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With automatic delivery, we track your estimated usage and schedule deliveries proactively, without you having to call in or monitor your tank gauge. The goal is to prevent your tank from running low. Will-call puts the monitoring and ordering in your hands — you watch your tank gauge and reach out when you’re ready to schedule a delivery (we typically recommend calling when your tank gauge reads 25% for propane or ¼ for heating oil or kerosene). Choosing the right delivery option for you really depends on how involved you want to be in managing your fuel supply.

Managing heating costs can feel challenging, especially during a long New England winter. Many fuel providers, including Dead River Company, offer price protection and payment plan options designed to help homeowners manage their fuel bills. These plans can make budgeting easier and take some of the financial stress out of the heating season. Ask your Dead River Company representative about the options available.

Dead River Company understands that heating issues don’t follow a nine-to-five schedule, especially here in New England. We offer 24/7 emergency service support to help customers when urgent situations arise outside of regular business hours. If you’re experiencing a no-heat or hot water emergency or smell propane or heating oil, please contact your local Dead River Company office, even after-hours, to reach our on-call service team. For any situation that feels immediately unsafe, always call 911 first.

The clearest sign that a propane switch is worth looking into is when your current heating oil system is getting old, costing you more in repairs than it used to, or just not keeping up with a cold New England winter the way it should. Homes with older oil furnaces that are approaching or past the 15-20 year mark are natural candidates, especially if you're already facing a significant repair bill. Beyond the equipment, the bigger factors are whether you have reliable propane delivery in your area and the state of your home's insulation and duct systems. If you're already thinking about upgrading your heating system anyway, that's often the best time to evaluate whether propane makes sense.

The simplest way to tell is to look at how heat reaches the living spaces in your home. If you have vents or registers in your floors, walls, or ceilings and air blows through them when the heat runs, you likely have a furnace. If you have radiators, baseboard heaters, or in-floor radiant heat, you probably have a boiler. Both systems can be highly effective when properly sized, installed, and maintained, and both are common throughout New England homes. One of our heating experts will be happy to help if you're unsure about your current setup.

Most heating equipment should be professionally serviced at least once a year. Annual maintenance is typically scheduled in late spring or summer — before the heating season begins and before service schedules fill up — so that any issues can be identified and addressed before you need the system running at full capacity. Consistent annual service is one of the best habits a homeowner can build when it comes to heating system reliability. At Dead River Company we offer service plans designed to make it easy to stay on a regular schedule without having to remember to call each year.