4 Advantages of Heating Your Home With Oil
If you are replacing your furnace or having a new home built, you may be trying to choose between an oil or gas furnace. Oil heat has several advantages over gas and other types of home heating that make it the best choice for many homeowners. Here are four of the biggest benefits of using oil heating in your home.
Lower Risk of Fire
A natural gas furnace can pose several serious risks for your home when it malfunctions. Natural gas is always combustible, and a small leak near a heat source can be a significant fire hazard. Even when a gas leak doesn't cause a fire, there is a risk of carbon monoxide poisoning.
An oil furnace must vaporize the heating oil before it burns. Liquid heating oil is non-combustible, so there is a much lower risk of fire from an oil leak. Malfunctioning oil furnaces also give much clearer indications that there is a problem. While a gas leak is invisible, a malfunctioning oil furnace will create black smoke to indicate leaks, incomplete ignition, or other problems.
More Provider Choices
Many homeowners choose to use oil heat if their home is in a location that is inaccessible to natural gas lines. Because of this, you will often have several oil providers like Peterson Oil in your area to choose from. Each provider will offer their own purchase plans and delivery dates, allowing you to choose the best option to suit your needs.
Environmentally Friendly
Modern oil heating systems have come a long way in terms of efficiency and environmental impact. Unlike older oil-burning furnaces that produced large amounts of soot and smoke, modern furnaces produce very little emissions. They also come very close to matching the annual fuel utilization efficiency of gas furnaces. Modern gas furnaces have an AFUE of 89 to 98 percent, while the AFUE of oil furnaces ranges from 80 to 90 percent.
The drastically reduced environmental impact of modern oil furnaces has been achieved in part by altering the composition of the oil itself. Most heating oil is now a blend of low-sulfur oil and biofuels. Biofuels used in residential oil heating include ingredients such as soybean oil, corn oil, animal fats, canola oil, and others.
Oil heating has also been made more environmentally-friendly through modifications to furnaces and storage tanks. Much of the soot that oil furnaces previously emitted through the chimney is now diverted to the storage tank. Storage tanks are also reusable and can last for decades if they are regularly cleaned and inspected for leaks.
Faster Heating
Heating oil has a higher heat potential than other types of fuel. Oil furnace heat output is typically measured in BTU per gallon. Different types of heating oil ranging from 120,000 to 153,000 BTU per gallon of heat output. In contrast, the heat output of natural gas is measured in BTU per therm, with one therm approximately equal to 100 cubic feet. Natural gas has a heat output of 100,000 BTU per therm.
In addition to higher heat output per unit, the combustion temperature of heating oil is higher than that of natural gas. This means that an oil furnace is the best option for warming up a cold house as quickly as possible. Many homeowners also feel that the heat produced by an oil furnace is more comfortable due to the higher burning temperature of oil.
Oil furnaces are safe, efficient, environmentally friendly, and produce very comfortable heat. Be sure to consider these factors when you are in the market for a new furnace so that you can find the best option for your home.
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