Safe Home Heating Oil for Your South Carolina Home

A NORA-funded Oilheat Consumer Research Study revealed that many people, particularly younger ones, have huge misconceptions about the safety of heating with oil. The fact is, heating oil has always been a remarkably safe fuel and many people choose to stay with oilheat for exactly this reason. While there are many reasons why people feel safe at home with oilheat, here are a few points to keep in mind.

• Heating oil cannot burn in its liquid state. It takes an advanced high-tech burner to ignite the oil. Before combustion can occur, heating oil must first be vaporized by your oil burner at temperatures above 140°.
• Heating oil cannot explode. The fuel that is stored in your tank is very safe. If you drop a lit match into a bucket of heating oil, the flame would go out just as if you dropped the match into water.
• Oilheat poses a very low risk of carbon monoxide poisoning. If an oil burner malfunctions (most often due to a lack of maintenance), the safety devices in the unit will typically shut the furnace or boiler off.
• Modern oil storage tanks have been designed to be virtually leak-proof. Whether your oil storage tank is located in your basement or outside your home, the tanks being installed today are designed with corrosion-resistant materials. Today’s tanks can last for decades! New technology allows for remote monitoring to protect against the rare event of a leak and guarantees that you will always have a sufficient supply of heating oil on hand.