Copyright © 1999 The Seattle Times Company Lifestyles : Saturday, May 15, 1999

Wet winter may bring leaky oil tanks

Q: We have oil heat and a buried tank in our rear yard. Being on a fixed income, we are very worried about some oil we think is leaking out of a steep slope close to the tank. Where do we turn?

A: You may have LUST in your back yard. In fact, a surprising percentage of people have LUST. Get your minds out of the gutter - that's a Leaking Underground Storage Tank.

The first thing to know is that the state of Washington Pollution Liability Agency will cover cleanup costs for any regular oil user who has signed up for the program while purchasing oil. No misprint. Free. But you must sign up for this when you purchase oil. Mia Ruiz at Anderson Discount Heating Oils explained that this is a program funded by the oil companies, designed only to pay for cleanup and not for tank replacement. Replacement insurance can be purchased separately for $22-$32 a year.

The Washington State Department of Ecology has specific guidelines to follow in the event of a leak or suspected leak: Is the furnace using more oil than normal (consider this could be due to unusual weather, a change in your usage or furnace malfunction)? Is a significant amount of water present in the tank (water getting in means oil is getting out), aside from small amounts of condensation? Water-reactive paste on the end of a stick stuck down into the tank is the test; although you may wish to have this done by your oil company.

During the summer, turn the furnace off for at least two weeks, checking the oil level before and after. If it goes up or down, you may have a leak. Minor leaks do not have to be reported. If water in creeks, lakes, rivers or storm sewers has been contaminated, you must immediately call 800-258-5990. The line is open 24 hours.

Ecology would like you to report to them within 90 days if heating oil has reached adjoining properties, has reached a well or groundwater, has caused vapor problems, pooled on the ground, or has caused excessive soil contamination. The regional office phone number is 425-649-7229.

Phil Suetens from Filco, a local tank-servicing company, says your situation sounds like what's occurred at a number of local homes recently because of a higher water table from our very wet winter.

Q: My house is very hot upstairs during the summer. Since the extremely hot days are so few in number, it isn't really worth the expense to have the house air-conditioned. Would a ceiling-type fan placed in the stairwell move enough air to lessen the heat upstairs, or is there a more efficient way to cool the second floor?

A: A ceiling fan would help, just because it would increase the wind-chill factor, which is nice. But the real problem is the hot air stuck on the top floor and in the attic. Try as it might, that ceiling fan just isn't going mto push all that hot air down the stairs and out the front door.

You need to use physics to let the heat rise out of the building and allow cooler air to enter from the lower floor.

There are many variations and names for one type of fan you could use, but they are generally known as whole-house fans (not to be confused with those wimpy state-mandated whole-house fans used for indoor-air quality). The one most people are familiar with is the type with spring-loaded louvers that sounds like an airplane taking off.

Anyone from the South will have seen many of these. They will cool the house down real well and suck the toilet paper off the roll and small animals off the floor. They are so powerful that if not ducted to the outside, the air pressure exerted has a tendency to blow attic insulation around like shifting sands in a desert.

You could also get a "cabinet fan," similar to a furnace blower, and have it remotely mounted (quiet!) and ducted directly to the outside.

Even installing a fan that cools the attic only, or using passive attic ventilation alone, will help with the temperature on the upper floor and likely increase roof life.

Note: An attic fan is not a good idea in a home with air conditioning.