Homes heated by heating oil are very popular in the Northeast. However, you’ll often find that natural gas is a bit more popular in other states. Heating Oil is often very cost-effective, which makes it very popular. It’s safe, easy to come by, and provides very warm heat that will keep you warm even during the coldest months of the year. If you’re curious about what some of the other benefits of heating oil are, feel free to read on as I go over everything that you need to know!
What Exactly is Heating Oil?
Heating oil is one of the most popular forms of home heating in today’s day and age. It’s typically stored in a tank of some kind on your property. The oil in the tank is then fed through your feed lines into your furnace, where it is then converted to heat! Usually, you will find your tank located in your garage, crawl space, outside or your basement!
You can also find that some oil tanks are buried underground outside! However, as the years go on, these are becoming less common and are being removed and replaced constantly. These tanks are usually old and were popular in the 80s. But they are prone to leaking and causing severe environmental damage. If you buy a home with an underground tank, it’s best to replace with an above ground tank as soon as you can!
Getting Oil Deliveries
To ensure you have a constant flow of heat in your home, you must get regular oil deliveries. Getting regular oil deliveries will ensure that you are getting oil into your system. This ensures that your home is nice and warm! Getting regular deliveries also helps your system to not run out of oil. Running out of oil can be dangerous! It can damage your system and cause you to wake up to a cold home!
You can sign up for automatic delivery which will put you at an ease of mind. With automatic delivery, you can know that you’ll always have oil in your tank! Your heating oil company will regularly come and fill your tank. But usually there is a monthly or annual cost associated with this, much like a subscription. However, usually I recommend going with call by delivery. That way, you know exactly how much oil you need and only order when you need it.
Usually, it’s more cost effective to order when you need it. That is where the Smart Oil Gauge comes in handy. Our gauge will tell you when you need oil, how much you have and what your usage is. This will ensure that you’re on top of your oil level and when you need it!
The Benefits of Heating Oil
The good thing about heating oil is that there multiple benefits to using it in your home! Here are a few of the benefits:
- It’s Safe: The flash point of heating oil is 140 degrees Fahrenheit. This makes it non-flammable when it is in an environment with room temperature! So you don’t have to worry about having heating in your home as it needs to be heated into a gaseous form for it to become ignitable. This makes it’s liquid form incredibly safe to have.
- It’s Very Efficient: Heating Oil Produces 138,000 BTUs from a single gallon. This is because furnaces are 85% more effective. They can produce more heat per gallon than other forms of heating. Although only 117,725 BTUs are effective per gallon. Propane on the other hand, is less reliable and will often only produce about 91,500 BTUs per gallon of propane. When comparing this to heating oil, you’ll need to burn 1.35 gallons of propane to match 1 gallon of heating oil in terms of BTU production. Check out my article here to find out the major differences between heating oil and propane.
- Easily Accessible: The nice thing about heating oil is that it’s very accessible. Meaning that there is usually always going to be at least one dealer in your area that will be able to deliver oil to you! There are thousands of heating oil dealers in the northeast alone! Additionally, with helpful websites such as our FuelSnap website, ordering oil is easy! Simply plug in your zip code and select your dealer and you’ll be able to order oil with a press of a button!
- Cheap and Cost Affective: Heating Oil is very cost effective. This is because it typically creates so much heat per gallon. This makes it worth the money because of how warm it’ll make your home. The price of heating oil is also fairly cheap, and the price for heating oil has gone down significantly over the past few years. But, with you being the home owner this also gives you completley flexibility over who and where you order from. Because the oil market is very competitive, and dealers are constantly trying to out sell each other. That usually means that you’re more than likley to get the cheapest price for heating oil. This will make you more likley to by a specific dealer’s oil rather than another’s because they will offer you the lowest price possible.
Ending Thoughts
So that brings up the question, “Should You Buy a Home with Heating Oil?”, well the answer is a resounding “Absolutely!”
Heating Oil is both cost efficient and safe to use! It keeps your home warm for amount you’re getting and is often cheaper than propane! It’s the clear answer between itself and propane! However, if you have the option for Natural Gas you should definitely go with that! Natural Gas is abundant and even more cost effective!
But with heating oil, you are more in control of when and where you buy from. It’s incredibly reliable and you’ll be in control of when and where you order it from! This includes our FuelSnap website! Additionally, getting a Smart Oil Gauge will help you stay on top of when you’ll need it and what your level is at!
Happy Heating,
Hunter
