For nearly 30 years, we’ve provided dependable heating oil delivery from our home base in Falmouth to households throughout the Upper Cape and Southeastern Massachusetts. We’ve seen this home fuel undergo significant advances in that time. Heating oil has always been a fantastic way to warm your living spaces and water. But it’s getting greener and more efficient every year.
What exactly is heating oil? Here are five facts that explain where it comes from and why it’s a superb fuel.
Petroleum-based heating oil (we’ll discuss non-petroleum heating oil later) is nearly identical to off-road diesel. They are both distillates of crude oil that require pressure and intense heat to ignite. And they are both subject to Environmental Protection Agency standards regarding their sulfur content. Today’s heating oil’s sulfur content is only 15 parts per million. This significantly reduces emissions and improves the air we all breathe.
According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, one gallon of low-sulfur heating oil generates about 138,500 Btu. This is equivalent heat energy to roughly 41 kilowatt-hours of electricity or 135 cubic feet of natural gas.
Bioheat® fuel is one of the most vital tools for home decarbonization today. It is a blend of ultra-low sulfur heating oil and biofuel. Biofuel is a gallon-for-gallon replacement for petroleum, but it’s made from organic and recycled feedstocks like used cooking oil, inedible corn oil, soybeans and animal fats.
Blending biofuel into heating oil significantly lowers carbon, mercury and particulate matter emissions. At a 20% biofuel blend (also called B20), Bioheat fuel becomes cleaner than natural gas.
As heating oil becomes cleaner burning, it also becomes better for your heating system. Today’s product leaves less soot in your equipment. This means you need fewer burner cleanings and less frequent maintenance. Reduced wear and tear means your furnace or boiler will last longer. That’s great news for your bank account!
Heating oil is one of the safest home energy sources around. Unlike natural gas, it will not explode. If you were to drop a lit match into a bucket of heating oil, the flame would extinguish just as if you’d dropped it in water. The fuel only burns if heated up above 140 degrees Fahrenheit and vaporized — which is what your furnace or boiler does!
One significant risk to be aware of is the potential for a tank leak, which can incur costly decontamination measures.
If your home relies on heating oil, the Tasha team has you covered. With our free automatic delivery, you don’t even need to contact us for fuel. We’ll track your heating oil levels using your customer history and weather conditions, then deliver fuel right on time!
As we always say — at Tasha, you aren’t just a number. You’re a neighbor. Join our family of customers today.