Summer is fast approaching, so heating oil is probably the last thing on your mind as you gear up for a little well-earned R&R at your Eastern Long Island vacation home. But before you pack up the family truckster and head to the North Fork, there are two heating system tasks you should consider tackling.

The first is to get your routine heating maintenance out of the way now rather than waiting until the fall, when everyone will be doing the same thing (you can piggyback your heating maintenance visit with your annual A/C service call, if you haven’t taken care of that already).

The second is to give your heating oil tank a little TLC to avoid any problems down the road.

A professional heating tank inspection is a must, especially if you have an older steel tank that lacks the fiberglass inner lining of today’s virtually leak-proof heating oil tanks. But there’s something else you can do that is a little less obvious but just as important for a healthy heating oil tank: keep it at least half full during the offseason.

A heating oil tank that contains more air than oil will accumulate condensation (water) on its inner walls as temperatures fluctuate. A damp environment inside your tank encourages bacteria growth in your fuel, which will eventually turn the oil into a sludge that clogs your system and hampers efficiency. Condensation will also eventually corrode the bottom of your tank, too, since water is heavier than oil and will sink once it falls from the tank walls.

The bottom line: condensation inside your oil tank is a problem that is easy to avoid – schedule a heating oil delivery today and it could prevent some big problems down the road. It could save you money, too, since heating oil prices are often lower in the offseason, when demand for fuel is low.

Top of your heating oil tank today to avoid problems tomorrow! Contact Burt’s Reliable today to schedule a heating oil delivery to your North Fork or East End LI home today.