Americans have been using heating oil to heat their homes since the 1920s – yet it remains a poorly understood fuel. Here are a few of the more common misconceptions about heating oil – along with the facts to set the record straight.
Myth 1: Oil heating is bad for the environment. Fact: Burning heating oil may have not have been great for our planet 40 years ago, but today’s fuel oil burns more than 95 percent cleaner than it did back then. In fact, oil heat emissions are virtually soot free – one reason they aren’t even regulated by the federal Clean Air Act. Heating oil is also biodegradable.
Myth 2: Oil heat is inefficient. Fact: Heating oil provides more heat per gallon than any other fuel (about 137,000 BTUs vs. 95,000 BTU for propane, for example).
Myth 3: Oil heat is dangerous. Fact: If you dropped a lit match into a pool of heating oil, it would do exactly the same thing as if you had dropped it in water. That’s because heating oil must first be heated to 140 degrees and then turned into a vapor in order to burn it – unlike natural gas or gasoline, which can be volatile even at room temperature.
Myth 4: Heating with oil is expensive. Fact: Adjusting for inflation, home heating oil is cheaper now than it was in 1980. Although the oil market does fluctuate, heating oil is still an affordable source of home energy.
Myth 5: Heating Oil supplies are running out. Fact: New oil deposits are being discovered every day – while there is a theoretical limit to how much oil we can discover, practically speaking there is no end in sight.
Myth 6: Most home heating oil comes from the Middle East. Fact: About 38 percent of the heating oil we use in the US is produced domestically; of the remaining supply, Canada produces more of our oil than all Middle Eastern countries combined.
To get the facts about heating oil and what it can do for your home or business, contact Vaughn Oil today!
