Oil-fired boiler stopped working

Our oil-fired boiler is refusing to fire, as of yesterday. We are low on oil (about an inch left in the tank), but not out of it. Would this stop it working? And if not, does anyone have any suggestions to get it going until the new oil order arrives???? Many thanks.

Sounds like you have left it run too low 1 inch of oil left in he tank is probably not enough to gravity feed to the boiler I never leave mine run below 6 inches before ordering a refill, if you hadn't enough oil in the tank then your oil feed pipe has become air locked and will need to be bled to get the bioler working again for the next oil delivery.

"When you run out of fuel oil your boiler will often develop an airlock.
When you run out of fuel oil your boiler will have used everything in the pipe running from your storage tank. When you recieve a delivery of fuel the pipe remains completely empty. The air in the pipe will prevent the fuel from running towards your boiler, therefore preventing your heating from restarting.
The technique used to fix this very common problem is called 'bleeeding' the fuel line.
The process of bleeding removes the trapped air from the fuel pipe, allowing the oil free flow from your storgae tank to boiler."

You should be able to find instructions for bleeding the fuel line on Google.ie

An inch left in the tank may still be below the opening from the tank to the fuel line to the boiler, so you may well have still created an airlock.

Open the boiler main cover and look for a red light on or around the burner. if this is lit, the lockout has activated which is normally attributed to an airlock.
If you get an oil delivery and this is your problem and you are not sure how to bleed the fuel line, then the delivery guy shoudl be able to do it for you.

Get a €10 worth of diesel in your local petrol station, green is cheaper if available, stick it in your tank till the delivery arrieves.

Good stuff... thanks guys.

There is always some "spare" capacity, to allow for any water(condensation) or dirt to settle at the bottom, rather than getting into the system