On Fri, 2011-05-06 at 13:27 -0500, Mark E. Skeels wrote:
> [SNIP]
>=20
> It's infrequent enough that I suspect it amounts to a very small=20
> fraction of overall oil usage
>=20
> Why is it that using oil for heat is prevalent in the east?

I don't think you can infer that.

It's simple: what do you do if you don't HAVE a natural gas feed? MANY
areas, especially more rural ones don't have a natural gas feed.

Your choices then pretty much become: propane, oil and leccy.

Where I'm from propane is more popular, but oil is common enough.=20

Propane has the issue of leaks can result in the house blowing up. Oil
has the issue of leaks can result in your properly being labelled an
environmental disaster.

Most people avoid electricity because of the higher costs then burning
propane or oil.

> Can it be more economical than natural gas?

Usually not, otherwise people with natural gas supplies would use it.
The fact that a truck doesn't have to come to your location to refill
your tank alone probably has something to do with the savings.

TTYL


--=20
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