Will-call oil delivery, no contract
Will-call means you watch the gauge and you call when you want oil. Nobody delivers unasked and there is nothing to sign. The other arrangement is automatic delivery, where the dealer estimates your usage from the weather and your history and comes on its own schedule.
People choose will-call to control when the money goes out, and this year that matters. The state's weekly survey put the average price at $6.08 a gallon on September 28, 2026, against $3.52 a year earlier. At that price 150 gallons is about $900 and a full fill is about $1,500.
That figure is the average full-service price and it changes every week. The current survey is here. Ask for today's price when you call, and whether there is a lower price for paying on delivery.
When to call
At a quarter tank. In a standard 275-gallon tank that is about 60 gallons, which is a week to ten days of cold weather.
Do not wait for an eighth. The truck may be a few days out when it is cold, and the bottom of the tank is where the sludge sits. Run it that low and the burner starts pulling sludge into the filter.
How much to order
A "275" takes about 250 gallons when it is empty, because the driver leaves air at the top. From a quarter, a fill is around 190 gallons.
You do not have to fill it. Minimums differ from dealer to dealer, and some charge a delivery fee on orders under 100 gallons. Ask before you order a small amount.
What you are owed at the door
Massachusetts law, chapter 94, section 303F, requires a delivery ticket for any delivery of 20 gallons or more. It has to show the gallons, the price per gallon, the grade of fuel and who delivered it. On a metered truck the gallons must be printed by the meter at the time of delivery.
Under the same section, having a ticket with the gallons printed on it before the delivery is prima facie evidence of intent to violate it. If a ticket ever looks filled in ahead of time, keep it and call the state Division of Standards.
Keep every ticket. They are your record of what you burn, and a jump in usage that the weather does not explain is one of the signs of a leak.
If you run out
The burner shuts itself off and locks out. Press the red reset button once. If it does not start, leave it alone. Pressing it again and again sends oil into a chamber that is not burning it.
After a run-out the line often has air in it and has to be bled before the burner will fire. Tell the dealer you ran dry when you order so the driver or a technician can restart it.
If the truck cannot come until tomorrow, dealers around here will tell you that five or ten gallons of diesel from a gas station, poured into the fill pipe, will carry the house overnight. Diesel and heating oil are the same family of fuel. It costs more because of the road tax. Never gasoline.
When will-call is the wrong choice
If you are away for weeks at a time, will-call fails because nobody is reading the gauge. The same goes for a rental where the tenants cannot get to the basement. Leaving for the winter and rental property are each covered separately.
A tank monitor is a middle path. It sits on top of the tank, reads the level, and texts you at a quarter.
If the price is the problem
Massachusetts home energy assistance, called HEAP, pays part of the heating bill for eligible households, oil included, from November 1 through April 30. The income limit is 60 percent of the state median, which the state lists as about $103,000 for a household of four this season. How to apply, or call the Heatline at 800-632-8175.