Partnership Organization - Additional Information (Detail) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended				3 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2013		Sep. 30, 2013		Dec. 31, 2013 Petro Customer	Dec. 31, 2013 8.875% Senior Notes	Dec. 31, 2012 8.875% Senior Notes	Dec. 31, 2013 Common Stock	Sep. 30, 2013 Common Stock	Dec. 31, 2013 General Partner	Sep. 30, 2013 General Partner
Limited Partners' Capital Account [Line Items]
Number of outstanding units								57,468	57,718	326	326
Percentage of limited partner interest	99.44%
Percentage of general partner interest	0.56%
Number of full-service residential and commercial home heating oil and propane customers served					407,000
Number of customers to whom only home heating oil, gasoline and diesel fuel were sold on a delivery only basis					58,000
Number of customers to whom ancillary services were provided					16,000
Ownership interest in Star Gas Finance Company						100.00%
Outstanding senior notes	$ 124,487	[1]	$ 124,460	[1]		$ 125,000
Interest on senior notes						8.875%	8.875%
Maturity of public notes due						Dec. 01, 2017

[1] The 8.875% Senior Notes were originally issued in November 2010 in a private placement offering pursuant to Rule 144A and Regulation S under the Securities Act of 1933, and in February 2011, were exchanged for substantially identical public notes registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission. These public notes mature in December 2017 and accrue interest at an annual rate of 8.875% requiring semi-annual interest payments on June 1 and December 1 of each year. The discount on these notes was $0.5 million at December 31, 2013. Under the terms of the indenture, these notes permit restricted payments after passing certain financial tests. The Partnership can incur debt up to $100 million for acquisitions and can also pay restricted payments of $22.0 million without passing certain financial tests.