What Is Residential Heating Oil?
Every home has an energy source, but the energy source can vary based on where you live. Heating oil is an energy source that is very prevalently used throughout the Northeast of the U.S. In fact, heating oil is so widely used around here that many people from the area don’t even realize that people living in other parts of the country use alternative energy sources like natural gas, propane, electric, and so on.
When it comes to heating oil, one thing is for sure — U.S. residential sector and commercial sector heating oil consumption occurs primarily in New England and the Central Atlantic regions of the country.
What is home heating oil?
Home heating oil can be called a variety of things – residential heating oil, #2 heating oil, home heating oil, fuel oil, etc. While it may feel confusing to get the terminology straight, you can rest assured knowing that these names all refer to the same thing!
Heating oil is sold for use in burners and boilers for space and water heating.
Commercial properties — like small businesses and office buildings — use this same heating oil too.
Who uses heating oil?
In the winter of 2020–2021, approximately 5.3 million households in the United States used heating oil as their primary space heating fuel, and about 82% of those households were in the U.S. Northeast Census Region.
The Northeast accounts for about 85% of total U.S. residential heating oil sales across the country. In 2020, residential consumers in the Northeast used approximately 2.6 billion gallons of heating oil. That’s a lot of fuel! Even despite those large numbers, heating oil is still much less commonly used in other parts of the country.
In 2019, only 4.4% of total U.S. homes were primarily heated with heating oil. If you take a look at the EIA map of heating oil use by state, the large majority is concentrated in the Northeast in states like Maine, New York, Pennsylvania, etc.
How do you get heating oil?
Heating oil is delivered to you via truck. Heating oil companies send their fleet of fuel delivery trucks to a local oil terminal to load up. This is where the oil company purchases heating oil and loads it into the tanker on the top of their delivery truck. From there, they head out onto the road to provide heating oil delivery for homes and businesses alike.
When the driver arrives at your location, they will park out front and pull a very long (and heavy!) hose from the truck to your fuel storage tank. They will then insert the nozzle of the hose into your tank’s fill pipe and begin mechanically pumping the fuel.
If you want to learn how to best prepare for your next home heating oil delivery, check out our heating oil delivery guide here.
What is the difference between heating oil vs. diesel?
Heating oil vs. diesel. We get asked this question a lot and technically speaking, they are almost the same thing. Heating oil and diesel fuel are both petroleum products called distillates. Residential heating oil (ULSHO) is essentially diesel fuel (ULSD) but the key difference between heating oil vs. diesel is that heating oil is dyed red at the refinery.
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) requires heating oil and other distillate fuels that are not for highway use to be colored with a red dye to identify the fuel as exempt from the federal, state, and local taxes applied to fuels sold for use on public roadways.
So even though the diesel fuel you see for sale at your local gas station may technically be the same fuel as the heating oil you use in your home, the reason it costs so much more per gallon is because of mandated taxes imposed on the fuel when it is used in cars and trucks for transportation.
That usually brings us to the next question.
Can I put diesel in my oil tank?
“Can I put diesel in my oil tank” is a common question we receive at Star Home Heat. If you ever run low on heating oil and find yourself in a pinch, you can, in fact, use diesel fuel as a temporary substitute for home heating oil. Follow these steps to put diesel fuel in your heating oil tank safely.
Just keep in mind that gasoline is not the same thing as heating oil or diesel fuel.
Gas that you see at your everyday gas station is a lighter-weight distillation and it cannot be used in your home heating oil furnace. Do NOT put ordinary vehicle gasoline in your heating oil tank. It will damage your furnace and cause a whole slew of other problems.
Order Online for Your Next Heating Oil Delivery
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure! With Star Home Heat, scheduling heating oil delivery has never been easier, so don’t let your fuel oil tank run dry. Whether you live in Brookville, Glen Cove, Auburndale, Floral Park, or anywhere in between, you can check heating oil prices today and select a heating oil delivery date right at your fingertips. Just enter your zip code to get started!
