According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, historically, the average consumer pays more in a year for oil than gas, which may be true nationally. However, when comparing costs here in New York City, you need to consider the full cost to deliver gas to your home. The natural gas commodity alone can be cheaper, however you also need to factor in the gas utility’s delivery cost, to make it an apples-to-apples comparison. Here in New York, as utility infrastructure and maintenance costs continue to increase, the delivery portion of your utility bill has been increasing at an alarming rate, resulting in no real cost benefit to a homeowner using natural gas. While in the past, many people considered switching out a fully functioning oil furnace to gas, just to save money on their yearly heating costs, which is no longer the case.
Natural gas vs. heating oil. The common idea that gas is good, and oil is bad, is a myth. The reality is, that when it comes to environmental impact, Bioheat is good. Bioheat is renewable, and it will reduce carbon emissions. As far as efficiency goes, both will keep you warm, if your equipment is good. And when it comes to cost, it’s just a matter of considering all the costs involved and doing the math.

Often when people are buying an older, oil heated home, they find an old furnace and inefficient heat. The cause of the inefficiency is commonly targeted at the fuel source, rather than the actual aging furnace or insufficient insulation. This scenario has been fueling the myth that gas is “good”, and oil is “bad”, for decades. When upgrading a furnace, people tend to think switching to a gas furnace will give them optimal efficiency. Part of that is true. Simply upgrading the furnace will increase their efficiency. Both new gas and new oil furnaces have high efficiencies. However, heating oil burns hotter than natural gas. This means it will not only heat the space in half the time, but it will burn less fuel while doing so. In addition to that, because oil furnaces burn hotter, there will be less condensation created which leads to a longer furnace life. Oil furnaces last 30+ years while gas furnaces last about 12-15.

As an Approved customer, you can choose the fuel you prefer without sacrificing on service, because we provide a full range of services for both residential and commercial customers, for Bioheat® fuel and natural gas, including 24-hour emergency coverage for both types of systems.

The biggest differentiator between bioheat and natural gas is the environmental impact. As a result of the Paris Climate Change Convention in 2016, over 200 nations agreed to limit carbon emissions by emphasizing renewable energy sources and low carbon options. Natural gas, standard petroleum oil, and coal are all in the same category of fossil fuels and are considered nonrenewable energy. On the opposite end, bioheat, wind and solar energy all fall under the umbrella of renewable energy. Bioheat is a combination of biodiesel and standard heating oil. What makes it renewable is that biodiesel is produced from a variety of feedstocks such used restaurant cooking grease. Once processed and combined with standard heating oil, it becomes Bioheat, which can be used in place of standard heating oil without any modifications.
In addition to the fact that Bioheat is a renewable fuel, it also beats natural gas in carbon emissions. More research is currently being conducted on what % of biodiesel blend beats natural gas in carbon emissions. But, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, even the B12 blend (12% biodiesel and 88% standard petroleum oil), Bioheat emits less carbon than natural gas.

New heating equipment for Bioheat® fuel and natural gas are priced comparably. Upgrading to new equipment without switching fuels is less expensive than undertaking a fuel conversion. Approved offers both upgrades and conversions.