Today's Oil Heat is Clean

The number one myth about home heating oil is that it is dirty. Wrong! Home heating oil is a clear, rosy-red liquid that is non-toxic, biodegradable and has no carcinogens. Oil heat burns at a level of overall cleanliness approaching 99.9% and unlike gas carries no risk of explosion. In fact, oil heat emissions have such low output that they aren't even regulated by the Federal Clean Air Act.

Because of its high efficiency and cleanliness, oil heat systems have an amazingly small impact on the environment. In fact, the Environmental Protection Agency says that modern oil burners are one of the cleanest combustion sources available. They release near zero levels of smoke and combustion discharge and produce less greenhouse gas than natural gas systems. Home heating oil is also non-toxic and biodegradable. It all means that oil heat remains a responsible environmental choice for heating your home despite the scare tactics you may have heard by unscrupulous contractors looking to make a quick buck by frightening people into expensive unnecessary conversions.

Heating oil does have a distinctive petroleum odor, but the fumes are not dangerous and usually dissipate quickly. Usually the only time a heating oil odor is detected is immediately after a delivery if a few drops of heating oil are left on the fill pipe. Rarely is there an odor produced when the furnace is running. Heating oil burns cleanly so if there is a smell, or more likely soot appearing at the furnace or around the heat registers, it's due to poorly maintained equipment. A tune-up by a qualified home oil heat technician will take care of the problem, and most likely increase the efficiency of the furnace. Oil furnaces pose little or no threat of carbon monoxide poisoning because equipment in bad enough condition to produce CO will not operate.