Considering heating oil for your new or replacement home heating system? You’re not alone: more than 8 million households across the U.S. use heating oil to keep them warm all winter long, and for some pretty good reasons.

Here are three of them:

1. Safety – Heating oil does not burn in a liquid state and is non-explosive, making it one of the safest sources of home energy around.
2. Efficiency – Heating oil has come a long way in the last 40 years, and the industry has it one of the most efficient sources of heat. Many of today’s oil-fired boilers and furnaces operate at efficiencies reaching 90 percent or more.
3. Heat-per-dollar – When it comes to heating, cost savings is about more than the per-gallon price of fuel. To measure the heating value of fuels, you need to compare how much heat they actually produce.

   For example, heating oil produces 130,000 BTUs (British Thermal Units, a standard measure of heat) per hour, while propane produces only 95,000 BTUs. Even if a propane furnace runs more efficiently than its oil-fired equivalent (about 10 percent more efficiently is typical), propane can’t make up the difference in heat output through equipment efficiency alone.

   Consider this chart, which compares the amount of heat produced per dollar of oil heat vs. propane heat:

   Fuel	Heat	Efficiency	Cost/gallon	Heat produced/$
   Fuel oil	130,000 BTU*	85%	@$3.14*	35,191 BTUs / dollar
   Propane	95,000 BTU *	95%	@$3.29*	28,291 BTUs / dollar

   As you can see, even though the efficiency of oil-fired equipment is lower, oil heat still out performs propane in the amount of heat produced per dollar at today’s prices.

The bottom line: When you combine new technologies with heating oil’s inherent advantages, it’s a great option to consider for your Maryland home. If you do choose to heat your home with oil heat, there’s only one option to consider if you live in our service area: Q-Dog.

*Most recent EIA Central Atlantic average residential price