What Are Degree Days? Why Are Degree Days Important to My Automatic Delivery?

How would you describe the weather where you live today? Your answer might be “warm and sunny” or “breezy but comfortable.” While those are great descriptors when it comes to choosing what we are going to wear, they are insufficient for determining how much heating oil you will need. Degree days is a term you will find used throughout the home heating world to talk about the weather. Degree days are a number that dramatically affects your automatic heating oil delivery schedule.

What Are Degree Days?

Degree days are an indicator of how warm or cold the temperature is on any given day. The lower that the temperature is outside, the higher that the degree-day value will be. To calculate degree days, we start by using the average historical temperature for a specific date in a specific zip code in Maryland and Pennsylvania areas. The temperature will then be compared to a mean temperature of 65 degrees. The difference between the mean and the average temperature that day is the degree days value. In general, the higher that the value is, the more heating oil we anticipate that you will need.

What Is a K-Factor?

Beyond the degree days number, we use a K-factor to figure out when you need your next heating oil delivery. The K-factor uses the capacity of your heating oil tank and subtracts the reserve if there is an emergency situation or snowstorm and we cannot complete your delivery on time. When we determine your next delivery date, we will divide the degree days value for the number of days between your fuel oil deliveries by the gallons of heating oil left in your tank. This creates the K-factor, which is used to help guide the amount that we deliver and when we make a delivery.

How Do We Know When Your Next Automatic Delivery Should Occur?

Our team uses a combination of K-factor values and degree days values to determine the best schedule for your home. While the temperature outside might be the same for two customers in the same zip code, we know that no two houses are alike. As you remain one of our automatic delivery customers, we will fine-tune your schedule to meet your needs.

Never Run Out of Heating Oil with Husky Heating Oil

Husky Heating Oil is a leader in high-quality heating oil delivery for homeowners in Anne Arundel County, Baltimore County, Carroll County, Harford County, and Howard County. Since 1993, we have worked hard to deliver our customers cost-effective fuels to heat their homes. To check our rates or place your order, please visit our website or call us today at (410) 220-5386.

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