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How long will your fuel last in extreme snow or cold?

every winter when we get a blizzard or a few days around zero degrees people start to worry about their fuel situation at home, we're here to help calm some of those worries.

How Has COVID Impacts How Much Fuel you Burn

COVID-19 and the pandemic have upended our entire world, from how we work, how we interact with friends and family, simply how we go about our day to day lives. For most of us, nothing about 2020 was normal, but our home life was probably impacted the most.

Can you paint a propane tank?

You should first check with your propane provider to see if you can paint it. In most cases if you own your tank outright, you'll be able to paint it. If as part of your propane agreement you are leasing or renting the tank, you won't be able to paint.

Oil Tank Leaks and Failures

Overtime all things fail whether itss your car, your roof, or your oil tank. It is an unfortunate truth that you will need to prepare your home for an oil tank failure in the form of a leak or other issues.

Biodiesel in the News

In the middle of the Winter news broke about customers of a local oil dealer having issues with their heating system, tank, and ultimately the type of oil they were being delivered

Natural Gas in Massachusetts

Since the Natural Gas Explosion that happened back in September has put Massachusetts Natural Gas infrustruce under scrutiny and has lead many to consider going away entirely from Natural Gas. This opens up homeowners to electric heat, Oil heat, or Propane heat. We'll take a look at the advantages and disadvantages of each of the fuel sources listed above and how those can impact your home comfort.

Changes to your Home

If you are a customer on automatic delivery from your oil or propane company it is important to inform them of any changes to your home. These would include someone moving in or moving out of the home, an addition to the home, new heating equipment being installed, insulation or new windows being put into the home, to name a few. These are things that can have an influence on how much fuel you are.

Summer Comfort

As we finally head out of the cold weather and into warm Spring days many of us take some time to Spring clean. You should have the same done for your heating system.Over cold winters a wide variety of things can negatively affect your heating system, while minor should be addressed before they become major issues.

Spring Cleaning

As we finally head out of the cold weather and into warm Spring days many of us take some time to Spring clean. You should have the same done for your heating system.Over cold winters a wide variety of things can negatively affect your heating system, while minor should be addressed before they become major issues.

Clear your Equipment and a Path

As we officially see winter hit tomorrow, it's important to touch on a few you can do to make the snowy months easier on your heating system and heating company. We've already seen shovelable snow, even though there are mixed reports about how cold this winter will be, we all know there will be more snow to come. With that snow it's important to maintain your heating equipment and ensure that they are clear of snow and ice.

Turning off your heat

As we head into the warmer part of the year many people turn off their heating by setting the thermostat to lowest level, meaning you set your thermostat to 50 degrees as the temperature shouldn't ever reach that until the fall. Smart thermostats like the Nest or Honeywell Lyric allow you to turn off the heat, regardless of the temperature your heat will not turn on.

Thermostat Tips and Tricks

It's time to lock down the thermostatIn many homes now that the temperature has started to dip the thermostat might have become a point of issue. One person in the home wants the house warmer while someone else wants it colder to save on money. The thing that everyone can agree on is that heating your home while no one is there is a waste of energy and money.

Relief Effort in Florida and Texas

During the latter part of the Summer Florida and Texas were hit hard by hurricane Irma and Harvey. These hurricanes left massive amounts of destruction in their wake, leaving these area in need of help. In response the Santoro Family of Companies donated $10,000 to the relief effort in Texas. They have also sent several oil trucks to the relief effort in Florida to help bring fuel back into the area.

Heading into the Heating Season

No matter what year after year, season after season, summer always goes by faster than any other season. Each season of course has there own strong points; fall has the leaves and cool nights, spring everything is coming back to life, winter has snow (if you like that stuff), and summer has the beach, pool parties, perfect outdoor weather. The Summer however is quickly coming to an end that means that soon you'll be heating your home again.

Mass Save Rebates

If you're in the market for new heating equipment or cooling equipment wouldn't it be great if you could get the equipment for less. In Massachusetts there is a program call Mass Save that thanks to a small tax in your pay check you can qualify for rebates on heating and cooling equipment, insulation, light bulbs, and appliances.

Cold Moves into Spring

Mother's Day is right around the corner, Memorial day and the unofficial start of Summer is a few weeks ahead. The temps should be getting warmer or at least staying in the 60's, but the next week is going to feel more like Fall than Spring.

The C-Wire

The internet of things is on the rise and one of the easiest and most useful applications of this is the smart thermostat. Popular smart thermostats that come to mind at the Nest, Ecobee, and the Honeywell Lyric most of these and other smart thermostats that come with WiFi. Installing these thermostats can be tricky due to the C-Wire or Common Wire.

Wi-fi and Programmable Thermostats

This past week I bought a wifi thermostat to replace the programmable thermostat that controls the first floor of my home. During installation I found out that currenting wiring is not compatible with my new wifi thermostat. This is going to become a common issue issue as wifi thermostats become cheaper and more common in homes. The big question is what is the difference between a programmable thermostat and a wifi thermostat and what is the benefit.

Ice Dams

One of the best ways to see if a home is properly insulated is the amount of snow on a roof. The less snow on a roof the worse the insulation is, or the less cold air is getting in through vents. Heat rises, as you heat your home the heat created by your heating system, eventually making it way into your attic.

Being More Energy Efficient in the New Year

Many of us make resolutions to lose weight, get that promotion at work, find our soul mate, or to save or spend less money in the New Year. If your resolution is the later a great place to start is your home.

Best of Central Mass

n December 1st the Telegram & Gazette, a local newspaper here in Worcester held it's first Best of Central Mass awards. These awards covered several different categories from best restaurant, to best university, to best home store, to best heating and cooling company, and many more. What does it mean to be the best though?

What to do when you home doesn't react well to winter weather

Winter has arrived here in the northeast right on time compared to last year when it didn't show up at all and the year before that when it showed up a month late. When the cold weather comes so can a lot of problems around your house.

What do to do when inclement weather hits

With hurricane Matthew hitting the Caribbean and Accuweather publishing it's winter weather prediction for the country. Calling for frequent storms in the northeast it can lead some to wonder what they should do when bad weather strikes.

Just wait five minutes the weather will change

La Nina, El Nino's little sister, cousin, crazy aunt was and may still arrive for winter 2016, however it looks like there will be a much lower chance of it arriving. The NOAA also believes that it does arrive it will show up much later than originally thought. As the old saying goes wait a minute the weather will change, it seems like the same applies for the weather predictions.

Types of Air Conditioning

To be honest I started looking around the internet for Central Air units because of the massive heat wave/ heat index rise that has been floating over the Northeast. While I work for a heating and cooling company, I just bought a house that I don't want and can't do major work to, yet. That didn't mean I haven't asked around to figure what is involved.