I had a new oil tank installed recently by an OFTEC-registered company
Both tanks are the same, but the new one is 1100L capacity versus the old one being 1300L. They are both the same height and fitted with Atkinson Tankmasters.
Since having oil, for the last five years, at least every fortnight I've measured the level on the Atkinson Tankmaster sight tube and made a note of it to see how much oil I had left.
I calculate the amount of oil I have left as: (position on sight tube / height of tank) * tank capacity
So for the old tank: amount of oil = (position on sight tube / height of tank) * 1300
And for the new tank: amount of oil = (position on sight tube / height of tank) * 1100
Before the new tank was installed, I measured the amount of oil I had left in the old 1300L tank and it was 132.47 litres. Once the new 1100L tank was installed, and after running it for around an hour to test the boiler was still working, I measured the level in the new tank and I had 210.87 litres.
So somehow between tanks being installed I gained almost 80 litres of oil!
I'm trying to think about how this could happen. I can only think of three reasons:
1) There was already oil in the temporary tank and this was transferred into my new tank along with my old oil
2) The level in the old Atkinson Tankmaster sight tube was incorrect at least every fortnight when I measured it for five years (I know the level in the new one is correct, as I dipped a cane in the tank to measure the level and compare it - I never did this with the old one)
3) There is something within the tank which is artificially raising the level
The installer politely suggested I had been measuring it incorrectly before. I can understand why he would think this, he's the expert and he didn't observe me measuring it each time. However, I know I was definitely measuring it correctly as I would do it before and after each delivery and each time I could see, for example, 500 litres had been delivered.
Does anyone who knows more about this kind of thing have any theories on what could have happened for me to gain an extra 80 litres of oil during a tank installation?
Both tanks are the same, but the new one is 1100L capacity versus the old one being 1300L. They are both the same height and fitted with Atkinson Tankmasters.
Since having oil, for the last five years, at least every fortnight I've measured the level on the Atkinson Tankmaster sight tube and made a note of it to see how much oil I had left.
I calculate the amount of oil I have left as: (position on sight tube / height of tank) * tank capacity
So for the old tank: amount of oil = (position on sight tube / height of tank) * 1300
And for the new tank: amount of oil = (position on sight tube / height of tank) * 1100
Before the new tank was installed, I measured the amount of oil I had left in the old 1300L tank and it was 132.47 litres. Once the new 1100L tank was installed, and after running it for around an hour to test the boiler was still working, I measured the level in the new tank and I had 210.87 litres.
So somehow between tanks being installed I gained almost 80 litres of oil!
I'm trying to think about how this could happen. I can only think of three reasons:
1) There was already oil in the temporary tank and this was transferred into my new tank along with my old oil
2) The level in the old Atkinson Tankmaster sight tube was incorrect at least every fortnight when I measured it for five years (I know the level in the new one is correct, as I dipped a cane in the tank to measure the level and compare it - I never did this with the old one)
3) There is something within the tank which is artificially raising the level
The installer politely suggested I had been measuring it incorrectly before. I can understand why he would think this, he's the expert and he didn't observe me measuring it each time. However, I know I was definitely measuring it correctly as I would do it before and after each delivery and each time I could see, for example, 500 litres had been delivered.
Does anyone who knows more about this kind of thing have any theories on what could have happened for me to gain an extra 80 litres of oil during a tank installation?