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Oil smell coming from boiler

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maroo
maroo Member Posts: 30
in Gas Heating
When I woke up this morning and stepped out of my room the entire house smells like oil. I shut off the boiler and called the gas company. They came out and checked and told me that it’s not natural gas but I still smell it. It’s like a dirty oil smell. It’s through the house but more so from the boiler room. Does anyone know what this could be?

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  • Jamie Hall
    Jamie Hall Member Posts: 23,381
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    Oil and gas have completely different smells -- so I would wonder why you called the gas company when you smelled oil? And the second question is... is there any source of oil in or around the boiler room?
    Br. Jamie, osb
    Building superintendent/caretaker, 7200 sq. ft. historic house museum with dependencies in New England
  • maroo
    maroo Member Posts: 30
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    At first I wasn’t sure what I was smelling and I panicked. Better to be safe than sorry. And I don’t know if there’s oil or not around the boiler. 
  • EdTheHeaterMan
    EdTheHeaterMan Member Posts: 7,926
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    Was the home heated by oil previously?
    If Yes, How long ago?
    Is the heater room in the basement?
    Has there been more rain than usual?
    The water table under your home may be rising,
    Oil is lighter than water also it floats on top.
    as the water table rises it may push up old oil that is trapped in the soil under the basement floor. The heat from the gas heater will increase the evaporation of the water and oil making it vaporize and sending the smell airborne.

    Or it could be something completely different.

    Mr. Ed

    Edward Young Retired

    After you make that expensive repair and you still have the same problem, What will you check next?

    ethicalpaul
  • JUGHNE
    JUGHNE Member Posts: 11,069
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    Is this the place you lived in when you posted the last time?
    Are you familiar with the "burnt electrical" smell?
  • maroo
    maroo Member Posts: 30
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    Yes same place and I’m familiar with a burnt electric smell and it’s not that it’s more like an oil type smell. 
  • maroo
    maroo Member Posts: 30
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    It has been raining a lot. When it rains the back patio floods and that’s the room that’s connected to the back patio it’s basement level. 
  • JUGHNE
    JUGHNE Member Posts: 11,069
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    Is there an abandoned fuel oil tank buried some where out there?
    Or if there had been some oil spill in the basement, the ground water could float some oils up.
  • maroo
    maroo Member Posts: 30
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    I’m not sure I haven’t been in this town long so idk. 
  • STEAM DOCTOR
    STEAM DOCTOR Member Posts: 1,975
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    Did smell go away when you shut boiler? Might not be an oil smell. Smell is in the nose of the besniffer. Dead animal,  carbonized boiler.....???
  • JUGHNE
    JUGHNE Member Posts: 11,069
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    An abandoned tank may still have fill and vent pipes showing above ground. That is the case where I am, with no tank police.

    The basement wall repair company found an old tank with their Deadman anchors driven thru one of them. There were several hazmat barrels around the house for the clean up of the basement.......the pipes were obvious....most old houses here had an UG oil tank.

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