The Importance of Properly Functioning Oil and Heating in Winter

With winter almost upon us, now is as good a time as any to ensure that every component of your home’s heating system is working properly. That heating system and the oil that feeds it are incredibly important, kicking in whenever the temperature dips in your home and running nearly constantly throughout the coldest weeks of January and February. If a cold snap sets in and your heating system is not ready for it, it could mean a lot of cold, uncomfortable nights.

How to Prepare for Winter Weather

Your heating oil company works closely with homeowners throughout the region to keep everyone’s heating system running at peak efficiency year round. That means filling the oil tank early and keeping it full based on projected consumption rates in cold winter months, following up regularly to ensure that the heating system is working at peak efficiency and ensuring the system is well maintained on an annual basis and fixed fast if a problem ever develops.

A good heating oil company, especially in New Jersey, will work closely with each homeowner that hires them to keep that heating system running properly at all times. Here are some of the things that you should have done, if you have not yet, before the winter chill sets in:

*  Full Tune Up of Your Boiler or Furnace

*  Oil Tank Filled Up for Winter

*  Full Inspection and Cleaning of Your Chimney Flue

*  Inspection and Cleaning of Your Ducts or Radiators

*  Testing of Thermostats throughout Your Home

You may even consider an upgrade to your heating system if you have needed frequent repairs in recent years or if you are interested in reducing how much oil you consume to heat your home. Newer systems are incredibly efficient, offering AFUE ratings of as high as 92% for both furnace and boiler heating. You can improve your heating efficiency with other upgrades as well, including new insulation, weather stripping and sealing for windows and doors and installation of digital thermostats that can be programmed to only heat your home when it is needed.

Take Action Now for a Comfortable Winter

Winter is a long stretch of cold weather and if you’re not ready for it, your oil company may not be immediately available, especially after a winter storm. So, the best way to ensure you remain comfortable throughout the entire winter and that no one in your family is subjected to the intense cold of a strong New Jersey winter is to call your heating oil company and schedule a time to have someone visit, inspect your system and fill your oil tank.

Winter is Coming and with it Cold Temperatures

November has come and December is just around the corner, which means we have only a few more weeks (if that) until truly cold temperatures set in. If you aren’t yet, it’s time to start thinking about what winter will bring and what impact it will have on the heating oil in your home and which heating oil company you hire to deliver this year.

How Cold is Cold?

Every year, as fall starts to stretch on and the first snows of winter are in the air, we ask ourselves (and the weather people on TV) just how cold it’s going to get. It’s impossible to know for sure, but living in New Jersey, you can just about count on it being below freezing for days if not weeks at a time starting in late December and January.

Whether we get a lot of snow or not is yet to be seen, but that doesn’t mean the frigid temperatures won’t keep you inside and ensure you need a full talk of heating oil at all times. The average lows in January in most of New Jersey are in the low 20’s and sometimes into the teens at night and that means you need not only a good heating system but one that is well-maintained and ready for any level of cold.

Preparing for the Winter Chill

The best thing you can do in preparing for the winter chill that is coming is to call your heating oil company and have them come and inspect your boiler or furnace. While it is impossible to know how much stress will be put on your heating system, the only real way to be sure it works as intended all year is to have it maintained in advance. While it is past the preventive maintenance window for most heating oil companies, you can still get a professional to visit and take a look at your system, checking it to ensure it for any possible small problems and cleaning it of any excess dust, debris and soot.

You should also have your chimney flue inspected and cleaned. This not only improves air quality and heating efficiency, but can reduce the risk of fire and possible damage to your heating system by ensuring the exhaust fumes have a clear exit from your home.

Being Ready Pays Off

By taking the time to prepare for the winter temperatures, you can keep your heating system running at peak efficiency and ensure you are ready for just about anything the winter can throw your way. To keep yourself and your family members comfortable throughout winter into spring next March and April, this is a great way to start.

What to Consider When Choosing a Heating Oil Provider

If you recently moved into a new home that uses heating oil, or if you are about to make the switch to an oil burning furnace or boiler, the first thing you’ll need to do is choose a heating oil provider in your area. There are quite literally hundreds of heating oil companies in New Jersey to choose from, so how do you know you’re getting the best for your home? Here are a few things to consider.

Automatic Delivery and Other Services

A good heating oil company does more than just deliver oil. Your heating oil company of choice should provide automatic delivery programs that ensure you never run out of oil. The last thing you want is to wake up on an icy January morning to see your tank is empty and you have to wait a day or two for the oil company to get out. The right company will not only track your oil deliveries but contact you when they feel it is time for a refill, or if you sign up for an automatic delivery program, visit your home at a set interval to provide oil.

Additionally, it is advantageous if your heating oil company can provide maintenance for your oil burning systems. Instead of having to hire a second HVAC company to visit and perform maintenance on your system, you can rely on your heating oil delivery company to come out whenever you have a problem and fix it - that number is right in front of you. It’s a lot easier and more reliable.

Low Rate Lock-ins

Different companies offer different specials and discounts, so find one that fits your specific needs, whether you are retired or a veteran or you will be paying automatically with electronic funds transfers. These can all result in discounts. Other options include flexible payment plans that allow you to pay the same amount each month throughout the year for a set amount of oil. While the amount may fluctuate year to year as the price of oil changes, this makes it a lot easier to pay your bills by splitting your fees up over 12 months instead of two or three very large payments in fall and winter.

There may be other offers as well. Make sure to check for things like hidden fees and always read the full terms of service to ensure the company will actually match your needs.

Finally, ask around. Don’t be afraid to ask your neighbors who they use to provide their heating oil. In New Jersey, a lot of your neighbors have oil-based heat, so you can almost certainly get a good idea of which company will best fit your needs based on the service provided to your neighbors. Ariba Oil has the pleasure of providing such service to thousands of homeowners throughout the region, so give us a call and ask to talk with one of our service specialists if you’re ready to learn more about the benefits of oil heating.

Why to Use Heating Oil to Heat Your Home

There are a lot of questions about oil heat and the benefits and advantages of using it for your New Jersey home. To help you choose the right heating fuel for your home, here are a few things you may not know about heating oil and the specific benefits it can offer.

High Efficiency Levels

Well before the government started requiring manufacturers to reach higher AFUE (efficiency) ratings in heating systems, oil heating equipment was considered among the best on the market. Even today, a new oil heating system offers an AFUE rating in the low-mid 80% range, ensuring you use as little heating oil as possible to keep your home warm throughout the coldest days of winter. Newer, high-efficiency systems offer higher ratings than this, sometimes as high as 92%.

More Effective Heating

For every gallon of heating oil you get from your oil company, 138,000 BTUs of heat is generated for your home. An oil heating system can reach temperatures of 3,000 degrees when burning, meaning your home heats up much faster and subsequently is much more efficient without long warm up or cool down periods.

Safe and Environmentally Sound

Despite concerns some homeowners have, oil heating is very safe. In fact, if you dropped a lit match into an open oil tank, the match would go out. Because of how oil is stored and burned, there is a very low risk related to using it in a boiler or furnace. The system will operate effectively for years and you will barely realize it is on.

Additionally, recent advances in both oil refining technology and oil burner efficiency has reduced the volume of oil consumed for home heating by 6 billion gallons per year in the United States despite the fact that more than 350,000 new oil heating systems have been installed in the last decade alone. This spike in efficiency makes oil heating a good choice in most areas where the only alternative is electricity which can be very costly as a source of heating.

Versatility

Oil heating systems can be the sole source of heating for your New Jersey home or they can be a supplement to another system such as an electric heat pump. This makes it possible to customize your oil heating system to match the temperature, available energy sources and efficiency of your home’s HVAC system without paying any more than is absolutely necessary each winter.

Oil heating is safe, efficient and highly effective for heating throughout the New Jersey area. To learn more about heating oil efficiency, contact an area oil company such as Ariba Oil.

For many years we have been providing reliable oil supply services to homeowners throughout the region and can do the same for you, whether you have an existing oil heating system or are interested in having a new one installed in your home for the first time.

Is Oil Heat Better Than Electric or Gas?

11 Facts You Should Know About Oil Heating

There are a host of reasons why oil heat is considered better for heating a home. For instance, when compared to gas heating,  oil burns approximately 16 percent more efficiently than gas.  This is just one of many benefits of using oil heat. This article compares the differences among oil heat, electric heat and gas heat. It will also share a few reasons why many people prefer using oil as a source for heating a home.   The following are 11 facts you should know about oil heat vs gas heating.

Fact #1: When heating oil is inhaled, it is not fatal. Gas, on the other hand, tends to leak carbon monoxide, which is deadly. Carbon monoxide poisoning is also known as the leading cause of death in the United States. The chances of carbon monoxide leaking into a home from oil heat is very unlikely.

Fact #2: Oil is a lot safer than other heating sources.  For example, oil is not explosive and it only ignites by a burning system within a furnace.

Fact #3: The hot water recovery rating on a oil water heater is much faster than electric water heater and gas water heating.

Fact #4: According to experts, people burn 40 percent more natural gas just to receive the same amount of heating as oil heating.

Fact #5: Oil heating is less expensive than natural gas, depending on what state you live in.

Fact #6: Oil heat is offered by a variety of companies, where as Gas is provided by one utility. With gas heating, there is no competition and no choice.

Fact #7: According to the Consumer Energy Council of America (CECA), it is unwise to convert from oil to a gas heating system.

Fact #8: Natural Gas produces approximately 100,000 BTUs of heat per gallon and oil heat only produces 140,000 BTUs per gallon.

Fact #9: Oil heating allows you to use your supply as you need it, and  you can control your own oil supply. The oil is basically stored on your property.

Fact #10: According to experts, oil burners emissions have been decreased close to zero levels. This decreases overall emissions by 95 percent.

Fact #11:  America is considered the third largest oil producing country in the world. There is no dependence of any particular region or nation for oil supplies. Our largest supplier of crude oil is Canada and half of petroleum resources are from the United States.

 

Disadvantages of Using Electric to Heat Your Home

Here are a few disadvantages of using electric heating when compared to oil heating.

 

●        For electric heating, you will need a much larger electrical service than usual. This can be very expensive.

●        If you're using space heaters, it is more difficult to provide central cooling, humidification and filtration.

●        Electric heating is very expensive to operate. Depending on where you live, the overall cost of electricity makes it more expensive than oil heating.

Click here to find out more information about the advantages of using oil heating to warm your home.