It was the first really cold day of the winter and Bob and Tim were on the way to a service call on an oil burner. The customer said that they had no heat. It was about 15°F outside so they were in a rush to get there.

Sales of oil furnaces had been declining precipitously since 2004, but it seems that lower oil prices, local incentives, and pent-up demand may be fueling a small surge in sales.

Tim had asked Bob to go into depth about tuning an oil burner during the last service call. “You said that oil burning equipment requires more attention than any other type of residential heating equipment,” Tim said. “Can you explain why?”

Bob and Tim were on their way to an oil heat service call. It is cold and the owner has no heat. Tim read the service ticket for today and said, “The owner says that the burner won’t burn and makes a sputtering sound for a few minutes and shuts off.”

Many homeowners recently fired up their oil furnaces for the first time this season. If they’ve invested in proper service and maintenance, chances are high that their equipment will keep them comfortably warm all winter long.