There is no useful national average gallons per year, because the housing stock that burns oil runs from a tight coastal cottage to an uninsulated farmhouse in northern Maine. What follows is a model with its assumptions stated, and you should replace them with your own delivery history the moment you have two winters of it.
Gallons a season by house and climate
| House | Season heating degree days | Modeled gallons | Fills of 261 gallons |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1,200 sq ft, tight, mild coastal | 5,500 | 480 | 2 |
| 1,800 sq ft, average, southern New England | 6,000 | 740 | 3 |
| 2,400 sq ft, average, northern New England | 7,500 | 1,100 | 4 |
| 2,400 sq ft, poor envelope, northern New England | 7,500 | 1,480 | 6 |
| 3,200 sq ft, average, Maine | 8,000 | 1,700 | 7 |
The same table in money
| House | Gallons | At $5.54 | At the 2024-25 average | At the 2022-23 average |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1,200 sq ft, tight, mild coastal | 480 | $2,656.80 | $1,758.72 | $2,314.08 |
| 1,800 sq ft, average, southern New England | 740 | $4,095.90 | $2,711.36 | $3,567.54 |
| 2,400 sq ft, average, northern New England | 1,100 | $6,088.50 | $4,030.40 | $5,303.10 |
| 2,400 sq ft, poor envelope, northern New England | 1,480 | $8,191.80 | $5,422.72 | $7,135.08 |
| 3,200 sq ft, average, Maine | 1,700 | $9,409.50 | $6,228.80 | $8,195.70 |
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.
How to do this properly for your own house
- 01Take two consecutive full deliveries and the dates between them from your invoices.
- 02Look up the heating degree day accumulation for your location over exactly that period.
- 03Divide gallons by degree days. That is your K factor, and it is the single most useful number an oil household can know.
- 04Multiply your K factor by a normal season degree day total for your location to get expected gallons.
- 05Multiply by the price to get money. At $5.54, every hundred gallons is $553.50.
What the delivery pattern looks like
A 740 gallon season out of a 275 gallon tank is three deliveries, roughly November, January and late February, and it means the tank is never far from a decision. A 1,700 gallon season is closer to seven, and at that rate the timing lever barely exists because you are always about to need fuel. Larger storage is what buys back the ability to choose the week.
Primary sources for this page
- EIA Residential Energy Consumption SurveyHousehold fuel shares and consumption. Used for context, never for a price.
- NOAA heating degree daysThe degree-day basis for the annual burn model on this site.
- EIA Winter Fuels OutlookPublished each October alongside the Short-Term Energy Outlook. Forecast household heating expenditure by fuel and region.
- 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.