How to find cheaper heating oil before the first fill of winter

The furnace has run for the first time and the gauge is near a quarter. Maine's state survey put No. 2 heating oil at 6.02 dollars a gallon on September 21, 2026, which makes a first fill of a 275-gallon tank a 1,200-dollar order. The wrong assumption is that every dealer in town charges about the same. Cash prices for the same oil on the same day routinely differ by 50 cents a gallon, so the work is a survey lookup, a gauge reading and three phone calls before anyone backs a truck up the driveway.

Look up the published survey price for your state

Start with the number a dealer cannot argue with. The U.S. Energy Information Administration publishes residential heating oil prices by state every Wednesday from October through March on its Heating Oil and Propane Update page and its weekly U.S. price table. In late September that table still shows the last week of March, so use a state office that surveys year round. Maine posts a statewide spot cash average on its heating fuel prices page, and New York posts regional averages through its home heating oil prices dashboard. Write the number down. A quote more than 30 cents above it needs a reason.

Read the tank gauge and work out the gallons you can take

Lift the clear cap on top of the tank and read where the float disc sits against the marks. On a standard 275-gallon tank, a quarter on the gauge is roughly 70 gallons, so there is room for about 200. Many dealers add a small-delivery surcharge below a threshold. Maine's rules, in force from October 15 through April 30, let a dealer add up to a 20-dollar surcharge on a scheduled delivery under 100 gallons or half the tank, whichever is less, so order enough to clear that line. If you can only afford part of a fill, a dealer that regularly serves your area must still deliver at least 20 gallons for cash.

Call three dealers and ask for the same thing

Ask each for the cash price per gallon, delivered, today, for the gallons you worked out. Cash means paid at delivery, not a credit account. Then ask three follow-ups: whether there is a delivery or small-order fee, whether the price is fixed at the quote or set on the day of delivery, and when the truck can come. Under Maine's rules a dealer who quotes a price and takes the order must deliver at that price unless the dealer said up front that the price is set on delivery day. Most states have no such rule, so get the quoted price, the date and the dealer's name in a text or email before you hang up.

Order the delivery and check the ticket

Place the order with the cheapest dealer whose quote holds until delivery. When the truck leaves, check the meter ticket against the phone quote: gallons pumped, price per gallon, and any fee line. The gallons should be close to what the gauge said the tank could take. A ticket priced above the quote is a complaint to the state consumer protection office, and in Maine the Attorney General takes those at 1-800-436-2131.

If that fails. If no dealer will deliver at a price you can pay, apply for fuel assistance before the tank runs dry rather than after, because a run-out adds a service call to restart the burner. If a dealer offers to lock a price for the season, read how to check a prepaid heating fuel contract before signing first, because a pre-buy makes you the dealer's unsecured creditor until March.

If you heat with propane or kerosene. The same state pages and the EIA table carry propane and kerosene averages. Ask propane dealers about the tank rental term as well as the per-gallon price, since a rented tank can only be filled by its owner.

Sources. U.S. Energy Information Administration, Heating Oil and Propane Update, EIA weekly U.S. heating oil and propane prices, Maine Department of Energy Resources, heating fuel prices, Maine Attorney General, home heating fuels, NYSERDA home heating oil prices.