Busting five common heating oil myths

We Americans have been using oil to heat our homes since the 1930s – ever since the Minneapolis-Honeywell Regulator Company (now Honeywell – yes, that Honeywell)
introduced the first oil-fired burners.

But despite that long track record of providing reliable heat to (mostly Northeastern) American homes, misconceptions still exist about heating oil – thanks in large part to the fuel’s poor environmental performance leading up until the 1970s.

We’re here to set the record straight by taking on some long-held myths about heating oil. Here are five of the most common ones:

• Myth 1: Heating oil is harmful to the environment.
• Fact: Today’s Ultra Low Sulfur Heating Oil (ULSHO) – which is now required in NY State – burns more than 95 percent cleaner than heating oil did back in the 1970s. ULSHO produces near-zero particulate emissions and reduces nitrous oxide and CO2 (contributors to smog and acid rain, among other problems) compared to yesterday’s heating oil –a big reason why fuel oil isn’t even regulated by the federal Clean Air Act.
• Myth 2: Heating oil is dangerous.

  Fact: Heating oil is nothing like natural gas or gasoline, both of which are highly flammable. In fact, if you dropped a lit match into a pool of heating oil, it will go out, just as if you had dropped it in water. In order to burn, heating oil must first be heated to a temperature of 140 degrees and then vaporized. Heating oil also burns clean, making it safe for the environment.

• Myth 3: Oil heat is an inefficient.

  Fact: ULSHO drastically reduces sooting and scaling compared to regular heating oil, leaving more heat in your house and less up your chimney. It does even better against other energy sources, providing more BTUs per gallon than any other fuel.

• Myth 4: Heating with oil is expensive.

  Fact: Actually, crude oil (the primary contributor to heating oil prices) is cheaper now than it was in 1980; although the oil market does rise and fall, heating oil remains an economical source of home energy. Today’s clean-burning ULSHO fuels also saves you money by causing less wear and tear on your furnace, boiler, or water heater.

• Myth 5: Heating Oil is in short supply.

  Fact: While there is a theoretical limit to the supply of fossil fuels, the truth is that new deposits are being discovered every day. Another common heating oil myth is that America gets most of its heating oil from the Middle East. In actual fact, more than one-third 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 today’s heating oil for your Ulster or Dutchess County home, contact the heating oil pros at Valley Oil today!