The 275 gallon tank is the standard American basement or cellar tank, and the fill is the transaction almost every oil household is pricing. Two things make the arithmetic different from what people expect: the tank does not take its nameplate volume, and the national price is not your price.
EIA State Heating Oil and Propane Program / W_EPD2F_PRS_NUS_DPG / published 30 March 2026 / checked 23 September 2026 / lag 177 daysthree to six months oldtier A
Last in-season print. The survey pauses after March and resumes in October, so this figure ages all summer.
By tank size, at the last national print
| Nominal | Takes to 95% | Cost of that fill | Cost at nominal |
|---|---|---|---|
| 275 gallons | 261 | $1,446.02 | $1,522.13 |
| 330 gallons | 314 | $1,737.99 | $1,826.55 |
| 500 gallons | 475 | $2,629.13 | $2,767.50 |
| 550 gallons | 523 | $2,894.81 | $3,044.25 |
| 1,000 gallons | 950 | $5,258.25 | $5,535.00 |
The same tank, priced by state
| State | Last print | 261 gallon fill | Against the national print |
|---|---|---|---|
| Michigan | $4.50 | $1,174.24 | down $1.04 |
| Ohio | $4.73 | $1,233.49 | down $0.81 |
| Pennsylvania | $5.16 | $1,346.76 | down $0.38 |
| Maryland | $5.28 | $1,377.04 | down $0.26 |
| Maine | $5.37 | $1,401.83 | down $0.16 |
| Connecticut | $5.55 | $1,447.51 | up $0.01 |
| Massachusetts | $5.74 | $1,498.66 | up $0.21 |
| New York | $5.87 | $1,533.11 | up $0.34 |
How long a full tank lasts
261 gallons of No. 2 is about 10,594 kilowatt hours of gross energy, or roughly 36.1 million Btu. In a cold New England January a typical house can move through that in five to seven weeks. In a mild November it can last three months. Work it from degree days rather than from a rule of thumb.
Why the tank does not take 275 gallons
The delivery hose stops short of the top for the same reason a fuel tank in a car does: oil expands as it warms, and a tank needs vapor space above the liquid. A driver filling to the whistle stop is filling to that ceiling, not to the nameplate. The difference on a 275 is about fourteen gallons, which is real money at these prices.
Primary sources for this page
- EIA State Heating Oil and Propane ProgramWeekly residential delivered price of No. 2 heating oil, national and by state. Collected October to March. The survey pauses after the last March print and resumes in October, which is why every federal page shows March data all summer.
- EIA Winter Fuels OutlookPublished each October alongside the Short-Term Energy Outlook. Forecast household heating expenditure by fuel and region.
- NOAA heating degree daysThe degree-day basis for the annual burn model on this site.
- EIA Residential Energy Consumption SurveyHousehold fuel shares and consumption. Used for context, never for a price.