There is a widely repeated claim online that one of these is cheaper by a specific number of cents a gallon. Every version of it traces back to an undated assertion about one state several years ago. We are not going to repeat it, because no public survey collects a will-call against automatic differential.
What actually differs
EIA State Heating Oil and Propane Program / W_EPD2F_PRS_NUS_DPG / published 30 March 2026 / checked 23 September 2026 / lag 177 daysthree to six months oldtier A
Last in-season print. The survey pauses after March and resumes in October, so this figure ages all summer.
What a dry tank actually costs
Running out is the expensive failure mode on will-call, and the cost is not the fuel. It is a restart visit to prime and bleed the line, frequently a filter and nozzle, sometimes an out of hours call charge, and a place at the back of the queue during the week everybody wants a truck. On a 261 gallon tank the fuel is $1,446.02 and the restart can be a meaningful fraction of that on its own.
How degree day scheduling works
An automatic dealer does not guess. It records your consumption between deliveries, converts it to gallons per degree day, and then watches accumulated degree days from your last fill. When the accumulation implies you are down to a set reserve, you go on a route. It is a genuinely good system, and it is why automatic customers rarely run out.
The consequence is that your delivery date is set by the weather rather than by the price. In a season where the price falls through November, an automatic customer buys on the day the model says so and a will-call customer buys on the day they choose.
The honest recommendation
If you are going to look at the price before you order, take will-call and keep the tank above a third so you always have the option to wait. If you are not going to look, take automatic. The worst combination is will-call plus not paying attention, which is how a household ends up buying in an emergency at whatever the day costs.
Primary sources for this page
- Connecticut DEEP heating oil pricesState weekly dealer survey, published through the heating season.
- Massachusetts heating fuel pricesWeekly survey of Massachusetts dealers published by the Department of Energy Resources.
- Maine Governor Energy Office fuel pricesWeekly statewide and regional survey of heating fuel prices.
- EIA State Heating Oil and Propane ProgramWeekly residential delivered price of No. 2 heating oil, national and by state. Collected October to March. The survey pauses after the last March print and resumes in October, which is why every federal page shows March data all summer.