The location of your oil fired central heating oil tank is very important - locating your tank in a place where it is not easily visible is recommended. Other measures you could consider include:
- If your central heating tank is visible, consider planting bushes (must be at least 0.6 metres away from your tank), or constructing a fence around it (at least 0.76 metres away). However, access will be required for maintenance and filling and this needs to be considered when erecting and screening. You can find out more about domestic oil tank location regulations in our blog.
- A heating oil tank gauge such as our OilFox monitor does more than just monitor your heating oil levels. It will also give a warning via the App on your smartphone if your heating oil is being stolen.
- Security lighting which may startle any trespassers and discourage intruders, and could alert you to their presence if your domestic heating oil tank is within sight of your home, and/or CCTV can be good deterrents, or even consider a ‘Beware of the dog’ sign.
- Tank locks can be fitted to the cap of your heating oil tank. These should be high-quality padlocks – round shackle padlocks are recommended because they have a close shackle that’s difficult to access with bolt cutters.
- If you do not already have one, consider changing to a bunded tank. Bunded tanks make stealing fuel more complicated as thieves have to penetrate both the outer tank and the inner tank.
For further information on preventing heating oil theft, take a look at our recent article.