What is the difference between oil heat and gas heat for the home?

Question

we want to know what cost more too if anyone could let us know thanx ....

Answer 1

Apples and Oranges are both healthy snacks, but some people favor one over the other. It's pretty much the same thing with gas and oil. Both provide heat, whether it's forced air or hydronic. Both rely on burners in your home; although there are some outdoor package units avaiable, I personally dislike them. Both are safe and reliable Gas often gets a bad rap when an incident occurs with poorly maintained equipment. Oil gets a bad rap when leaking tanks or lines cause an ecological disaster. Some homeowners insurance carriers will not insure homes with oil heat unless they have above-ground tanks with leak detectors.

As of the writing, oil costs more than gas per therm. That can change in a politcal instant, and it has. Costs to buy and maintain the equipment are similar. Gas requires an external gas supplier (which is usually an area monopoly) whereas oil gives you a choice of local suppliers, but requires an on-site storage tank, and usually a contract with the supplier.

Anyone who says "Oil, hands-down" likely has little experience with gas, and vice-versa.

SO, what do you prefer? Apples or Oranges? There really is no clear answer. My professional experience is mainly with gas. I prefer gas, but there is nothing wrong with oil. ;-)

Hope this helps.

Answer 2

oil produces more btu's per gallon but you can only get about 85% maximum of that heat into your house, the rest goes up the chimney. an oil burner also needs to be set up just right by a competent technician to get the best efficiency while maintaining a clean burn. this means proper maintenance is crucial. oil fired heating equipment is also more prone to breakdowns than gas and service calls are generally more expensive. Gas heat on the other hand is much cleaner. high efficiency condensing gas furnaces can put up to 96% of the heat into your house, losing only a small amount in the flue exhaust. gass furnaces are also more reliable with less expensive service calls in general. so basically you get more heat per dollar from the fuel with oil but also more headaches. A little less heat from the fuel with gas but a greater percentage of the heat actually makes it into your house, much cleaner and less headaches. Go with gas.

Answer 3

In a nutshell:
* Prices of the two fuels fluctuate with politics and
supply/demand. - If I had to bet on availability and
price stability in the near term, (next few years),
I'd bet on gas.
* Municipal Utility gas is more dependable, no
delivery hassles.
* Hporto's got it right on efficiency. There are
"condensing gas furnaces" now on the market
that are 95+% efficient, and they also save on
construction costs because the flue gas temp. is
so low that PVC pipe flues are employed instead
of the insulated fireproof stacks required for oil.

Answer 4

PRICE:
Cheapest to highest:
Gas$$
Oil$$$$
Propane $$$$$$
(USA, ILLINOIS)