Heating oil is any petroleum product or other oil used for heating; it is a fuel oil. Most commonly, it refers to low viscosity grades of fuel oil used for furnaces or boilers use for home heating and in other buildings. Home heating oil is often abbreviated as HHO.[1]
Most heating oil products are chemically very similar to diesel fuel used as motor fuel; motor fuel is typically subject to higher fuel taxes. Many countries add fuel dyes to heating oil, allowing law enforcement to check if a driver is evading fuel taxes. Since 2002, Solvent Yellow 124 has been added as a "Euromarker" in the European Union; untaxed diesel is known as "red diesel" in the United Kingdom.
Heating oil is commonly delivered by tank truck to residential, commercial and municipal buildings and stored in above-ground storage tanks ("ASTs") located in the basements, garages, or outside adjacent to the building. It is sometimes stored in underground storage tanks (or "USTs") but less often than ASTs. ASTs are used for smaller installations due to the lower cost factor. Heating oil is less commonly used as an industrial fuel or for power generation.
Leaks from tanks and piping are an environmental concern. In the United States, various federal and state regulations are in place regarding the proper transportation, storage and burning of heating oil, which is classified as a hazardous material (HazMat) by federal regulators.
Technical characteristics
Heating oil consists of a mixture of petroleum-derived hydrocarbons in the 14- to 20-carbon atom range that condense between 250 and 350°C (482 and 662°F) during oil refining. Heating oil condenses at a lower temperature than petroleum jelly, bitumen, candle wax, and lubricating oil, but at a higher temperature than kerosene, which condenses between 160–250°C (320–482°F). The heavy (C20+) hydrocarbons condense between 340–400°C (644–752°F).
Heating oil produces 137,500 British thermal units per US gallon (38.3MJ/L) to 138,700 British thermal units per US gallon (38.7MJ/L) and weighs 8.2 pounds per US gallon (0.95kg/L).[2]Number 2 fuel oil has a flash point of 52°C (126°F).
Historically, the legal difference between diesel and heating oil in the United States has been sulfur allowance. Diesel for machinery and equipment must be below 15 ppm sulfur content while heating oil needed only stay below 500 ppm sulfur. However, most heating oil in the United States is now "ultra-low sulfur heating oil" (ULSHO) and meets the same 15 ppm standard.
Heating oil is known in the United States as No. 2 heating oil. In the U.S., it must conform to ASTM standard D396. Diesel and kerosene, while often confused as being similar or identical, must each conform to their respective ASTM standards.[3] Heating oil is widely used in both the United States and Canada, with U.S. residential use most common in the northeastern states of New York and Pennsylvania and in New England, collectively accounting for 85% of total U.S. residential heating oil use.[4] In the United States, biodiesel blends of B5 (5% biodiesel) and B20 (20% biodiesel) are available in most markets as a lower CO2 and cleaner burning heating fuel.
The heating oil futures contract trades in units of 1,000 barrels (160m3) with a minimum fluctuation of $0.0001 per gallon and (for the USA) is based on delivery in New York Harbor.[5]
The Department of Energy tracks the prices homeowners pay for home heating fuel (oil and propane). There are also a number of websites that allow home owners to compare the price per gallon they are paying with the Department of Energy data as well as other consumers in their area. Likewise the US Energy Information Administration collects heating oil price statistics and maintains historical price data for all major US markets during each heating season. The US Department of Energy also supports research and development for heating oil technology through the National Oilheat Research Alliance. Additional information about biodiesel heating oil use can also be found at the National Biodiesel Board's site.
Use of heating oil by state
Heating oil is mostly used in the northeastern and northwestern urban United States and a strong market presence in rural areas as well. Most of the northeast's heating oil comes from Irving Oil's refinery in Saint John, New Brunswick,[6] the largest oil refinery in Canada.
Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland
Heating oil is the most common fuel for home heating in Northern Ireland due to the late development of a natural gas network.[7] Common suppliers of heating oil in Ireland are Maxol, Patterson Oil and Emo Oil.
England, Scotland and Wales
In England, Scotland and Wales, there are two types of heating oil: commercial heating oil – referring to gas oil, i.e. red diesel – and domestic heating oil – meaning kerosene, specifically BS 2869 Class C2 kerosene.[8] Heating oil is used for home heating in England, Scotland and Wales, typically in premises away from mains gas. There are around 1.5 million people in Great Britain using oil for home heating.
Great Britain has many suppliers of heating oil ranging from large companies such as Conquest Oil Company and Crown Oil to local and independent heating oil suppliers such as J. R. Rix & Sons. Many villages may use buying groups to order heating oil at the same time, thereby accessing lower costs. Many heating oil suppliers will choose to list their prices on independent heating oil price comparison websites. These sites draw in home heating oil users and compare various local supplier prices in order to provide the lowest price available. In the UK it is possible to search for prices by town name, county and postcode prefix.
The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) have referred the UK oil market to the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) for review. The OFT has resolved to look at the structure of the market, with a view of the fairness for consumers and alternative energy options for off-grid consumers such as heat pumps.
Heating oil storage regulations in the United Kingdom
Illustration on where the parts of an oil storage tank that require inspection may be located. Tank design may vary from tank to tank.
Heating oil storage in the United Kingdom is governed by regulations that ensure the safe installation and usage of oil storage tanks.[9] It is a criminal offence to keep a tank that violates these regulations, and the owners are liable for fines, penalties and any costs incurred as a result of cleaning up oil spills.
The Oil Storage Regulations (2001) apply to oil tanks used for commercial and industrial purposes, or domestic tanks over 3500 litres in capacity. They state that the storage tank should be of "sufficient strength and structural integrity to ensure that it is unlikely to burst or leak in its ordinary use".[12] The tank, along with any filters, gauges, valves or ancillary equipment, must be contained within a secondary unit or bund that has at least 110% of the capacity of the inner tank. If the tank has a fill pipe that is not contained within the secondary unit, a drip tray must be installed. They also require the use of an automatic overfill prevention if it is not "reasonably practical" to monitor the oil levels within the tank.
The Building Regulations Approved Document J covers the legal requirements for the installation of the tanks within the premises of a building. The regulations state that any new tank larger than 2,500 litres must be stored within a bunded tank or secondary containment that is a minimum of 110% of the tank's capacity. If a tank is single skinned and smaller than 2,500 litres, it must be given an individual site pollution risk assessment. This highlights any pollution or hazard risks such as the possibility of the oil escaping and reaching a river or stream, or the risk of a collision if the storage tank is located near a road.
They further state that all tanks must be installed on a surface strong enough to support a full storage tank. The surface must be flat, even and fire-resistant, and should extend at least 300mm beyond the boundaries of the tank. A paving stone surface must be at least 42mm thick, and a concrete surface must be at least 100mm thick. The document also states that the tank should be situated at least 1800mm away from any potential hazards, such as doors, windows, appliance flue terminals, non-fire rated buildings such as garden fences, and at least 760mm from non-fire rated smaller structures such as wooden fences.[13]
A safe, secure tank that complies with all regulations will look similar to the diagram above. It details the different parts of the tank that need to be checked in order to ensure the tank is legal, including where the ancillary equipment should be located and the presence of an automatic overfill prevention.
Kerosene, or paraffin, is a combustible hydrocarbon liquid which is derived from petroleum. It is widely used as a fuel in aviation as well as households. Its name derives from κηρός (kērós) meaning "wax", and was registered as a trademark by Nova Scotia geologist and inventor Abraham Gesner in 1854 before evolving into a generic trademark. It is sometimes spelled kerosine in scientific and industrial usage.
Propane is a three-carbon alkane with the molecular formula C3H8. It is a gas at standard temperature and pressure, but compressible to a transportable liquid. A by-product of natural gas processing and petroleum refining, it is often a constituent of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), which is commonly used as a fuel in domestic and industrial applications and in low-emissions public transportation; other constituents of LPG may include propylene, butane, butylene, butadiene, and isobutylene. Discovered in 1857 by the French chemist Marcellin Berthelot, it became commercially available in the US by 1911. Propane has lower volumetric energy density than gasoline or coal, but has higher gravimetric energy density than them and burns more cleanly.
Diesel fuel, also called diesel oil, heavy oil (historically) or simply diesel, is any liquid fuel specifically designed for use in a diesel engine, a type of internal combustion engine in which fuel ignition takes place without a spark as a result of compression of the inlet air and then injection of fuel. Therefore, diesel fuel needs good compression ignition characteristics.
Biodiesel is a renewable biofuel, a form of diesel fuel, derived from biological sources like vegetable oils, animal fats, or recycled greases, and consisting of long-chain fatty acid esters. It is typically made from fats.
Liquefied petroleum gas, also referred to as liquid petroleum gas, is a fuel gas which contains a flammable mixture of hydrocarbon gases, specifically propane, n-butane and isobutane. It can sometimes contain some propylene, butylene, and isobutene.
Fuel oil is any of various fractions obtained from the distillation of petroleum. Such oils include distillates and residues. Fuel oils include heavy fuel oil, marine fuel oil (MFO), furnace oil (FO), gas oil (gasoil), heating oils, diesel fuel, and others.
Water heating is a heat transfer process that uses an energy source to heat water above its initial temperature. Typical domestic uses of hot water include cooking, cleaning, bathing, and space heating. In industry, hot water and water heated to steam have many uses.
Liquid fuels are combustible or energy-generating molecules that can be harnessed to create mechanical energy, usually producing kinetic energy; they also must take the shape of their container. It is the fumes of liquid fuels that are flammable instead of the fluid. Most liquid fuels in widespread use are derived from fossil fuels; however, there are several types, such as hydrogen fuel, ethanol, and biodiesel, which are also categorized as a liquid fuel. Many liquid fuels play a primary role in transportation and the economy.
Ultra-low-sulfur diesel (ULSD) is diesel fuel with substantially lowered sulfur content. Since 2006, almost all of the petroleum-based diesel fuel available in Europe and North America has been of a ULSD type.
Vegetable oil can be used as an alternative fuel in diesel engines and in heating oil burners. When vegetable oil is used directly as a fuel, in either modified or unmodified equipment, it is referred to as straight vegetable oil (SVO) or pure plant oil (PPO). Conventional diesel engines can be modified to help ensure that the viscosity of the vegetable oil is low enough to allow proper atomization of the fuel. This prevents incomplete combustion, which would damage the engine by causing a build-up of carbon. Straight vegetable oil can also be blended with conventional diesel or processed into biodiesel, HVO or bioliquids for use under a wider range of conditions.
This article describes the use and availability of biodiesel in various countries around the world.
An oil burner is a heating device which burns #1, #2 and #6 heating oils, diesel fuel or other similar fuels. In the United States, ultra low sulfur #2 diesel is the common fuel used. It is dyed red to show that it is road-tax exempt. In most markets of the United States, heating oil is the same specification of fuel as on-road un-dyed diesel.
Biofuel is fuel that is produced from organic matter (biomass), including plant materials and animal waste. It is considered a renewable source of energy that can assist in reducing carbon emissions. The two main types of biofuel currently being produced in Australia are biodiesel and bioethanol, used as replacements for diesel and petrol (gasoline) respectively. As of 2017 Australia is a relatively small producer of biofuels, accounting for 0.2% of world bioethanol production and 0.1% of world biodiesel production.
The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, originally named the Clean Energy Act of 2007, is an Act of Congress concerning the energy policy of the United States. As part of the Democratic Party's 100-Hour Plan during the 110th Congress, it was introduced in the United States House of Representatives by Representative Nick Rahall of West Virginia, along with 198 cosponsors. Even though Rahall was 1 of only 4 Democrats to oppose the final bill, it passed in the House without amendment in January 2007. When the Act was introduced in the Senate in June 2007, it was combined with Senate Bill S. 1419: Renewable Fuels, Consumer Protection, and Energy Efficiency Act of 2007. This amended version passed the Senate on June 21, 2007. After further amendments and negotiation between the House and Senate, a revised bill passed both houses on December 18, 2007 and President Bush, a Republican, signed it into law on December 19, 2007, in response to his "Twenty in Ten" challenge to reduce gasoline consumption by 20% in 10 years.
Vegetable oils are increasingly used as a substitute for fossil fuels. Vegetable oils are the basis of biodiesel, which can be used like conventional diesel. Some vegetable oil blends are used in unmodified vehicles, but straight vegetable oil often needs specially prepared vehicles which have a method of heating the oil to reduce its viscosity and surface tension, sometimes specially made injector nozzles, increased injection pressure and stronger glow-plugs, in addition to fuel pre-heating is used. Another alternative is vegetable oil refining.
Shipley Energy is a heating and cooling company headquartered in York, Pennsylvania. It provides energy to residential and commercial customers, in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, in the form of heating oil, propane, natural gas and electricity for residential customers, as well as kerosene, biodiesel and fuel oil to commercial customers, for buildings, machinery and fleets.
United Metro Energy Corp. is a privately held energy company, founded in 1942 and based in New York. The company supplies biodiesel, heating oil, ultra-low-sulfur diesel, natural gas and gasoline from its terminals in Greenpoint, Brooklyn and Calverton, Long Island.
Petroleum refining processes are the chemical engineering processes and other facilities used in petroleum refineries to transform crude oil into useful products such as liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), gasoline or petrol, kerosene, jet fuel, diesel oil and fuel oils.
United States policy in regard to biofuels, such as ethanol fuel and biodiesel, began in the early 1990s as the government began looking more intensely at biofuels as a way to reduce dependence on foreign oil and increase the nation's overall sustainability. Since then, biofuel policies have been refined, focused on getting the most efficient fuels commercially available, creating fuels that can compete with petroleum-based fuels, and ensuring that the agricultural industry can support and sustain the use of biofuels.
Petroleum refining in the United States in 2024 had a capacity of 18.4 million barrels per day. Although the US was the world's largest net importer of refined petroleum products as recently as 2008, the US became a net exporter in 2010, and in 2014 was the largest exporter and the largest net exporter of refined petroleum. As of January 2019, there were 135 operating refineries in the US, distributed among 30 states.
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