Heating oil, encompassing both gas oil (red diesel) for commercial and agricultural use and kerosene (home heating oil) for residential applications, refers to oils used in central heating systems, with a focus on kerosene throughout this article.
Heating oil brings the convenience of heating with oil, along with the low cost and great heat output. Heating oil, also known as fuel oil, is kept in a household oil tank that is linked to your heating system. You can order heating oil to be delivered to your doorstep by oil companies.
Continue reading to find out more insights and gain a comprehensive understanding of Heating Fuel-A Guide to Heating Oil for Homes.
Composition and Types
Heating oil manufacturing has gotten more efficient throughout the years. Heating oil is created using a process known as fractional distillation, which involves separating crude oil constituents. This technique yields a transparent and thin oil with a density of 0.82 g/cm3. Kerosene is a transparent, thin oil. The common chemical composition of heating oil is the following:
| Species | Proportion (% mass) |
| Aliphatics | 82 |
| Mono-aromatics | 16 |
| Di-aromatics | 1.9 |
| Tri-aromatics | 0 |
| Sulphured | 0.1 |
Types of heating oils
Kerosene is often referred to as 28-second oil or home heating oil. Kerosene, which is much lighter than gas oil, is largely used for residential heating. Kerosene of standard grade satisfies BS 2869 Grade C2 requirements (more simply it can be called C2 kerosene).
Premium kerosene is a better grade of domestic oil than normal kerosene since it is lighter and has other advantages. It satisfies BS 2869 C1 requirements and is commonly referred to as C1 kerosene.
Kleenburn Kerosene This type of heating oil burns cleaner and is less polluting than regular kerosene. Kleenburn kerosene is somewhat more expensive, but it is far safer for the environment and helps keep pollutants low, which is especially beneficial for businesses.
Furnace Fuel In municipal facilities such as schools and universities, furnace fuel is frequently necessary. It is entirely in compliance with the British Approved Standard for heating oil, BS EN 2869, Class D specifications. It is suitable for use in all commercial boilers.
How Heating Oil is Used
Heating oil, also known as fuel oil, is kept in a household oil tank that is linked to your heating system. This fuel oil tank is usually situated in the basement or garage, although it can also be found outside or underground. To ensure that the system always has heating oil when needed, a heating oil truck must visit on occasion and refill the heating oil tank.
The heating oil is brought from the tank to the burner by a pump or, in rare occasions, gravity. Once there, the ignitions procedure is as follows:
- Heating oil is collected from the tank and filtered through an oil filter to remove any particles or impurities.
- The burner warms the oil and triggers a fan, which mixes in air to assist ignite the fuel.
- The heating oil is then atomized (made into a fine mist), heated further, and ignited to generate a flame.
- A sensor inside the system indicates that ignition has happened, and the system continues to burn heating oil until a thermostat inside the unit instructs it to stop.
- Heating oil can be used to then power your home heating like wet underfloor heating
Advantages of Heating Oil
When compared to alternative fuels such as natural gas, propane, electricity, or kerosene, home heating oil offers several advantages. The following are the primary advantages of utilizing home heating oil:
It’s secure: Home heating oil cannot be lit at room temperature. Heating oil, in reality, must be heated to 140° F and atomized before being burned in a burner.
It’s Effective: Heating oil has a BTU output of over 138,000 per gallon. Home heating oil is far more efficient than propane, which generates around 91,500 BTUs per gallon. While oil furnaces cannot transmit 100% of the heat to the residence, they can give around 85% of it, for approximately 117,725 effective BTUs per gallon. In comparison, propane furnaces are around 95% efficient and produce approximately 86,925 effective BTUs per gallon. It can also produce more heat than a ground source heat pump.
It is cost-effective: Heating oil is usually cheaper than propane, so it is always a cheaper solution.
The homeowner has the freedom to shop around: Heating oil tanks are always the property of the homeowner. Unlike propane, you can purchase it from any source you want. This provides you with the most freedom while also saving you hundreds of dollars every year.
You can add diesel if you run out: Because heating oil is nearly identical to diesel fuel, you will not be left in the cold if you run out. You may just go to the gas station and fill your oil tank with five gallons of diesel fuel. Five gallons is generally enough to last the night until the heating oil tank can be replenished. If you ever run out of heating oil, be sure to refer to our advice.
Environmental Impact
In terms of carbon emissions, propane and heating oil are on par with natural gas. Both of these fuels emit somewhat higher CO2: propane emits 63kg/MMBtu and oil emits 73kg/MMBtu. Neither of these fuels has the methane issues that natural gas has, but they do have considerable upstream emissions for the energy necessary for refinement: 8.5kg/MMBTU for propane and 18.1kg/MMBTU for heating oil.
Heating oil, which releases sulphur dioxide and particle matter, also adds to air pollution. Oil heating also emits particulate matter (PM), nitrogen oxides (NOx), and carbon monoxide (CO).
Finally, propane and oil are also high-carbon fossil fuels. To slow climate change, we must phase them out as soon as possible.
It is though getting environmentally friendly
Many people are unaware that sulphur in heating oil is now reducing just as dramatically as a result of state-level restrictions. Even as late as 2013, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and the majority of other states permitted heating oil to include 500 parts per million. A few years prior, 2000 parts per million was usual. However, heating oil in Massachusetts and Rhode Island must be “Ultra Low Sulfur” (ULS) and contain no more than 15 parts per million in 2018, which is just 3% of the 2013 rule. This is fantastic news for the environment, public health, and customers.
Bioheat is a fuel blend that combines ultra-low sulphur heating oil with renewable biodiesel generated from organic and recycled goods such as soybean oil, leftover cooking oils, inedible maize oil, canola, tallow, fats, and algae. Bioheat has substantial environmental advantages. First, biodiesel reduces the carbon content of heating oil depending on the mix amount. Second, Bioheat is produced from renewable, organic sources such as soy bean oil and leftover cooking oils.
Summary of key points
The convenience of heating with oil, along with the low cost and great heat output, increased the popularity of home heating oil. Kerosene (heating oil) manufacturing has gotten more efficient throughout the years. Heating oil is created using a process known as fractional distillation, which involves separating crude oil constituents. Home heating oil cannot be lit at room temperature and is cheaper than propane.
In the UK, you can order heating oil to be delivered to your doorstep by oil companies. A tanker is used to refill the tank at your home. Summer is typically the best time to place a heating oil order because demand is lower when people do not need to heat their homes. Choose a supplier who can purchase in bulk, resulting in a lower price per gallon.
Because heating oil is nearly identical to diesel fuel, you will not be left in the cold if you run out. You may just go to the gas station and fill your oil tank with five gallons of diesel fuel. Diesel fuel, which is used in diesel vehicles and other engines, is essentially No. 2 home heating oil. The only distinction is that home heating oil contains a dye that distinguishes it from untaxed or lower-taxed fuels. Diesel fuels with higher taxes are used in off-road vehicles.
