1000 gallon oil tank chart
A 1000 gallon heating oil tank is a steel cylinder on its side. PickHVAC's size chart lists it as 130 in long with a 48 in diameter, says tanks this size are usually buried, and calls it "impossible" to fit inside most homes. It suits duplexes and very large houses. Some makers build the same volume shorter and wider, so this page works out both shapes. Dip from the top, find your inches in the table, read the gallons.
Your reading
Dip range 0 to 48 in.
Dip range 0 to 64 in.
Both are the geometric volume of a round cylinder, in cubic inches divided by 231. Check the diameter first: if the tank is 48 in across, use the long column, if it is 64 in across, use the short one.
Why the same dip means different gallons
At a dip of 24 in the long tank is exactly half full at 509 gal. The wide tank is only 34% full at the same 24 in, which is 343 gal. A chart for one shape applied to the other can be off by hundreds of gallons, so a dip stick reading is only worth something with the right column. Both tanks are round, so the first and last inches hold less than the inches near the middle.
Float gauge marks in gallons
The gauge on the fill pipe shows F, ¾, ½, ¼. The table gives the gallons at each mark and the dip to the nearest half inch for both shapes.
| Gauge | 48 x 130: gal | Dip | 64 x 72: gal | Dip |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full | 1,018 | 48.0 in | 1,003 | 64.0 in |
| 3/4 | 764 | 33.5 in | 752 | 45.0 in |
| 1/2 | 509 | 24.0 in | 501 | 32.0 in |
| 1/4 | 255 | 14.5 in | 251 | 19.0 in |
| 1/8 | 127 | 8.5 in | 125 | 11.5 in |
Inches to gallons
| Dip | 48 x 130 in: gal | 64 x 72 in: gal |
|---|---|---|
| 0 in | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| 1 in | 5.2 | 3.3 |
| 2 in | 14.5 | 9.3 |
| 3 in | 26.5 | 17.0 |
| 4 in | 40.5 | 26.1 |
| 5 in | 56.3 | 36.3 |
| 6 in | 73.5 | 47.5 |
| 7 in | 92.0 | 59.5 |
| 8 in | 111.6 | 72.3 |
| 9 in | 132.2 | 85.9 |
| 10 in | 153.7 | 100.1 |
| 11 in | 176.0 | 114.8 |
| 12 in | 199.1 | 130.1 |
| 13 in | 222.8 | 146.0 |
| 14 in | 247.1 | 162.2 |
| 15 in | 271.9 | 178.9 |
| 16 in | 297.2 | 196.0 |
| 17 in | 322.8 | 213.5 |
| 18 in | 348.8 | 231.3 |
| 19 in | 375.1 | 249.3 |
| 20 in | 401.6 | 267.7 |
| 21 in | 428.4 | 286.3 |
| 22 in | 455.2 | 305.2 |
| 23 in | 482.2 | 324.2 |
| 24 in | 509.2 | 343.4 |
| 25 in | 536.2 | 362.8 |
| 26 in | 563.1 | 382.4 |
| 27 in | 590.0 | 402.0 |
| 28 in | 616.7 | 421.8 |
| 29 in | 643.3 | 441.6 |
| 30 in | 669.6 | 461.5 |
| 31 in | 695.6 | 481.4 |
| 32 in | 721.2 | 501.3 |
| 33 in | 746.5 | 521.3 |
| 34 in | 771.3 | 541.2 |
| 35 in | 795.6 | 561.1 |
| 36 in | 819.3 | 580.9 |
| 37 in | 842.3 | 600.7 |
| 38 in | 864.7 | 620.3 |
| 39 in | 886.2 | 639.9 |
| 40 in | 906.8 | 659.3 |
| 41 in | 926.4 | 678.5 |
| 42 in | 944.9 | 697.5 |
| 43 in | 962.1 | 716.4 |
| 44 in | 977.8 | 735.0 |
| 45 in | 991.9 | 753.4 |
| 46 in | 1,003.8 | 771.4 |
| 47 in | 1,013.2 | 789.2 |
| 48 in | 1,018.4 | 806.7 |
| 49 in | over 48 in | 823.8 |
| 50 in | over 48 in | 840.5 |
| 51 in | over 48 in | 856.7 |
| 52 in | over 48 in | 872.5 |
| 53 in | over 48 in | 887.9 |
| 54 in | over 48 in | 902.6 |
| 55 in | over 48 in | 916.8 |
| 56 in | over 48 in | 930.4 |
| 57 in | over 48 in | 943.2 |
| 58 in | over 48 in | 955.2 |
| 59 in | over 48 in | 966.4 |
| 60 in | over 48 in | 976.6 |
| 61 in | over 48 in | 985.7 |
| 62 in | over 48 in | 993.4 |
| 63 in | over 48 in | 999.4 |
| 64 in | over 48 in | 1,002.7 |
How full a delivery fills it
PickHVAC says a 1000 gallon tank is usually considered full at 900 gallons, because suppliers fill to about 90%. On my table that is a dip of 40.5 in in the long tank and 54.0 in in the wide one. Near the top an inch is worth little oil, so a stick reading in the last few inches means a delivery has almost no room.
Worked example: when to call
A stick reading of 20 in on the long tank is 402 gal (39% of the full volume). I keep a 10% reserve (102 gal) in the numbers, which is my own choice. A multi-family building burning 8 gal a day (an example) has 37 days left. Your rate comes from two dips a week or two apart, and the run-out guide shows how. The calculator has the 48 x 130 in tank and a 20 in reading filled in, and takes custom sizes.
Smaller tanks: the 550 gallon chart, the 330 gallon chart and the 275 gallon chart. For dollars, see the cost to fill a tank.