How to Use Less Heating Oil This Winter (Long Island Homes)

From the Alcus family · Alcus Fuel Oil & Sons, Amityville · Updated October 31, 2026

The cheapest gallon of heating oil is the one you don't burn. These are the changes that actually move the gauge in a typical Long Island oil-heat home: most cost nothing, and none need new equipment.

1. Set the thermostat back, every day

Turning the heat back 7–10°F for 8 hours a day can save up to about 10% a year on heating, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. A programmable or smart thermostat does it for you: cooler overnight and while the house is empty, warm again before you get up or come home.

• Don't set it below about 55°F, and keep it higher in a deep freeze if you have pipes on outside walls or over a crawl space.
• Cranking the thermostat to 85 doesn't heat the house faster. The burner runs at one speed; it just overshoots.

2. Get the burner cleaned once a year

Oil burners leave soot behind. A thin layer on the heat exchanger keeps heat from getting into your water or air, so more goes up the chimney. A yearly tune-up cleans the boiler or furnace, replaces the nozzle and filter, and checks the burner's setup. See when to schedule a tune-up or our service contract, which includes the yearly cleaning.

3. Turn down the hot water

If your boiler also makes your hot water (a tankless coil or an indirect tank), you burn oil every time a hot tap runs, in July as well as January.

• About 120°F is plenty for most homes. Your technician can adjust a mixing valve or the indirect tank's setting at the tune-up.
• Fix dripping hot taps and use low-flow shower heads.
• Run full loads in the dishwasher and wash clothes in cold water.

4. Let the heat out of the radiators

• Don't block baseboards or radiators with furniture, long curtains or rugs. Baseboard heat works by air moving through the fins.
• Vacuum baseboard fins at the start of the season. Dust and pet hair slow them down.
• Bleed hot water radiators that are cold at the top. Trapped air keeps hot water out.
• Have a zone that never seems to heat? That's a service call, not something to fix by turning the thermostat up.

5. Stop drafts, starting with the easy ones

• Weatherstrip doors and add a door sweep to the door to the garage or basement.
• Close the fireplace damper when there's no fire. An open damper pulls warm air straight up the chimney.
• Use plastic window film on drafty older windows for the winter.
• Seal gaps where pipes and wires pass through outside walls and the basement ceiling.
• Insulate exposed heating pipes in a cold basement or crawl space, so the heat reaches the rooms.
• Open curtains on sunny south-facing windows during the day, close them at night.

6. Track how much oil you use

Read your tank gauge on the same day each week and write it down. You'll see how much a cold week really costs, and you'll know when to reorder long before you run low. For rough gallons per day, see how long a tank of oil lasts or the heating oil calculator.

Using less vs. paying less

This page is about burning fewer gallons. Paying less for each gallon is a different list: order in the 150+ gallon tier, pay the driver cash, and don't wait for an emergency. That's on our ways to pay less for heating oil page. Need help with the bill? See HEAP and our budget plan.

Savings estimates are general figures from the U.S. Department of Energy (energy.gov, "Programmable Thermostats" and "Water Heating"). Your results depend on the house, the equipment and the weather.

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