Clean, efficient oilheat continues to keep many homes in Wisconsin warm and safe, even during bitter cold Midwestern winters. Sit back and relax knowing you can depend on this clean, efficient and safe heating source. Then feel even better because historic levels of domestic oil production have given us an abundant supply of heating oil.
In this blog, we will begin making the case for oil heat by taking a closer look at the clean-burning nature of heating oil, as well as the factors that have given us an abundance of supply.
Clean Heating Oil
Home heating oil has become progressively cleaner and more efficient for Wisconsin homeowners over the last few decades. And with the advent of ultra-low sulfur heating oil, the recent transformation is truly revolutionary.
Here’s what ultra-low sulfur heating oil means for you:
- A buildup of sulfur in the heating system can lead to system maintenance issues. The drastic reduction of sulfur in heating oil means that there will be far fewer system issues, which will lead to lower maintenance costs for homeowners.
- Because there is virtually no sulfur in the heating system thanks to ultra-low sulfur fuel, your oil system can burn the fuel more efficiently, leading to lower heating bills.
- While regular heating oil has been very clean for decades, the ultra-low sulfur heating oil is even cleaner, producing near-zero particulate emissions.
- Ultra-low sulfur fuel requires no modifications to your existing system.
Beyond vast improvements in fuel quality, there have been many advances in heating oil equipment, including oil storage tanks. Designed with corrosion-resistant materials, today’s tanks can last for decades. New technology allows for remote monitoring to protect against the rare event of a leak and guarantees that you will always have a sufficient supply of heating oil on hand.
Abundant Heating Oil
In the past few years, a driving force for the prevailing trend of stable, manageable oil prices has been the massive increases in U.S. crude oil production. The U.S. is producing so much oil that we are moving toward being a net exporter of oil, rather than a net importer. This could become a reality within the next 10 years, according to the U.S. Energy Department.
- In 2015, U.S. crude oil production averaged more than 9.4 million barrels per day the highest annual average crude oil production since 1972.
- Based on an average of 2.6 or more persons per household, it’s estimated that more than 16.5 million consumers in our country benefit from heating oil each year.
- The U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve has a capacity of 727-million barrels; it’s the largest stockpile of government-owned emergency crude oil in the world.
- The majority of the heating oil used in the United States is refined domestically.
In our next post, we’ll take a closer look at two other great oilheat benefits: Safety and Efficiency.