoline gauge. A simple way to judge how much oil you have left in your tank is to figure it this way.

Full = 275 gallons Actual gallons will differ, these are only approximate gallons
¾ = 210 gallons Based on one (1) 275-gallon Basement type tank
5/8 = 175 gallons
½ = 140 gallons
3/8 = 105 gallons
¼ = 70 gallons
1/8 =35 gallons

How do we know when to refill the heating oil tank? Most heating oil companies use what is called the Degree Day System to judge when a home needs refilled.

What is a Degree Day?
A degree-day is simply a unit of measuring how cold (or hot) it has been over a 24-hour period. Whenever the average, (or mean) temperature is below 65 degrees we have a degree-day. For example, if in a 24-hour period the high outside was 70 degrees and the low was 50 degrees, then the average temperature for the day was 60 degrees. This is five (5) degrees lower than the "mean" temperature of 65 degrees. Therefore we can say that there were five (5) degree-days in that 24-hour period.