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Heating oil, or oil heat, is a low viscosity, flammable liquid petroleum product used to fuel building boilers. It is the most popular form of heating in Ireland although natural gas is quickly catching up, particularly in urban areas where it easy to connect to the distribution system.
Heating oil is commonly delivered by truck tank to residential, commercial and municipal buildings and stored in above ground storage tanks, also known as AST’s, located in the basements, garages, or outside adjacent to the building. Heating oil is less commonly used as an industrial fuel or for power generation.
Heating oil is widely used in parts of Europe, the United States and Canada where natural gas or propane is frequently not available.
Heat from Oil is measured in BTUs (British Thermal Units) and in a situation where one is considering what fuel to use in a new build home, it is easy to calculate by room volume what number of BTUs are needed to sufficiently heat the room and thereby estimate what your running costs are going to be.
Boiler manufacturers have perfected "retention head oil-fired burners" and "triple-pass flue" boilers that have increased theoretical oil burner efficiency to over 93%. To reach that level of efficiency, however, would require a lower flue gas temperature that most oil burners cannot produce therefore causing condensation that most oil-fired furnaces cannot handle without damage to the heat exchanger, venting pipes or outside casing of the appliance. Hence, the maximum practical efficiency is typically lower at around 86%.
Heating oil is very similar to diesel fuel, and both are classified as distillates. It consists of a mixture of petroleum-derived hydrocarbons. In Ireland, the common types are derv (diesel) and kerosene. The diesel used in domestic boilers, called green diesel is coloured green to distinguish if from road diesel which attracts a higher rate of duties and taxes.
For efficient burning, the oil is drawn/pulled from the tank into a pump and pressurized (residential) to 100-140 psi and then forced through a filtered (specific to appliance) nozzle, into an atomized spray pattern. It is then ignited with a step-up transformer, taking 120 volts (AC) and stepping it up to 10,000 volts. The voltage travels down two brass conductors (buzz bars) to the metal/ceramic electrodes and produces a spark approximately 1/4 inches across. With the airflow coming from the squirrel cage of the oil-burner, the spark ignites the oil droplets. Through the use of a combustion chamber, the flame is contained, and flue gases travel through the heat exchanger. The heat of the flue gases is transferred through the walls of the heat exchanger as they pass to the chimney, and the fan/blower unit circulates the heat of the heat exchanger throughout the house. With a cold air return generally in the centre of the house supplying all or most of the cold air that is returned to the boiler for re-heating.
Oil is, without doubt, the most efficient and fast producer of heat in a domestic situation. The problem with it is fluctuating cost and concerns over supply. It is also environmentally harmful because of the nature of combustion. However, it without peer in providing quick and controllable heat and remains popular in Ireland because of these qualities.
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