A lot of our readers already know that HeatingOil.com is the authoritative voice on issues facing heating oil consumers. But many don’t know that it is also the number one destination for consumers looking for a new heating oil supplier.

With tens of thousands of consumers coming to our site every month to read our heating oil articles, more and more of our readers are trying out HeatingOil.com’s Dealer Locator. With over 200 HeatingOil.com Approved Dealers to choose from and thousands of buying inquiries a month, we’re revolutionizing the process of how consumers find a new heating oil company. HeatingOil.com’s Heating Oil Equipment service has also helped hundreds of heating oil users find the best equipment to fit their needs at the best prices available.

Choosing a new heating oil or equipment supplier is an important decision- it isn’t something you can do by just looking in the yellow pages. You need to know the dealer you select is going to be dependable, financially stable, and provide great service. With HeatingOil.com all our participating dealers have been vetted and approved to ensure they meet our standards. You’ll know that if you choose a dealer from HeatingOil.com, you’re working with one of the best in the industry.

For consumers, all you need to do is provide your contact info and HeatingOil.com will connect you with an Approved Dealer in your area.

For heating oil dealers, it’s just as easy. Applying to become an Approved Dealer is simple and fast, and if approved you’ll begin to receive consumer leads on a free trial basis immediately.

If you’re looking for a new heating oil company, give HeatingOil.com’s Dealer Finder a try here. And if you’re a high quality heating oil supplier looking for some new customers, you can apply for our free trial here.

HeatingOil.com celebrates its first birthday. (image: cakes-you-can-bake.com)

Over this past weekend, HeatingOil.com reached an important milestone…our first birthday.

Way back in July 2009 when we first launched the site, we had a pretty good idea of what we wanted to accomplish. We wanted to fill in what we perceived to be a massive information gap about this vital fuel and industry. And somehow we hoped we could make a dollar doing it. We were pretty sure we could handle the first part but the making a dollar part was a very open question. Thankfully, after a lot of hard work, experimentation, testing and about 5,000 WebEx presentations to heating oil dealers, we’re well on our way.

HeatingOil.com now counts over 200 heating oil suppliers among its customers and signs up more every day. We are also the most heavily trafficked site in the heating oil industry, with tens of thousands of unique visitors and hundreds of thousands of page views per month. In addition to providing news and information, we also help thousands of heating oil consumers identify the best heating oil suppliers in their area. We really didn’t expect all this to happen a year ago, and we’re very grateful to everyone that has helped us get this far.

In the current state of the world, just being in business a year later is a major accomplishment. We owe that to the incredibly high quality of work from our inveterate staff of writers, video production pros, administrative and sales staff, and our passionate and brilliant consultants that have made HeatingOil.com the most visited and important website in the heating oil industry.

Hopefully we’ll have as much good news to share on our second birthday—and we’ll work hard to make sure we do. Thanks for reading and stay tuned.

(image: Nicholas Whitaker for HeatingOil.com)

The word picturesque is not often associated with the heating oil industry, but this short piece we’ve produced about a heating oil barge is that and more. I have a soft spot for oil barges. I remember a freezing cold evening in 1980, when my father took his first barge delivery at a terminal he had just purchased from Sunrise Petroleum. It was a small barge, and a small terminal, just like the one you’ll see in this film. I remember standing on the windy dock all of 8 years old in a jacket and tie, waiting for the ship to arrive. It finally did, coming in slow and low to the water, heavy with product. My mother and sister had baked the crew a plate of chocolate chip cookies, which got us a tour of the ship. It was noisy and smelly, but to my father it was the Queen Elizabeth. The ship in this piece, the Patrick Sky, reminds me a lot of that ship.

It also reminds me that this industry and our comfort depends on an almost incomprehensible matrix of people and systems–from the oil rigs of Africa and Asia, to the refineries of the Gulf Coast, to the crew of the Patrick Sky, to the oil truck driver who delivers our fuel. It is awesome to consider all the other systems and companies we take for granted in our daily lives. I hope you will enjoy (as I have) the simple beauty of a glimpse at one of the smallest and most picturesque links in the global energy supply chain.

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The face of Big Oil.

As we approach our one year anniversary in late July, we thought it might be fun to share some videos we made in June of 2009 to help us launch the site. We ended up not using any of them at the time- they seemed either too smarmy or too crazy- not the first impression you want to make on the reading public. So they’ve remained in the HeatingOil.com archives for 11 long months, until now.

The first time I watched this, I have to admit I was kind of shocked and horrified. There was no way I was going to use this to help promote our blog. We wanted to talk about helping our readers save money on heating oil and equipment- not terrify them.

But events change your perspective. The insane and creepy feeling of the piece seems entirely appropriate given the absurd situation with BP in the Gulf of Mexico. I think our fictitious ‘Board’ looks more realistic than ever.

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But HeatingOil.com also offers a service that matches consumers to pre-screened, local heating oil companies. In addition to helping consumers get competitive (and hopefully money-saving) offers, we also strive to steer heating oil consumers toward a selection of the best heating oil companies in the country.

Today we unveil the first in a series of videos we are calling HeatingOil.com Profiles. This series is designed to convey that not every heating oil company is created equal- and that behind every company in the heating oil industry, there is usually a dramatic story of family, tradition, commitment to the customer, and survival. It is these elements that have kept the heating oil industry alive, and its customers warm and safe for decades.

In this first edition, we focus on Scaran Oil Service, located in Staten Island, NY.  We think you’ll enjoy hearing their story, and understanding why we feel that getting matched to the right heating oil company is important.

We hope you like it. (Watch the video below or on our YouTube Page)

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