Frequently Asked Questions

Yes. Heating oil is one of the safest and cleanest fuels ever developed. Oil is biodegradable, produces low emissions, and will not burn in a liquid state. If a lit match were dropped into a container of heating oil, the oil would extinguish the flame, just like water does! To be ignited, oil must be vaporized, which only occurs under pressure at 140°F. Properly set and maintained oil burners produce very low, safe levels of carbon monoxide as a normal part of the combustion process. And if there is ever a malfunction in your heating system, there’s little or no need to worry about an explosion or the release of carbon monoxide into your home.

We don’t believe it’s right to chain a customer to their oil supplier. We want to earn your loyalty through quality fuel and friendly customer service. We don’t lock customers into contracts, delivery fees, cancellation fees, or any hidden fees for that matter.

Supply, demand, and speculation. Rapidly growing economies, like China and India, are having a dramatic impact on worldwide demand for oil, while unknown winter temperatures make it hard to predict winter demand for oil. Similar worldwide and regional factors affect the supply side. Circumstances in major oil-producing regions affect global supply. Here, in the U.S., if we experience a mild winter, fuel inventories (fuel that is ready to be delivered for consumption) build-up, and prices typically decrease. Conversely, colder-than-expected temperatures cause prices to increase as inventories decrease.

Each customer has a "K factor" attached to their account. Your K factor is derived from several dynamics: size of your home, equipment efficiency, alternate fuels, etc. Similar to your car’s miles-per-gallon ratio, your K factor allows us to estimate how much oil your home uses. Combined with the number of degree days, our computer system provides an extremely accurate portrait of your home’s fuel usage. We can usually make such predictions about your home’s patterns after three deliveries to your house. Until then, we will stick on the conservative side so that you will not run out of fuel. If a change has occurred in your home (new addition, new baby, alternate heat source), let us know, so that we can recalculate accordingly.

No, price is not a factor in deciding when your deliveries are scheduled. We schedule deliveries when our computerized delivery system projects that your tank is between 1/3 and 1/2 full.

No. We schedule deliveries when our computerized delivery system projects that your tank is between 1/3 and 1/2 full. Smaller, more frequent deliveries are inefficient and would drive fuel prices up unnecessarily. We do everything we can to keep our fuel prices as low as possible!

A degree day is the standard unit of measurement used to estimate the energy needed to heat homes and buildings. It allows us to predict when you will require your next oil delivery. When the temperatures outside are colder, your furnace burns more oil, which is represented by more degree days. On a day when the temperature is warm, however, there are less degree days.

Our delivery team keeps a close watch on weather forecasts to anticipate extreme weather, especially snow and ice storms. By using our sophisticated delivery projection system, we know when you will need a delivery and make adjustments to your delivery cycle based on weather forecasts. We also do our best to deliver to customers with difficult driveways before storms make driveways impassable.

We're so confident in our ability to make timely automatic deliveries that we guarantee that you will not run out of oil. If you run out of oil because we failed to properly schedule your delivery, we will give you $50 worth of oil for free!

Yes! You can easily order heating oil from your smartphone or computer in Anytime Account Access! Set up your secure login today if you have not already done so!

All sources of heat should be reflected in our delivery projections for your home. Please call us if you begin or stop using a supplemental heat source.

No. We can deliver fuel anytime without anyone being home. The only time you need to be home is if we have to enter the house i.e., to start the burner, or complete a gas check. If you have pets, please ensure their safety and the safety of our delivery personnel by properly securing all pets.

You can request a "summer hold," which will inform our team not to make a delivery between March 15th and October 15th. Call Customer Service at (410) 876-6800 to request this hold on your account.

• Before snow covers the ground, place a stake with a colored grocery bag or ribbon on it to mark the location of your oil tank fill.
• In times of very deep snow, please clear a path to and around your fill pipe.
• If you have a long driveway, remember that a delivery truck is much wider than a car. When plowing your driveway, please have it plowed 11 feet wide, which will be enough for the delivery truck.

We recommend that customers keep their oil level above 30 gallons. Therefore, if you think you will fall below 30 gallons or fear you will run out of oil completely, you may purchase diesel or kerosene fuel from a reputable gas station until you are able to get a delivery. Your safety matters to us, and we will do everything we can to deliver to you as soon as possible!

Yes. Tevis Energy has local employees that monitor phone calls beyond regular office hours. We provide emergency service 24/7/365. If we do not answer your phone call immediately, we will call you back in a few short moments!

This is a very common question, so common in fact, we have written a blog about the subject. Read the blog post: What size is my oil tank?

Determining the size of the oil tank and the amount of oil in the tank is relatively easy. Measure the width, height, and depth of your oil tank.