With energy costs on the rise, it comes as no surprise that so many homeowners are researching new ways to enjoy efficient heating in their homes for the winter. Among the most popular types of heating that can be purchased are oil heating and gas heating. While many homeowners may lean towards gas heating for the quick savings that can be found, the truth is that oil is much more useful in the long run. There are many distinct advantages to oil heating over gas heating that people may not be aware of, and there is often more to shopping for reliable utilities than what can be found on a price tag.
To begin with, heating oil is much safer to use in the home than gas. No matter what you may have heard otherwise, oil used as fuel is not explosive, and the heating oil variety only ignites through the use of a safe burning system. Inhaling oil fumes is not lethal either, but inhaling gas fumes is.
In addition, heating oil in your home is environmentally clean and friendly. In the past twenty or so years, the amount of sulfur that can be found in heating oil has been reduced as much as ninety five percent. The emissions produced by burning oil has been reduced to practically zero levels. Studies show that when heating oil systems are carefully maintained and adjusted, they will produce no odors, dirt, or soot in your home. Compare this to burning natural gas, which still produces harmful emissions.
Heating oil is more dependable that burning gas as well. Enjoying the utility of heating oil means you will enjoy your own personal supply in your home, which means that it will be stored on your property, allowing you to conserve and use it as you need to. The utility of the oil is designed to provide more powerful conservation options for your home, making it a lot more efficient to store and use than gas sources. Typically, heating oil will burn up to twenty percent more efficiently than gas would. Efficiency rating for new oil heating appliances will range between eighty and ninety five percent, and most of these devices will have a life expectancy of as high as thirty years. This compares to life expectancy of gas furnaces, which will usually only last half as long with all of the proper maintenance procedures.
Heating oil equipment can always be easily upgraded as well, which will end up leading to more energy efficient systems that will pay for themselves in the savings they can make. They provide more efficient residential warmth standards than gas heaters. Studies show that you will burn approximately forty percent more gas in order to enjoy the same heating standards as working with oil. Similarly, individuals who want to switch from oil to gas heating will end up losing over nine thousand dollars, while switching from gas to oil will only result in higher savings.
As such, you will always have more competitive pricing choices with oil heat than you will with gas heat. Oil heating is provided by numerous different companies, all of which compete with each other in an industry that strives to provide customers with the best services available. Gas heat, on the other hand, is provided by a single large utility, and individuals will have no other competitive choices to make when it comes to services and products. While this may make for easier buy and forget plans for many homeowners, the truth is that gas heat will never be as effective in the long run, especially with different efficiencies and products available for purchase.
While globally, the oil situation may seem difficult to work with, the truth is that there is still a large abundance of crude oil that can be utilized for modern standards. There is no real dependence on any single nation or region in the world, and the means with which to produce this oil are much less detrimental to the environment. The practice known as fracking has been rising in recent years, and it is becoming a more widely used method to harvest natural gas for use in home heating however fracking comes at a heavy price to the environment.