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A good question. Generally, when putting in a bunded tank for the first time – either as a brand new installation or as the replacement for a single skinned tank, there are a few things to consider.
Bunded tanks tend to be physically quite a bit bigger than single skinned tanks. The bund needs to hold 110% of the inner tank’s capacity but they always still seem to be larger than anticipated. This is down to the fact that plastic tanks are moulded in a machine and so have softer curves and edges which make them quite a feature in their own right!
Deciding On Size
The first thing to ask yourself, if you are replacing an existing tank is how much oil do you typically use over the course of a year? In the time of old 600-gallon steel tanks, oil was very cheap and so it made sense to have a bigger tank and just fill it right up to the top with 2700 litres. However, with the price of oil much higher than it was a generation or so ago, it is quite likely that you use half of this over a twelve-month period. Just because you have a 2500 litre tank, do you need another one of that size or would you prefer the space that a smaller tank can afford you? Change can be a bit frightening but if you take a tape measure and work out how much extra room you will have, it may make a difference. Also bear in mind the fact that the tank will need to be sited on a base which extends 300mm beyond its perimeter and if you peg this out in the area that you were thinking (add 600mm to the dimensions of the length and width of the tank itself – not the footprint), this will give you a real feel for the area required.
Conversely, if you are having building work done and having an annexe built or maybe an oil-fired Aga put into your kitchen, you may find that you need to go up in capacity to avoid more regular fills. Are you very rural or is access an issue? Also, think about trying to get a delivery in if the weather is icy or there is snow on the ground. Maybe in this instance, it would make sense to have a larger tank and fill it in the autumn to take you right through to the spring.
It is not something that you decide on the spur of the moment of you may end up regretting your decision!
Where are you going to put the tank? Regulations are more onerous now that they probably were when your old tank was put in. The tank will need to be 760mm away from the boundary and 1.8m away from windows and doors, so it may be that a slimline type model is the only way that this can be achieved. If that is the case, the largest size available in plastic is 2000 litres. The tank can be closer than 760mm to the boundary, if it is a wall which extends 300mm beyond the top of the tank and if this would work, maybe a low profile bunded tank would be the way forward, which is typically only around 1m high. The maximum size for a low-profile tank is 1200 litres but if it enables you to put it by the boundary or to look at the view from your kitchen window without having to admire your oil tank, this might be the perfect solution.
Although the plastic tanks are moulded, the steel tanks are made in the traditional way and welded together. This means that physically they are more discreet and there is the huge advantage with steel that you can actually have a bespoke tank made, although this will be more costly than an “off the shelf” plastic. If, for example, you have a 2000 litre tank at present and really want to keep this capacity but need the tank to be low and of a specific width, the steel tank manufacturers can work around this and come back to you with the external tank dimensions which would enable you to achieve the volume that you are looking for.
Make sure that your oil tank installer supplies you with the actual specification of the tank that they are proposing. In that way you can be ready for the tank and know what to expect when it arrives on your drive.
