Is Heating Oil Clean?

You may know that heating oil is a very safe fuel to use – but safety may not be your only concern. If you are conscientious of the effect that you have on the environment (and we hope you are), then you’re probably concerned about how clean heating oil is as well. Fortunately, heating oil is not only extremely clean, it’s also one of the more environmentally responsible options.

How Clean is Heating Oil?

Heating oil wasn’t always the cleanest fuel around. Back in the 1970’s, it was nowhere near as clean of a fuel as it is now. In fact, heating oil burns 95 percent cleaner than it did in the 1970’s. Heating oil is so clean these days that the Federal Clean Air Act doesn’t even regulate emissions that are produced by heating oil-fueled equipment because such a negligible amount of emissions are created.

Not only does heating oil produce practically no emissions, but the latest oil system technologies actually reburn fuel, which helps to lower emissions even further. Recent technology has even made use of lower sulfur oil blends that will create an even cleaner heating oil options when mixed with biofuels. Not to mention that as long as your heating oil system is properly maintained, any soot created by burning heating oil will remain within the tank. All of this means that heating oil is a much cleaner option than something like natural gas, which has a methane content of 95 percent. In fact, natural gas system losses account for roughly 18 percent of the total methane emissions in the entire world, making it one of the main contributors to global warming as well as climate change.

What Are Some of the Other Environmental Benefits of Using Heating Oil?

First of all, heating oil systems have advanced drastically over the past three decades with the help of developing technology, to the point where the average consumption of heating oil has been reduced by 33.6 percent. Newer heating oil systems have high efficiency ratings that range between 83 percent and 95 percent. Then there’s the life expectancy of heating oil appliances. The life expectancy of an average heating oil appliance is around 30 years as long as it is properly maintained. A typical gas furnace needs to be replaced after only 11 to 14 years. Heating oil-based appliances also have a faster recovery rate. For example, a water heater powered by heating oil will recover twice as fast as a water heater powered by gas and three times as fast as an electric water heater. Additionally, heating oil is also non-toxic, biodegradable and non-carcinogenic.

So as you can probably tell, heating oil is a very clean fuel and one of the more eco-friendly fuel options because of that fact. Heating oil is also one of the safest fuels you can use and one of the more affordable options as well. For more information about the use of heating oil, be sure to contact us at Woolley Home Solutions today.