Gas and Oil Home Heating Furnaces - old oil furnace problems

In the past month we've been smelling diesel oil fume from our oil furnace. Got an oil delivery & was shocked at the amount of oil used! Past 3 years at this time of year we've only used 50-70 gallons but this delivery we used 130 gallons. We called our oil company & they immediately sent a serviceman to check out our furnace. He replaced a transformer that shoots/squirts the oil - if we understand this right. We haven't noticed the smell after that replacement. Would that be the cause of the high increase in the oil usage? Or would there be something else? We don't know how old the oil burner is so we're not sure if that is the cause. Can anyone help?

First its been cold this winter. Then when was the last time the burner was serviced. Cleaned ,new nozzle ,burner air set ,draft checked ,new oil filter, pump psi? It should all be done each year.

I'm with ED

service & cleaning is done once a year every summer after the winter usage.

Could be the transformer was going bad didnt light right and that could make the smell. Also bad nozzle . Now it has been cold winter but the burner not set right could make you burn more oil.

In the past month we've been smelling diesel oil fume from our oil furnace. Got an oil delivery & was shocked at the amount of oil used! Past 3 years at this time of year we've only used 50-70 gallons but this delivery we used 130 gallons. We called our oil company & they immediately sent a serviceman to check out our furnace. He replaced a transformer that shoots/squirts the oil - if we understand this right. We haven't noticed the smell after that replacement. Would that be the cause of the high increase in the oil usage? Or would there be something else? We don't know how old the oil burner is so we're not sure if that is the cause. Can anyone help?

Does it smell all over your house or mainly in the basement? If all over your house, including from inside rooms with closed doors (with forced air systems), it could spell that you have a bad heat exchanger. A couple years ago, I correctly diagnosed this, opened up a panel on the back of the furnace, and looked inside and discovered there was actually a chunk out of the exchanger! Had the exchanger replaced by licensed tech.

If just in the basement, you could have a backdraft due to pressure inversion caused by natural atmosphere or by sucking air out of your house thru other chimney(s) or vents/bathfan or dryer venting in well sealed up house or power vent devices or open windows upstairs that create a venturi effect if the open window is to the side fo the windforce or downstream of the windforce. A downdraft can cause backdrafting toward the electrode and carbon it up and short them at the carbon and cause low or no sparking.