Heating Help

Damp Tank...

Hi all! First post here and first experience with a home heated by oil (I'm in western MA). Heres my problem: Oil tank is in the garage and with the high humidity it is dripping water like crazy. It is only a 1/4 full so I can't imagine how wet it would be if I filled it up. I know I can run a dehumidifier, but with the garage door being opened a lot, it seems like it will have to run hard and all summer to stay ahead of the moisture. Any tips or tricks to deal with this? Thanks!

damp tank

In conditions like that, best to keep it full, and have an additive that also serves as a water absorbent put in when it's filled

Are you sure it is water?

Just making sure. a piece of white paper will be tinted pink if it is not water leaking out.

Good point Charlie

Is there a very wide swing in temperature in your garage from night to day ? I think it would have to be - for water to condense on the outside of the tank .

Thanks...

Hi all,
Thanks for your input - many good ideas!  Putting in an additive is a darn good idea.  Used to live in AK and people would park in the garage in winter; ice cold gas + heated garage = a whole lot of condensation in the fuel tank. Reverse conditions but same results. It is water on the tank, I did the paper check.  It also doesn't happen on drier/lower humidity days.  The garage is basement level, below ground level and was pretty cool as summer started, as was the oil. The door gets used quite a bit so quite a bit of hot air gets in.  The oil has slowly warmed up and the dripping has slowly decreased. I'm thinking about putting a heater in the garage, so this hopefully won't happen next summer.  Had to put a dehumidifier in the garage to keep the moisture down for the last two weeks or so.  The moisture was really starting to cause some mold problems.

condensation

How about an oil tank heater and/or some tight fittihg insulation?The oil and the tank have to be colder than the warm humid air for condensation to occur.