27/10/2026
Preparing Your Oil Tank for Winter
Water, Cracks and Leaks
Whether you have a steel or plastic tank, over time tanks become porous or cracked and water ingress can be your invisible enemy. Combine this with dampness around fittings and cracks elsewhere and the problem gets bigger and accelerates.
Water is Heavier than Oil
Tank oil is 28 second kerosene, with water weighing more than this, droplets sink to the bottom of the tank creating a layer of water under the oil. Heavy rainfall, frost and snow on a damaged oil tank will cause an increase of water to get into the tank.
Water Contaminates the Heating Oil
If left, the water level will get higher in the tank, pushing the oil to the top and potentially out. The water will also produce contaminants in the fuel, which will render it unsafe to use and prone to leakage.
Water can Damage Your Appliances
Should the water be left to increase, it will eventually hit the feed line to your boiler, at best drowning your appliances and putting them out. At worst case, it can destroy pumps and diaphragms in boilers and damage gravity-fed appliances such as Aga/Rayburn.
A moderate to severe case of water in your tank will ordinarily result in a full tank change, line purge by an engineer, new fuel delivery, bleed of new fuel to appliances and restart. Not a process you want to be carrying out in the winter months.
How to Prepare your Oil Tank for the Winter?
Check the following:
Tank Body
Check for cracks, sun bleaching and dents are all factors that will weaken the tank and leave it susceptible to the cold elements of winter.
Tank Base
The tank needs to be bedded correctly and have a sturdy even base on solid ground. Movement can cause leaks and damage to the tank.
Filters, Pipework and Valves
Visual checks of all the components to your tank set up should be habitual. For the tank to work and survive the elements, the fixtures and fittings must be cared for too and in good working order.
Tank Bunds
Particularly important if your tank is located within a physical bund. Keeping the area and environment around your tank clean, free of rubbish and vegetation cut back will drastically reduce the potential hazards to your tank. Regular maintenance checks, tests and inspections are the key to keeping your tank in working order and able to cope throughout the winter.
