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Heating Oil Usage Calculator

Find out how much oil your home really burns per day, per month and per winter, using two delivery slips or two tank readings. Then see how it compares with the average oil-heated home.

Getting a good number

The most reliable way to measure oil use is with two fills to full. When the truck fills your tank on two dates, the second delivery equals what you burned in between. Your delivery tickets already have the dates and gallons, so nothing needs measuring. Use a stretch of at least two or three weeks; a few days is too short, because the end of a fill varies by a few gallons.

If you didn't fill to full, use tank readings: stick the tank or read the gauge on two dates, convert to gallons with the tank chart calculator, and add any oil delivered in between. Readings from a float gauge are rough, so longer periods give better results.

The formulas

Per-day use on its own is a snapshot of the weather in that period. A January number multiplied by 151 days overstates a whole winter, and a November number understates it. Degree days fix that. A day's heating degree days are 65 minus its average temperature, and fuel use rises almost in a straight line with them. Divide the degree days in your period by the gallons you used and you have your home's K-factor. Divide a full winter's degree days by it and you get a fair estimate of your winter's oil. If you don't enter degree days, the calculator falls back to a simple per-day × 151-day estimate for November–March and says so.

The regional winter values in the menu are the November–March heating degree days EIA used in its 2025–26 outlook. Your town may differ a lot from its region's average, so if you can look up your own, use it.

Is my oil usage normal?

The comparison uses EIA's figures for an average household that heats with oil: 399 gallons from November through March, or by month about 62, 85, 96, 82 and 74 gallons. If your period falls in those months, the calculator compares your gallons per day with the EIA average for the month. With degree days entered it also compares your K-factor with 10.8, which is what EIA's 399 gallons and 4,296 Northeast degree days imply.

Being above average is not automatically a problem. A 3,500 square foot farmhouse should burn more than a 1,200 square foot ranch. What matters more is change: if your K-factor drops noticeably from one winter to the next (you need fewer degree days to burn a gallon), something got less efficient. Common causes are a burner overdue for cleaning, a nozzle or filter that needs replacing, a circulator or zone valve stuck open, or new drafts. A sudden jump with no change in weather can also mean a leak, so check around the tank and the supply line.

Lower than average usually means a smaller or tighter house, a heat pump or wood stove sharing the load, or a lower thermostat setting.

What your number means for budgeting

Multiply your winter estimate by your price to set a heating budget, or by a prebuy or budget-plan price to check an offer. To see when your current oil will run out, take your gallons per day to the days-left calculator. To see what the same heat would cost from propane, gas, pellets or a heat pump, use the fuel cost comparison.

Sources

• U.S. Energy Information Administration, Winter Fuels Outlook 2025–26: average heating-oil household consumption by month (62, 85, 96, 82, 74 gallons; 399 total), regional heating degree days, $3.48 average winter price used as the default.

Last reviewed October 25, 2026. Estimates only; see the disclaimer.