Zadrozny Fuel has participated with Citizens Energy for the past several years to help low income families. If a family is approved they typically can receive 100 gallons of oil. For information about Citizens Energy please visit their website and/or give them a phone call.

Citizens Energy phone numbers:

Main Number: (617) 338-6300
Fax Number: (617) 542-4487

Citizens Energy email address: inform@citizensenergy.com

What is the Citizens Energy Oil Heat Program?

In partnership with CITGO, Citizens Energy works with thousands of oil heat dealers and local fuel assistance agencies in 24 states to provide deliveries of home heating oil to those in need. This year the Oil Heat Program provided eligible families a one-time delivery of 100 gallons of home heating oil.

Why is the Program Needed?
In states like Massachusetts, heating oil prices have increased considerably since 2000, yet the wages for low-income families and individuals have remained stagnant. The federal government provides some help to low-income families struggling to stay warm during the winter through the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), but this assistance historically has reached only about one in five eligible families. And many other working poor families who do not qualify for federal assistance programs still need help from time to time.

Low-income families have little choice but to cut back on food, medicine, and other life essentials when their home energy costs rise. Bad choices lead to bad outcomes. When the heating bills of poor families rise, studies show they often reduce their spending on food by about the same amount, and it is no surprise that cases of undernourished children increase by about one-third during winter months.

The Citizens Energy Oil Heat Program works to provide struggling families with a bit of relief when temperatures hit freezing and high heating oil prices force families to make difficult and often unsafe trade-offs.

We have nothing to do with who is accepted into the program, so if you have questions about the HEAP program, please visit their website where they have all the information you will need to learn about HEAP.

The Home Energy Assistance Program (HEAP) phone number/hotline is: 1-800-342-3009

The batteries, even while corroding can provide enough energy to make the thermostat appear to be fine and then when it finally dies, you need new batteries and a new thermostat.  Even if the batteries look good they MUST be changed annually.  The cost of buying a new programmable thermostat ranges from $70 dollars onward so do yourself a favor and replace the thermostat batteries each time you change your fire alarm batteries and/or carbon monoxide alarm batteries.

1. Check the thermostat.  Turn it well above room temperature.  Someone may have adjusted the setting so start here if your house feels too cold.  Children love to flick switches and turn knobs so always check before calling.
2. Check the master on/off furnace/boiler/hot water switch.  Is it on or off?  If it is off flip it on.  Someone very easily could have flipped the switch on you.  A house guest, a child, etc…
3. Check your electrical panel for blown fuses or tripped breakers.
4. Make sure there is oil in your tank.  If your tank is above ground, there usually will be a gauge that is easy to read.  If it is below ground, you will need a measuring stick to “stick” the tank and determine if you have oil or not.
5. If the burner has shut off on safety, press the red button on the primary control (or a glowing red button on a Riello brand burner).  Make sure the thermostat is set above room temperature and ONLY PRESS THE RESET BUTTON ONCE.  Pressing the reset button more than once will flood the system with oil and cause more trouble, along with a lot of smoke and soot when it lights.  If the system should fail a second time, or fail to operate after pressing the reset button, call your service technician.

Most people don’t associate oil with having a positive impact on the environment. The fact is, however, that millions of people in the US are reliant on oil and other fossil fuels for many of their everyday tasks. Unless you are prepared mentally and financially to make the changes necessary to be as free as possible from the burning of fossil fuels, you should look toward the conservation of resources as the least you can do to make a positive impact.

Oil heating systems have made great strides in recent years to become extremely efficient and less polluting. Here is a quick fact about historical oil consumption. ”Modern Oil heat equipment actually burns less fuel. The average annual fuel consumption in 1973 was 1,294 gallons; in 2001 it was 800 gallons!” [i]

I’ve created a small list of actions you can take this summer to help conserve oil and keep your costs down. These aren’t all easy or cheap, but you should investigate them if you have the time.

1) Get an annual maintenance (sometimes known as tune-up or cleaning) done by professionals. I can’t stress this enough. Most oil companies offer free maintenances in summer months as a benefit to their contract customers so check with your provider and don’t miss out on this free service. Doing this will help your system run more efficiently and will also reduce service calls later on. Also, if you don’t have a contract and need to pay out of pocket please realize some companies do more than others on the annual maintenance so investigate what you are getting. Getting the lowest price doesn’t mean you will get the best job. Most reputable companies will charge between $120 – $160 for a one hour cleaning and parts.

2) Get a temperature reset installed. Not all systems will support this upgrade without modification, however, making this upgrade could save you up to 20% of your annual oil bill. This upgrade lowers the boiler temperature according to the outside temperature, meaning your boiler won’t be running as much while supporting your heating needs.

3) If your oil burner is an inefficient dinosaur, look into upgrading to a Riello burner. We choose Riello burners because they use less electricity and there is no standby heat loss.   They have a European design and are efficient even by European standards. They also have intermittent ignitions, which adds life to the transformer and saves electricity.   Riello’s are highly efficient, have extremely clean combustion and are low maintenance.  With an annual cleaning it is a very cost effective burner.

4) The Boiler: If your boiler is a relic from the industrial revolution, you may wish to check its efficiency. Most oil companies will offer this service under their contract or as a separate cost. There are many efficient boilers on the market today. If your efficiency is under 80%, you may consider an upgrade.

5) Here is a tip from our service manager, a man that has been with Zadrozny Fuel for over 25 years. If you have had any zones added to your original system check with your installer to guarantee that it was wired-in correctly so that the boiler reverse is in effect. This stops the circulators from pumping at a low temperature so lukewarm water isn’t passed through your pipes thereby wasting oil.

6) Don’t wait until the last minute to have your oil provider do an installation/upgrade. If your system is unreliable and/or you would like to increase your system’s efficiency with upgrades, make sure to have them done in the summer. This way you can carefully plan any changes without the pressures of having intense cold weather and also having oil companies that are extremely busy and possibly not able to fit you into their schedule.

Keeping your heating system maintained will help keep it running well and reduce service calls. A well running system operating at its peak efficiency will also maximize your savings. If your system is outdated and/or inefficient you have the potential to personally make a difference with the environment by upgrading. Upgrading will have an initial expense but should cost you far less in the long run.

Zadrozny Fuel is offering free system efficiency tests to the first 100 residents of Huntington Township that sign up as a way of helping community members determine if they can become greener. You can write us here or phone us to set up an appointment.