Heating with Oil - A Homeowners Guide

The more you know about oil, the better you’ll feel

You may have lived in an oil-heated home for years, or you may be having your first experience with oilheat. Either way, you’ll find the material in this guide helpful—and perhaps even a little surprising. As an oilheat consumer, you should know that oil is a clean, efficient, cost-effective, safe and versatile fuel. Knowing the facts about oil will help you make educated decisions, save money and keep your home as comfortable as possible. Please look to the oilheat dealers in your area as a resource for information and help. It would be their pleasure to answer any questions you may have after reading this guide.

Fast facts about oil heat

• There are approximately 10 million oil-heated homes in the U.S.; about 350,000 oil-heated homes were built in the past decade alone.

• The efficiency levels of today’s oilheat systems can exceed 90%.

• Clearburn Science has made oilheat 95% cleaner than 25 years ago.

• The chances of an underground storage tank leak are much less than 1% and a modern tank has an even lower risk.

• For every gallon of oil burned, a whopping 138,000 Btu’s are generated. The amount of heat your home receives depends on the efficiency of the appliance.

• Oil companies received a rating of 94% for friendly and fast service.

New advances raise efficiency and lower consumer costs

Q: Is oilheat an efficient way to heat a home?
A: Yes. Oilheat has always provided efficient and affordable warmth and it’s gotten even better in recent years. Many oil-fired systems now display the prestigious Energy Star label, which signifies that they are technologically advanced and clean burning. Some oilheat systems have efficiency ratings that exceed 90%.

Q: What’s behind this success?
A: “Clearburn Science” has produced dramatic improvements in oilheat technology, with advances such as the high static pressure flame-retention burner, solid-state microprocessor electronic controls and cleaner burning fuel.

 
Cleaner than ever

Q: I have some concern that oilheat isn’t clean. What’s the truth?
A: Just like older cars, older heating systems produced undesirable levels of combustion emissions. But today’s oilheat technology has been tested by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory, and it has been found to be virtually soot-free. (Any soot there is goes out the chimney.)

In fact, the technology of Clearburn Science has made oilheat 95% cleaner than just 25 years ago. That’s one reason oilheat emissions aren’t even regulated by the Federal Clean Air Act.

For older systems, emissions can be substantially reduced with regular, professional tune-ups. Oilheat is 95% cleaner than 25 years ago, producing near-zero levels of combustion emissions.

Spot Check

Sometimes people see dark spots or streaks on the walls of oil-heated homes and erroneously assume they are caused by soot from the heating system. These marks are typically created by common household dust that has been “baked on” walls and other surfaces near heating vents, radiators or baseboards. To prevent these streaks and spots, dust around baseboards, vents or radiators, especially during the heating season.

Looking at fuel prices

Q: Is heating oil a good value?
A: Yes. Heating oil prices, when adjusted for inflation, actually dropped 23% during the 1980s and 1990s. More recently, when all energy prices have changed, prices for other goods and services have risen much more than the price of heating oil.

Heating oil, like other forms of energy, is a commodity traded on the open market, so you can expect ups and downs in its price. However, competition among thousands of local oilheat companies plays a role in ensuring value and service.

Abundant supplies

Q: Are there adequate supplies of heating oil?
A: Yes. It’s been more than 30 years since there was a significant problem with energy supplies. Today, improvements in drilling technology have opened up reserves in more countries than ever before.

The United States also has a Strategic Petroleum Reserve with nearly 700 million barrels in place. It’s the world’s largest emergency oil stockpile. A few years ago, the U.S. also established a two-million-barrel heating oil reserve.

Made in the USA

Heating oil represents only 3% of total petroleum consumption in the U.S.

Approximately 85% of the heating oil used in the U.S. is refined domestically.

Studies show that there are as many as two trillion barrels of crude oil in the world still untapped, enough to last for nearly a century.

Easy Deliveries

Q: What’s the easiest way to get a delivery?
A: The easiest way to get heating oil is through automatic delivery. The oil company normally counts “degree-days” to keep track of how cold the weather has been and calculates an individual burn rate for each customer. This lets the company know just when a customer will need a delivery, long before most people would know it themselves.

Automatic delivery doesn’t mean more fuel is burned. It provides peace of mind because you don’t have to think twice about how much fuel is in your tank.

Upgrading to a lean, clean, modern machine

Q: What should I do about an old system?
A: An old oilheat system is no different than any other outdated heating system, regardless of the fuel used. Old systems can generate higher than necessary fuel bills, but they can easily be replaced with equipment that incorporates new oilheat technology. The nonprofit Consumer Energy Council of America concluded that changing fuel sources does not make "economic sense" and a better investment would be to upgrade an older system to new equipment in order to improve efficiency.

Q: How do I know if my system should be replaced?
A: Oilheat systems typically last 30 years and longer.However, the older the system, the greater the gain in efficiency and cleanliness through upgrading. If your oilheat system is less than 25 years old, you are already benefiting from some of the technological advances of Clearburn Science.

Q: Besides a total replacement, are there lower-cost ways to improve an oilheat system’s efficiency?
A: Yes. A professional tune-up can increase efficiency by up to 5%. Homeowners can also improve efficiency—by as much as 25% — if they replace an old burner with a modern, flame-retention burner rather than replacing the entire furnace or boiler. Purchasing a new burner is a modest investment with a rapid payback. It is estimated that flame-retention burners have saved homeowners billions of dollars in fuel costs and have conserved more than six billion gallons of oil.

The truth about tanks

There are many misconceptions about oil storage tanks.Tanks can last for decades, and when the time comes for replacement, there are many new options that can benefit the homeowner.

• With an oil storage tank on your property, you always have supply on hand.

• With a tank, you pay for the fuel you are delivered—no estimates, no questions.

• According to a major national study, the chance of a leak from an underground heating oil tank is less than one-quarter of 1%.*

• There are no federal regulations requiring residential underground oil tanks to be removed if there is no leak.

• Advances in technology have resulted in the manufacture of tanks made from corrosion-resistant materials such as fiberglass and protected steel. Properly installed and maintained, today’s oil tanks can last indefinitely. If you have more questions about storage tanks, call a local oil company. They will be able to address any of your concerns.

* Environ Corporation, “Analysis of the Potential Hazards Posed by No. 2 Fuel Oil Contained in Underground Storage Tanks.”

Customized storage solutions

Several options are available if you plan to renovate and want to save space.

Today’s aboveground tanks are relatively small (275 gallons) and they can be customized for hard-to-fit places. For example, a vertical tank can be installed in small or unusual-shaped spaces in a basement or garage.Tanks can also be installed outside the home and hidden in a tank enclosure.

You can also upgrade an old buried tank with a modern one. These new units are guaranteed to be corrosion resistant. If you decide on replacing an underground tank, contact a local oil company to find out about your best options because regulations regarding tank abandonment can be confusing.

Service and safety

Oilheat companies pride themselves on providing peace of mind and responsive service to their customers. Consider the following:

• Oilheat users gave their oil companies an average rating of 94% for friendly and fast service in a recent national survey.

• Oilheat companies range from companies servicing several hundred accounts to those serving hundreds of thousands of customers, so homeowners can choose a company that best suits their needs and personalities. Most oil dealers are locally owned and operated with deep roots in their communities.

• Heating your home with oil is safe.

Were you aware of the two facts below?

• Heating oil does not explode. If you dropped a lit match into a barrel of oil, the match would go out as if you dropped it in water. Oil must be turned into a fine-particle mist before it will ignite and burn, typically at a temperature of 130°–140°.

•  Oilheat poses an extraordinarily low risk for carbon monoxide poisoning.

Tips for added convenience

• Don’t wait until it’s cold before arranging for service from an oil company.

• Keep your tank full in the summer to prevent condensation inside the tank.

• Get a professional tune-up to increase the efficiency and cleanliness of your heating system.

• Take advantage of oilheat’s versatility. Oil is now used in radiant floor heating systems; for warming pools and spas; and for melting snow from driveways.

• If you plan to add a room or renovate, contact your local home heating company. The people there may know about options that a typical contractor is not familiar with.

If you have trouble getting heat, follow these steps.

• See if the oil burner switch is on.

• Check your thermostat. Make sure that it’s set above room temperature.

• Check fuses and/or circuit breakers.

• Check your oil tank to see if you have fuel.

• Press the reset button on the burner relay once only.

If, after these steps, your heating system still hasn’t come on, call Klasen Oil at 814-425-7498 or toll free: 800-292-9670.

Don’t be crude

The thick black oil that once bubbled up out of the ground for Jed Clampett of the Beverly Hillbillies could never heat your home. Straight crude oil is pretty boring. But when it’s refined—into products like gasoline, jet fuel and No. 2, No. 4 or No. 6 heating oil—it can be downright surprising. Homeowners burn No. 2 heating oil—the cleanest and most refined of the three heating oil grades. No. 2 heating oil can be distinguished by its pure cranberry color.

As the most refined grade of heating oil, No. 2 oil burns much cleaner than its oil “relatives” and has little negative impact on the environment. Used with a technologically advanced oilheat system, it produces near-zero levels of particulate matter during the combustion process. No. 2 heating oil also generates a whopping 138,000 Btu’s of heating energy for every gallon burned, allowing homeowners to enjoy high comfort levels and great value.

For more information:
Log on to oilheatamerica.com for more helpful hints and tips,
or contact the oilheat association in your state. Call the National
Oilheat Research Alliance (NORA). NORA works in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Energy on research to improve heating oil and oilheat
equipment. Its core mission also includes consumer education and
technical training for those in the industry.