Are Fuel Oil Furnaces Very Efficient?

What is an AFUE Rating?

What’s the best way to heat your Hudson Valley home? As experts in the heating business for over thirty years, we here at Economy Oil encourage you to consider the advantages to choosing a heating oil furnace.

Heating oil furnace benefits

Here are some advantages to heating oil furnaces:

• Location, location, location. An oil furnace can go almost anywhere. You’re not limited by the location of pipelines as you are with natural gas.
• Safety matters. Oil is safer than natural gas and propane. It won’t explode or ignite in normal conditions.
• Go the distance. Oil furnaces offer longevity. With proper maintenance, an oil furnace can last more than twenty-five years.

There are a lot of benefits to an oil furnace, but top of most homeowners’ minds is efficiency. An efficient heating system is good for your budget and the economy. So, are fuel oil furnaces efficient?

What is an AFUE rating?

Before we talk about efficiency, it’s important to explain AFUE. This is an acronym that stands for Annual Fuel Utilization Efficiency. The AFUE number can be found on a yellow sticker affixed to your appliance. It is an energy efficiency rating. Your appliance’s AFUE number represents how much of the fuel your equipment consumes is actually going towards producing heat for your home as opposed to being wasted and not generating heat. For example, if your furnace has an AFUE of 86, then 86% of the fuel you furnace consumes is actually heating your home. The rest is being lost, probably out of your chimney.

Are oil furnaces efficient?

Federal regulations require an AFUE rating of at least 84. Most modern oil furnaces have an AFUE rating that is between 84 and 90. However, an older or poorly maintained furnace isn’t as efficient as a new or properly maintained one. So if you’re overdue for an upgrade or maintenance visit, don’t wait any longer. Your unit’s AFUE may have dropped as low as 60 or 50. That means you’re wasting oil and losing money.

Beyond the AFUE

Knowing your unit’s AFUE is a good start, but there’s more to consider. A propane furnace may have an AFUE rating of 95, but gallon for gallon it doesn’t have the same heating power that heating oil does. As we mentioned earlier, maintenance is also an important part of the efficiency equation. You’ll get a lot more out of well-maintained unit.

Get the most out of your oil furnace by making sure it’s properly installed and maintained. Then choose Economy Oil as your heating oil provider and rest assured that you’re getting a quality product for the best price in the neighborhood.

Economy Oil gives our Hudson Valley customers the power to save. Contact us today to start getting the best price on heating oil.