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Posted on: 24 September 2020

When you live in an environment where the temperatures get below freezing consistently through the winter, it's important that you protect your heating oil from the risk of freezing. After all, if your heating oil freezes, it's not going to flow to your furnace to heat your home. Not to mention, frozen heating oil will expand in the lines, potentially cracking them and causing a leak when things thaw out. Here's a look at what you need to know about reducing the risk of freezing with your heating oil.

Start With the Right Heating Oil

Certain heating oil mixtures are specifically blended to reduce the freezing point. This allows your heating oil to withstand colder temperatures without actually freezing. Talk with your heating oil company about getting a kerosene and diesel mixture for your heating system to help minimize the freezing risk. This mixture has one of the lowest freezing points, making it the best choice for those areas where temperatures get significantly cold.

Protect the Fuel Filter

The fuel filter of your heating system is an essential component because it protects your heating system from any debris that may be in the heating oil tank. Unfortunately, because the fuel filter draws fuel oil in at such a low volume, it's at a greater risk of freezing if the filter is installed somewhere outside where it's exposed to the cold temperatures. The good news is that you can avoid this risk by having your heating oil technician relocate your fuel filter indoors if it's not there already. It can be positioned at a different point in the lines to help keep it in a controlled environment and eliminate the hazard of filter clogging due to freezing.

Cover the Heating Oil Lines

The lines that run from your heating oil tank to the furnace are vulnerable to temperature exposure. Since those lines are so small, there's a low volume of fuel running through them. This low volume makes the heating oil more susceptible to temperature issues, which means that your fuel oil is far more likely to freeze. You can avoid this by insulating the entire heating oil system. Insulation that wraps around the heating oil lines will help protect the fuel oil from exposure to the cold temperatures. You won't have nearly as much risk of freezing when the system is properly insulated.

Your heating oil technician, like those at Cash Oil, will help you assess your heating oil delivery system to help you identify the vulnerabilities and address them.