Are you contemplating a switch from oil heat to natural gas? If you live in the Lehigh Valley, talk to an energy expert first to get the facts.
Not sure about which way to go with your heating source? Continue to read through this article to gain a better understanding of oil as a very viable, efficient, safe and dependable source of fuel for your home’s heating system.
Oil is one of the oldest sources of heat for homes. One of the first things that comes to mind is reliability. Oil is used by millions of homes during the heating season for many, many years. This means one thing – it is highly dependable. Aside from its reliability, oil heat is clean and safe, environmentally friendly and very efficient. But best of all, it provides utmost warmth and comfort. Now let us break all those attributes down…
1 – Oil as a source of heating is safe.
One thing that makes oil advantageous, especially when compared to gas heat is the fact that it doesn’t burn when in a liquid state. For it to light on fire, the temperature must exceed 140 degrees, at which point it starts to vaporize.
There will be clear and obvious warnings should the oil burner malfunctions. And yes, most home heating systems today that use oil will give a warning if there is a carbon monoxide leak. When it in malfunctions, there will be telltale signs like smoke or soot. These signs indicate that something is wrong and you have enough time to do something before dangerous levels of carbon dioxide are released to the indoor air.
Other than that, oil isn’t explosive too. It means that when you actually light a match and drop it into the heating oil, it’ll simply go out.
2 – It is clean and environment-friendly.
Oil burns cleanly. It may not have been the case thirty or forty years ago, but it’s all different now. In fact, today’s improved and innovative oil production has led to fuel oil that can burn 95% cleaner compared to its original state in the 70s. Because of this, modern-day oil conveniently passes and meets the standards of the Environmental Protection Agency on air pollution.
Likewise, it is very friendly to the environment. The kind of residential oil used for heating today is clean enough that heating equipment that use it aren’t even regulated by the Federal Clean Air Act. Now that’s the best proof you can get.
3 – It is reliable.
Kudos to oil, it’s been almost a century of reliable delivery and service for millions of homes in the U.S and North America. If you are looking for safe and dependable storage with zero risks, it should be heating oil. What you get from oil being your fuel source for heating is maximum safety because it is stored in a sealed tank without being subjected to the outside elements like weather.
And unlike gas, there is a bountiful supply of oil available for all consumers. It means that there is more enough for everyone. Thanks to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve of the U.S., with a capacity of more than 700 million barrels, there are no worries as to running out of it.
4 – Oil for heating is economical.
They say oil prices are higher compared to other fuel alternatives. But what these “other fuels” proponents don’t tell is that competition in oil is keeping the prices always steady. It means that there is lesser possibilities of prices going unstable compared to gas.
5 – Finally, oil heat is efficient.
There’s one good reason why it’s efficient: because oil burns hotter than any other fuel source. Boasting the hottest flame, it can provide the best warmth and the fastest heating possible. And because it burns fast and produces heat better, it corresponds to better efficiency for the heating equipment, too. You don’t have to make your equipment overwork itself or burn more oil just to keep the living space warm and comfortable.