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If you are considering making the transition to home heating oil, you should be aware of its advantages and disadvantages. Heating oil can be used to heat homes or commercial spaces. It’s not the most environmentally friendly option nor is it the cheapest but it is efficient, reliable and portable. Let’s take a look at the specific pros and cons.

Pros Of Home Heating Oil

Heating oil is quite portable compared to other heating methods. Houses situated in areas that are difficult to access often use oil for heat. All it takes is some pipes to direct the oil from a containment unit into the home.

Heating oil performs very well. It burns about 400 degrees hotter than electricity or natural gas so it warms up an indoor space quite efficiently. It creates a warm environment in very little time. It will really come in handy during those harsh winter days when you come indoors from the brutal cold and need to warm up right away.

Heating oil is cheaper than electric based heat and many other heating methods. On average, it is about 2 to 5 times less expensive than electric heat. It is especially efficient for large houses.

Today’s oil heat systems burn much cleaner than previous designs so that there is very little soot released into the surroundings. Heating oil burns quite clean and there are no cancer causing components. When a home heating system is installed, it will produce merely .003 of particulate emissions that create air pollution. Unlike natural gas, there are no harmful methane emissions created with heating oil. You can burn your oil with a clear conscience.

Cons Of Home Heating Oil

Heating oil creates a “puffback”, or soot that is sent into the surrounding area. This occurs as oil fumes collect during an ignition stall. When the switch is lit, a small explosion is created that sends these fumes and dust around. While puffbacks aren’t as commonplace and significant as they used to be, they do constitute a disadvantage of heating oil.

If home heating oil is spilled, it can negatively impact the surrounding space. It can take weeks or months to clean up, depending on how large of a spill has occurred.

Home heating oil is not a renewable energy source so it can’t be replaced. It also creates carbon dioxide, a green house gas that helps to cause ozone depletion. It also creates sulphur trioxide and sulphur dioxide that create acid rain. Acid rain wears away at building masonry, rocks and forests.

Oil furnaces require electricity to operate so the result will be an increase in your electric bill. You will also have to budget for oil delivery at spaced out intervals. If your tank goes empty when you are waiting on a delivery, you will have a cold home until your fuel is replenished.

Compared to natural gas, home heating oil is fairly expensive. Those who switch from oil heat to natural gas can save upwards of $1,000 per year. Yet the transition between systems will be quite expensive. It will cost thousands of dollars for a single family home. Fortunately, it will pay for itself over the ensuing years. Oil prices are also quite volatile compared to other home heating sources like natural gas. Home heating oil doesn’t drop as the price of gasoline drops. Rather, it is closely linked to kerosene and diesel prices.

When you attempt to sell a home that is heated with oil, it reduces the number of potential buyers. Many home seekers are looking for modern houses with newer heating technologies.