Heating Oil Usage Calculator
| Home size | Mild 35 F plus | Cold 25-35 F | Hard freeze under 25 F |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cozy, under 1,500 sq ft | 1.2 | 2.0 | 3.0 |
| Mid, 1,500-2,500 sq ft | 2.1 | 3.5 | 5.3 |
| Large, over 2,500 sq ft | 3.3 | 5.5 | 8.3 |
Enter the gallons left in your tank, the size of your home and the weather band in the forecast. The calculator returns your daily burn rate and how many days of heat the tank holds.
Heating oil homes are on their own clock: there is no utility pipeline, so the question is never the price alone - it is whether the next delivery arrives before the tank runs dry. Burn rate is roughly home size times how cold it runs, which is exactly what this page multiplies for you.
How to use
- Gallons in the tank first - a float gauge reads in quarters, and the tank gauge math link below converts it.
- Pick the home band and the weather band honestly: the forecast low for the next week, not the season average.
- Read the days of heat left and order a refill at a quarter tank - deliveries slow down right after a cold snap.
Frequently asked questions
How long will 100 gallons of heating oil last?
For a mid-size home in cold weather, about 29 days - the burn rate runs 2 to 5 gallons a day depending on size and how hard the freeze is. The calculator turns your exact tank into days at the current band.
How many gallons a day does a house burn?
Roughly 2 a day for a small home in mild weather up to 8 or more for a large home in a hard freeze. The table above is the full ladder; most homes land between 2 and 5 in a normal winter stretch.
When should I order heating oil?
At a quarter tank, not empty. Deliveries queue up after every cold snap, oil trucks may be days out, and running a tank near-empty stirs decades of sludge into the fuel line - a clogged filter is a cold-house service call.
How much heating oil does a house use in a winter?
A typical Northeast home burns 500 to 900 gallons across the season, with the weather and the thermostat doing most of the deciding. Your daily rate from the calculator, times your heating days, is the honest preview of that number.
Does the tank size change the burn rate?
No - size only sets how much you store. A 275-gallon basement tank and a 330-gallon underground tank feed the same burner at the same rate; the calendar difference is the math this page does.