Partnership Organization - Additional Information (Detail) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	12 Months Ended				12 Months Ended				12 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2014		Sep. 30, 2013		Sep. 30, 2014 8.875% Senior Notes	Sep. 30, 2013 8.875% Senior Notes	Sep. 30, 2012 8.875% Senior Notes	Sep. 30, 2014 Star Acquisitions, Inc	Sep. 30, 2014 Petro Holdings, Inc Customer	Sep. 30, 2014 Star Gas Finance Company	Sep. 30, 2014 Common Stock	Sep. 30, 2013 Common Stock	Sep. 30, 2012 Common Stock	Sep. 30, 2011 Common Stock	Sep. 30, 2014 General Partner	Sep. 30, 2013 General Partner	Sep. 30, 2012 General Partner	Sep. 30, 2011 General Partner
Limited Partners' Capital Account [Line Items]
Number of outstanding units											57,405	57,718	61,002	64,970	326	326	326	326
Percentage of limited partner interest	99.44%
Percentage of general partner interest	0.56%
Ownership interest of partnership								100.00%		100.00%
Ownership interest of Star Acquisitions Inc.									100.00%
Number of full-service residential and commercial home heating oil and propane customers served									444,000
Number of customers to whom only home heating oil, gasoline and diesel fuel were sold on a delivery only basis									68,000
Number of customers to whom ancillary services were provided									22,000
Outstanding senior notes	$ 124,572	[1]	$ 124,460	[1]	$ 125,000
Interest on senior notes					8.875%	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 $0.4 million at September 30, 2014. Under the terms of the indenture, these notes permit restricted payments after passing particular 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.