Dan explains how to do a bleed-start on your oil furnace. curtisoilpropane.com/ Video concept, direction and script by Surge Communications. surgetoday.com/ Video production by Surge.
I am a 62 year old lady and ran out of fuel to my moble home. I live in Alaska and it can get pretty cold right now. Anyway I called some friends about helping me "bleed the fuel line". They couldn't or some weren't available so I googled "how to bleed ...." and got your video. I did it. I was so excited. Now I have the wrench that I need should I have to do it again right by the furnace. Now I found out from someone that I should clean my filter. I guess I'll google that as well. Thanks so much.
I am a lot younger than you and after reading that you are a "62 year old lady" you inspired me to do this on my own. Thank you, mam. Although, in many non US countries, 62 years means that you are a lot wiser and know a lot more, so it makes sense that you would inspire the younger people. In the US however, people think of old people as unable (I say this because from your comment you seemed to be implying that you are old and a woman, implying that you are less capable than others at this specific task - this is simply not true, as you just proved!)
Thank you SO much! Navy wife and mom here. Just moved here about 6 months ago and we own our own home for the first time ever. My hubby is out to sea right now and I forgot to order fuel oil. I ordered it but horrible weather was going to make it difficult to deliver. I was stressing big time because I got to the point where I bought the diesel and got it home, poured it in and...........nuthin'. I remembered someone said something about bleeding it so I was scanning through videos and stuff and came upon this video. You just gave me peace of mind and got my furnace going again. Thank you!
My Dad always handled the furnace issues growing up. Now I live at the old farm alone. It's almost 0° outside and I ran out of fuel on a Sunday night. So I put the trusty RU-vid to work expecting to see many videos about this. Yours is the only one that teaches you how to go about this on your own. And by the looks of the comment section, you've helped a lot of people. ATTA BOY! Thanks for all the help 😊
First time homeowner here, thank you so much for posting this video. your step by step instructions were great and you have a really friendly sounding voice.
Ran out of oil here in NH after the cold snap. Got 100 gallons...still no heat. 1 week later I saw your vid. It took about 5 minutes following your instructions to get the heat back on. THANKS!!!
Thanks! Really appreciate all the explanation and easy to follow how-to video. Nice that you've also included a lot of details to pretty much get all the relevant questions answered.
Thank you! I have heat again. We ran out and I couldn't find the bleeder as this furnace is different than our previous one. Currently 63 and climbing. Having heat in Maine when it's February and -13 without the wind. Heat is mighty helpful. I owe you a beer. Hell a 6 pack that's keep us as warm as the heat.
it was 8 degree here in NY, YOU SAVED OUR LIFE. I LEARNT SOMETHING GOOD IN MY LIFE FROM YOUR VIDEO. I REALLY APPRECIATE . KEEP POSTING AND HELP HUMINITY.
Following these simple instructions saved me a $150 service call. This video was very well-done, easy to understand, and showed sufficient detail. Thank you very much!
Thank you for your very helpful video. I am a widow, and it has been years since I had to bleed a furnace. It was something my husband always did. He showed me how to do it, just in case there came a time, he wasn't there to do it. Well, your video explained it so well. Thanks again! 😊👊👍
I wanted to say thanks for this upload. I ran out of fuel as described, and struggled with handed-down incorrect methods to bleed at the wrong point. Using this technique, I was running again after 4 cycles. Your vid was clear and concise. Thank you so very much, sir.
Thank you so much for this easy step by step guide! It took about 1 minute from start to finish and not only did it save me $230, but my house has heat again without waiting for a professional to come out! I am truly grateful.
Thank you Curtis, My oil provider requested $75 to come and bleed my line, after they delivered oil. They referred me to this video, and I appreciate that you were available while i was in need. Thank you, may God bless you. Continue contributing to society. May your company prosper in all their business ventures.
Thank you! We could not afford a repairman right now around the holidays, and this worked!!! Had a full tank of oil, but couldnt get furnace to keep running. Turns out all it needed was the lines bleed! Two years ago we had to pay 800 for new parts! So glad we dont have to spend money like that again!! Family thanks you!!
ANOTHER grateful customer here! A week ago we were out of our house for 12 hours due to running out of oil (and a seriously delayed delivery!) and while we were gone we were told it had been delivered early in our absence but they would not be able to come back to bleed the furnace to restart it for another 12-22 hours! I don't know why but I looked here and found you and saw it was possible to do it myself. When I came home I saw that I had a Weil- McClain furnace but their videos weren't as easy or as reassuring as yours so I came back to yours to have you walk me through it! I tried to use a needle nose plier instead of the wrench but I couldn't make it work so I drove to W and bought a wrench set for just $4.97! When I came back I rewatched this video and did it with you step by step (even with the shutoff!) and BINGO! I CAN'T SAY THANK YOU ENOUGH. WE DID IT TOGETHER! The oil company was REALLY surprised when I called to cancel the next day's (bleeding) service call! This is one more household emergency that will never frighten me again!
Found your vid because my bleed attempts weren’t working for about 10 cycles. As you demonstrated, you really gotta turn that bleeder! Fired right up. My warm family thanks you
This dilemma was killing me until I watched this video! Very clear, very simple. Followed the steps, worked like a charm! Thanks for the helpful video!
It’s minus 5 in the uk and the boiler ran out called 10 plumbers who were no help Watched this video and now we have heating have a family with 4 young kids so can’t thank you enough absolutely a life saver
7 years later and it's still a helpful video! Thanks. At least once every few years, I've run out of oil before the provider can get to me, and every time, I forget about bleeding the line. I've watched this video 2 or 3 times now when I remember I need to bleed the line. Helpful, straight-forward, how to video. Thanks!
I just want to say thank you a million times. I ran out of heating oil on a Sunday morning, and had to put 20 Gallons of diesel in my oil tank. My system would not start. That's when I saw your video on how to bleed the system. It worked perfectly. You saved me a $200 emergency delivery charge plus cost of fuel. Thanks a lot and keep doing the great work.
Thanks for taking the time to make this video. We ran out, and the heater wouldn't work on a very cold night. Got it bled and running. My pregnant wife and I thank you!
You just saved me from a cold night! You made this very simple to follow for anyone who has never done this before. Mine was good to go on the first round after I bled the air out! Albeit I'm positive I have a much older heater than yours, this still helped me get it running again.
In April of 2013 I moved in with my gal friend and her house was in an unbelievable state of disrepair. Her deceased husband had that hording disorder and the place could have been condemned - plumbing and electrical problems, mold on one end of the house......just crazy. I was so busy gutting, drywalling, plumbing, etc. that we ran out of oil 3 times - just from not checking the tank. She told me that bleeding the furnace was pretty involved so we paid to have it done - $160.00 each time. Well, the oil filter canister was leaking (had been , for a long time) and I've remodeled the laundry room and I'm ready for a floor. But before we can do a floor I needed to chuck this old filter and canister. Today, I found the part and needed to bleed the line when I after I'd attached the new filter. This video was a GOD SEND - swapping out the old filter and bleeding the line, today, took all of about 12 or 15 minutes.... When I had called around to try and find a filter/canister I asked a couple of furnace companies how much it would cost for them to swap out the filter and bleed the line - it was between $200 and $300. We spent TWENTY FOUR DOLLARS!!!!!!!!!! You should post your address - man, I feel like I owe you some money... THANKS FOR THIS FROM LAPEER MICHIGAN.
Guy Merritt there is nothing to it. anyone with the will to try can do it all. you lucky to even been able to find someone to come out. We're I am even if it is a new unit they don't want to play with oil. I had to install an completely change over my oil heating system my self. I had an old down draft forced air furnace in my mobile home. the wholesaler wanted thousands of dollars for a down draft forced air unit. so I bought a NYT hot water boiler and pex pipe an put water to air rad in my old furnace and piped it in. just using the old furnace blower motor to blow the heat though out. like a air handler. I find service people not doing a proper job. I put in a 1-1/4" copper shock loop witch I find installers most times never put in. these mix your cooler water coming back with some hot water from the boiler so the cooler water coming back don't damage your boiler. but they sure no how to charge. the filter inset should only be 5$ it's like a felt sock
Well, since I posted this (2 years ago) I plumbed the house for gas and we got a gas furnace. There was gas at the road, but my fiance and her late hubby had never gotten around to doing anything about it! I had to pay a guy to help me install a good, used furnace (I know zero about duct work) but we've saved a fortune, already. I found a great used furnace, from a guy who had a small house (where the thing had been in a closet in the living room - had a new one installed in his attic) and it's worked flawlessly - about 7 years-old and we paid $175.00 for the thing. I was so happy to get that damned fuel oil tank out of the back yard.......!
Woo hoo! Thank you! Concise, simple, not a lot of chit chat to hear yourself talk -- LOVE IT! Got the line bled and magic! I did have to rethink it again and realized to close the line WHILE the stream is coming out (which you did demonstrate). Thanks again!
I legit just had to do this about 10 minutes ago. Heater conked out and I watched this video and had her up and running in about 3 minutes! No $200 service call for me today! Thank you for this
Just wanted to thank you for this video. We have had a lot of extreme cold days and our oil didn't last as long as it usually does. I am one of those "I can do anything a guy can do" girls and really didn't want to have to pay the crazy service fees for something that only takes the guy less than 5 min to do if I could learn something new and do it myself. I also passed your video on to others may need the info, so again Thank you so much!
Thank-you for your easy and clear instructions!! Was very lucky this time it was a warm week when I ran out of oil! Got everything back up and running before the cold weather hits tomorrow!!
Thank you so much! My oil ran out went out on Christmas night and our delivery was delayed by weather. Your video was very informative and saved me from having to call my landlord to bleed the line.
Thank you so very much for this. They were going to charge us around 80 bucks for a service tech to do this. Now, I can do it. Elect Dan for President of Furnaces 2016!
I've watched this video a few years back after having ran out of fuel. I was pretty sure that I had remembered what to do to bleed start our furnace but was looking for the reassurance that I was doing everything properly and is nice to have a step by step visual aid to look at for reference. Thanks again for taking the time to make this video. I am omw to the gas station as I have ran out of fuel on a -10 degree evening, and am grateful to have the video to look back on so that once I return home I wont have to stress if I will be able to get the heat back on. It is also nice how you gave a reference to how much fuel would be sufficient to get you through the night. Greatly appreciated to have such a good tutorial to reference when in these emergency situations. Thanks Dan, your a life.....and wallet saver.
I ran out of oil two days before my scheduled delivery (think I’ve been running the house warmer this year, or I’ve been getting less oil for the same money which is more likely haha) and house was absolutely unbearably chilly. Thankfully it wasn’t so cold the pipes froze. But once I had the oil delivered this morning. I literally watched your video once. And I have my oil furnace restarted. It took me 10 minutes. I’m kind of blown away how easy it was, especially when I called a place for a quote and was told it could range from 100-300 depending on if it needed any cleaning (it didn’t, literally just needed a bleed). Told them I’d call back, but got the creaking and popping of my pipes now (water heated pipes so lots of old pops and creaks when it heats up). Thank you for posting this video.
Thanks so much !Times are hard just paying for oil where I live in the North East....this really made the difference for my family ..the cost to have someone come out to start my furnace is 75 bucks or more depending on the the day!I am very grateful to you for posting this
I did this and it solved the issue but it didn't really need to be bled and theres plenty of oil in the tank. I'll just have to call a service man but thank you for the help. You saved me from a cold weekend
Thank you very much on the how to. I was pretty confident going in but a video to ensure always makes the job quicker and more confident. This gave me exactly what I needed to get my furnace restarted with confidence, and I did just that. Appreciate the time and effort.
Very helpful video, saved my skin today. I have a digital thermostat...at first i pressed the red button but nothing happened. Then i remembered i turned the thermostat to 63 and the house was still warm. I adjusted the thermostat to 70 Fahrenheit and it started to bleed.
thank you soo much, I nwent to friends house to house sit and her furnance ran out of oil. I call the oil company and they fill the thank up in the morning. When I arrived it was trying to figure out how to bleed it. After watching your youtube video I found the bleeder valve and I follow your instructions. THANK YOU SOO MUCH Sir.
Thank you soooo much! My oil delivery guy came pumped oil and left after telling him we had run dry since the middle of the night! Called and they told me I’d have to wait until 8 o’clock tonight!!! So here I am a girl btw, on RU-vid to figure how to do it myself! I won’t lie I was a nervous wreck thinking of all those stories you hear about furnaces blowing up, but I had no choice it’s 22° out right now! Watched your video and waalaaa....I have heat again! Yay! 😬👍😊
thank you so much for posting this! we were getting colder and colder here and with a noreaster expected tomorrow, no one was answering their phone. even if they had probably would have cost us a pretty penny at the last minute. we followed your instructions and it all went perfectly, now we are toasty warm and feeling better about our mechanical abilities. :)
I just moved into a house with an oil furnace, fiancé ran the tank empty. I came across your video and just successfully and easily bled my line. Thank you for the easy tutorial.
Thank you so much for this excellent video. We ran out of oil yesterady. Unufortunately I didn't know the part about getting some diesel so we spent the night elsewhere. Once oil was delivered, the furnace would not come on. I followed your directions for bleeding the system and it worked perfectly! We have heat.
You have a lot of "Thank You" comments here, and no wonder. VERY well demonstrated, and a nice, clear explanation! I'll be trying this later today. Thanks a heap!
add me to the list of thankful people. Had no idea diesel could be substituted for home heating oil. Before checking out this video I called an emergency oil delivery number. 100 gallon minimum and $1 over the going price. Bought a 5 gallon gas can from Home Depot for $18 and purchased 10 gallons of diesel from local gas station. I could not get any oil out of the bleed screw after a dozen tries, and was about to give up. So took off the filter and scraped the sludge off.......... the tank is 40 years old. Primed the the filter housing with oil and tried again. Took about 6-7 attempts before I could celebrate!
I wanted to thank you. I was really scared about doing this but you made it sound easy so I watched the video a couple of times and yeah.. it totally worked after trying. Thank you soooo much. :) That and they wanted to charge me a $150 to come out and do it and i just didn't have that right now. Also, mine is apparently an older model so the valve was on the left side and at 6 o'clock ... annoying to figure out how to fix the wrench in there but it worked and i'm happy.
Emily Small there is nothing to be scared of. fuel oil is not like gas. it's not going to blow up. was welder for many years and no wing nothing about oil furnaces some 32 years ago. I stayed the weekend in the camp and the furnace went out in the bath house. I was asked if I could have a look see if I could get it going as it was -40 out. not knowing a thing about them. I jumped in head first. took it all a part witch is so simple. cleaned up the burner head an tip. cleaned the electrodes up with carburetor cleaner. put it back together and beaded it. it was up and running. and stayed running. no one even looked at it the next week. it is very hard these days to even find a heating service place that will even come out and look at a oil unit.. they want nothing to do with oil. they try and sell you a propane furnace if your in the country. Witch will really cost you to heat your home... I been looking after many people's oil units for years an showing them how simple they are so they can do it them self. even the youg ladies are doing it. it's a no brainer
Emily Small there is nothing to be scared of. fuel oil is not like gas. it's not going to blow up. was welder for many years and no wing nothing about oil furnaces some 32 years ago. I stayed the weekend in the camp and the furnace went out in the bath house. I was asked if I could have a look see if I could get it going as it was -40 out. not knowing a thing about them. I jumped in head first. took it all a part witch is so simple. cleaned up the burner head an tip. cleaned the electrodes up with carburetor cleaner. put it back together and beaded it. it was up and running. and stayed running. no one even looked at it the next week. it is very hard these days to even find a heating service place that will even come out and look at a oil unit.. they want nothing to do with oil. they try and sell you a propane furnace if your in the country. Witch will really cost you to heat your home... I been looking after many people's oil units for years an showing them how simple they are so they can do it them self. even the youg ladies are doing it. it's a no brainer. as long as it's not blowing black or gray out the pipe your good to go.. even at that it mostly just needs a good cleaning. Witch should be done once a year
Thanks so much! My oil ran out and after it was delivered I couldn't figure out why the furnace wouldn't start up again. I have a Newmac furnace with an Aero burner, and following these directions it worked perfectly!
Thanks for helping all us chicks be self-sufficient! You made it so easy to understand....and the fact that you said that it may need to be re-powered a few times headed off the uncertainty....Thanks sooooo much! Empowering! :)
Thanks for this video it was a great help. Viewers in Ireland and the UK, if you are trying to restart an old "Grant Euroflame" type boiler there may not be an obvious bleed valve. On mine there is a large hexagonal bolt at the base of the pump. Remove the bolt completely and fire the boiler by pressing the red button, mine has a 60 sec time out so you may have to wait on it. Fire the boiler three times to expel any air, then replace the bolt and fire again. Your boiler should then work, if it doesn't, remove the bolt again for one more bleed and then replace it and try again. It's easy to do but a bit messy so be sure to have a container and pleny of old rags, and of course make sure you have some oil in the tank first, if you can't get any diesel will do fine. If I can do it anyone can!
