veremchuka
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
I heat with wood and basically use oil just for hot water. I have my furnace cleaned every 24 months vs every 12 months. The company that cleans my 14 year old furnace (my tank is 14 years old too as this was new construction in 1998-1999) agrees I don't need to clean the furnace every year since I use about 200 gallons of fuel oil per year if that much.
However, when they changed the filter for the tank last spring it was very dirty after 24 months. They suggested I change the filter in 12 months to see the condition that the filter is in after just 12 months.
So yesterday I had them come, it was almost 12 months. I had the guy show me how to do it and it is pretty easy so I can do it for about $1.50 for the cost of the filter vs a service call that'd cost from $100 to $150! Them coming to the house is the expensive part of this cuz for another $60 I could have them clean the furnace too!
So when the filter was removed it was just about as bad after 12 months as it was after 24 months. The guy says the tank has sludge in it and should be cleaned. I believe him cuz we had to open the valve to run oil through the line with the canister off because when we were bleeding it no oil would come out - crap was blocking the output into the canister. The furnace runs fine but doing the maintenance allowed some crude to clog the line.
So here's the point of the thread after some background info. To clean the tank they pump out the oil then suck out the stuff on the bottom. Because these tanks are vented to the outside they get condensation in them, he noticed some water in the oil we saw in the process. Failure to clean a tank will cause the tank to rust and eventually leak resulting in having to replace the tank. The cost to clean the tank is $300! This is something you would do say every 5-8 years not every year. I have no idea the cost to pump out the oil, remove the leaking tank, replace it with a new tank but I expect it is considerable!
Does anyone have their tank cleaned? Has anyone heard of doing this? This is new to me but then I'm not knowledgeable in this area.
TIA!
However, when they changed the filter for the tank last spring it was very dirty after 24 months. They suggested I change the filter in 12 months to see the condition that the filter is in after just 12 months.
So yesterday I had them come, it was almost 12 months. I had the guy show me how to do it and it is pretty easy so I can do it for about $1.50 for the cost of the filter vs a service call that'd cost from $100 to $150! Them coming to the house is the expensive part of this cuz for another $60 I could have them clean the furnace too!
So when the filter was removed it was just about as bad after 12 months as it was after 24 months. The guy says the tank has sludge in it and should be cleaned. I believe him cuz we had to open the valve to run oil through the line with the canister off because when we were bleeding it no oil would come out - crap was blocking the output into the canister. The furnace runs fine but doing the maintenance allowed some crude to clog the line.
So here's the point of the thread after some background info. To clean the tank they pump out the oil then suck out the stuff on the bottom. Because these tanks are vented to the outside they get condensation in them, he noticed some water in the oil we saw in the process. Failure to clean a tank will cause the tank to rust and eventually leak resulting in having to replace the tank. The cost to clean the tank is $300! This is something you would do say every 5-8 years not every year. I have no idea the cost to pump out the oil, remove the leaking tank, replace it with a new tank but I expect it is considerable!
Does anyone have their tank cleaned? Has anyone heard of doing this? This is new to me but then I'm not knowledgeable in this area.
TIA!