Home inspection furnace help

total_newbie

I'm in the inspection period of buying of new home. The house in question is a 1953, 900 sq ft with oil heat. The home inspector recommended having the furnace inspected separately (there was rust on the front of the system and oxidation on the valves and the last service tag was 2015. The current owners said the last time it was serviced was 2018). The problem I'm having is getting someone to inspect it. The oil company on the tag won't give me any maintenance info and they are giving me a REALLY hard time getting someone to look at it because they don't believe they are current customers since the last oil delivery was in 2018. The oil company I plan on using won't do it because they don't service that house. I'm in RI. So... what do I have to do to get someone to look at it? Any advice? This is a sticky point with the sale and I don't want to walk away, it's a great house otherwise.

Jolly Bodger

Call a HVAC service company not an oil supplier. They will be more interested in your comfort and efficiency.

STEVEusaPA

I can't believe (well I can) that an oil company would ignore the possibility of either getting a new customer, or retaining an account.

EdTheHeaterMan

I ran into this all the time, as a non-oil dealer with oil heat experience, I got calls like this all the time. "The full service oil company does not want to provide service because I never purchased oil from them before" So, since I did not sell oil, I would go to the customer and solve the problem, then they were free to purchase oil from the best dealer. no strings attached from me to buy oil. I had 6 oil companies recommending me by the time I retired.

Call other oil companies and ask them "Who does your service calls?" If they give you a recommendation, then that dealer does not have an employee service tech on the staff. Call that HVAC company or tech they recommended and they should be able to help.