Order Quantity
The normal minimal delivery quantity demanded by suppliers for a normal single order is 500 litres because there is a cost involved in sending out a tanker to your premises and a 500 litre sale is generally the minimum required to cover this cost. Because they can make multiple drops in a single journey when delivering to our members, the cost per drop is less so they can accept a lesser minimum quantity for some deliveries.
Even then, the driver may decline to make a delivery of less than 300 or so litres and the choice to deliver or not is entirely up to the driver on the day. The driver's decision is final and UAOS will not complain or try to change any delivery decision.
If you request a delivery of less than 500 litres on your UAOS order you are unlikely to be accepted by the supplier. If you think you may need just a wee bit less than 500 you are free to ask for 500 and hope that the driver will accommodate your needs. However, if you do this too often, the supplier may blacklist your tank and this will not reflect well on the syndicate. Please do not abuse the good will of our suppliers.
Condition Of Your Tank
Regulations regarding the storage of environmentally challenging materials such as kerosene have changed over the years and a fuel tank that has been perfectly acceptable in the past may not pass muster now. Particularly, single-skin steel tanks that were regularly fitted in the 1970s no longer meet current environmental and safety regulations, especially when they are sitting on trestles outdoors.
The responsibility for fuel spillages caused by failed tanks falls at least partly on the supplier and in our case this means on the tanker driver. Before any delivery commences, the driver must be satisfied that the tank is suitable to safely and securely contain the volume of oil demanded. If the driver cannot be assured of that, the delivery is likely to be declined and the tank will be blacklisted by that supplier.
If the driver cannot see the tank at all, perhaps because it is built in to a building and completely enclosed, it is now likely that the delivery will be declined. We have had two cases so far of built-in tanks having to be replaced. If this happens to you we can put you in touch with someone who can replace your tank according to current building and storage regulations.
You can start to research the regulations here: https://www.gov.uk/oil-storage-regulations-and-safety .
Tank Maintenance
Generally there isn't much to do in the way of maintenance of your tank, especially if it is a plastic bunded tank. If the tank is sitting outside, make sure that the hatch over the delivery nozzle is securely on when not being filled or dirt could get into the fuel on delivery. If there is no hatch, clean the nozzle area well just before the tanker arrives.
If you have a steel tank you need to keep a careful eye on its condition, most importantly if it is outside. Failure of a steel tank can be sudden and catastrophic, losing all of your oil and causing an environmental emergency. Steel tanks can also rust invisibly inside and the rust can make its way into the fuel system, resulting in feed blockages or boiler problems. If you do have an old steel tank it is well worth considering upgrading to a bunded plastic tank. If you need or want to keep your steel tank it is a good idea to keep it as full as possible, especially in the summer, as this reduces the possibility of condensation forming and causing internal rust.
Oil Level Monitoring
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Don't let your tank run empty. Apart from the possible problems of having to bleed and/or prime your boiler, the bottom of the tank is where what we call in technical terms the "crud" lies and you really don't want that getting into your system. The traditional way of monitoring the level of oil was to occasionally dip the tank with a suitable long piece of non-fibrous wood. That technique was improved upon by the invention of the glass sight tube but this is usually only easy to use for the first couple of years after it was fitted, after which it generally becomes dirty and opaque and difficult to see into. In the 21st century nearly all tanks are now fitted with a remote electronic level monitor, usually from "Watchman" (see right). This comes in two pieces - a level monitor that lives inside your tank and continually gauges the level of the liquid in the tank, and an output display which is usually plugged into a handy 13A socket in your kitchen. In this way you can easily keep an eye on the level and stay warm and dry. The device uses a form of sonar the measure the height of the liquid so has to be set up for your tank on installation. Once this is done it is really quite accurate, certainly good enough for normal domestic use. The gauge uses batteries that last about a decade or so. Watchman say that when this happens the battery pack is not repairable and needs to be replaced. However, we know that this isn't actually the case and it hasn't been too difficult to replace the individual dead batteries. There are other devices such as Oilfox (link) which link to a smartphone app and can provide further facilities such as alerts for unexpected sudden level changes that may indicate a leak or theft.
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Fuel Life
Heating oil is much less volatile than petrol so can last much longer in storage, probably 18 to 24 months.
Oil Theft
It is a sad fact of life that oil is now valuable enough to attract thieves. Especially in our area where we have a lot of isolated tanks the possibility of oil theft must be taken seriously.
There's good article describing what you can do to protect yourself here (link).
It's probably worth noting that for us the riskiest times will be the third weeks of February, August and November, just after our deliveries have been made.