It’s Ultra-Clean. Ultra-Efficient. And Ultra-Environmentally Friendly. It’s Ultra-Low Sulfur Bioheat® Fuel! Your heating oil is better than ever!
If you live in the five boroughs of New York City or Nassau, Suffolk or Westchester counties, you are heating your home with clean, renewable Bioheat® Fuel! The regional move to lower greenhouse gas emissions, better air quality and renewable heating fuel began in July 2010 when the New York City Council passed “Local Law 42 of 2010” which required all grades of heating oils to contain at least 2% biodiesel blended with ultra-low sulfur heating oil. New York City became a national leader in biofuel use for home heating in October 2016. Mayor Bill de Blasio signed into law INT-642A, raising the minimum biodiesel component of New York City's Bioheat® fuel to 5 percent by October 2017 and then incrementally to 20% by 2034.
The rest of the downstate area followed suit in September 2017 when New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed Senate Bill 5422A – setting the minimum standard of 5 percent biodiesel in all heating oil sold in Nassau, Suffolk and Westchester counties.
Many regional heating oil dealers are delivering Bioheat® fuel at blends with up to 20% renewable biodiesel, or B20. This is great news, because customers using higher blends of Bioheat® fuel are entitled to a New York State Clean Heating Fuel tax credit.
Clean Heating Fuel Tax Credit
New York State offers generous tax credits as an incentive to use Bioheat® fuel. Residents who use blends of B6 (6 percent biodiesel) or higher can claim a direct income tax credit of up to 20 cents for every gallon they buy – one cent for each percentage point of biodiesel in their heating oil (up to B20).
Click here to find more information on the tax credits available, and click here for the form required to claim your tax credits.
Ultra-Low Sulfur Bioheat® Fuel Benefits:
Heating equipment that runs on ultra-low sulfur Bioheat® fuel lasts longer and requires less maintenance.
- Using ultra-low sulfur Bioheat® fuel could also increase your heating system’s efficiency. And, according to the Consumer Energy Council of America, ultra-low sulfur Bioheat® fuel reduces emissions by over 70% compared to traditional heating fuel.
- You don’t need to make any modifications to your burner, boiler, furnace, tank or any heating system component in order to use ultra-low sulfur Bioheat® fuel.
- Bioheat® fuel blends at B2 (2% biodiesel) are lower in Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions than natural gas when evaluated over 20 years. B20 Bioheat® fuel is lower in emissions when evaluated over 100 years.
Full Service
Full-Service Bioheat® fuel dealers serve as a "one-stop shop" for home heating products and services. They deliver fuel, offer cost management programs, install and service equipment, and offer service contracts that protect customers' boilers and furnaces. They also deliver peace of mind - providing emergency service all year-round. Click here to read more about Bioheat® fuel services.
Why Choose Bioheat® Fuel?
Bioheat® fuel is the best fuel available for space heating. Bioheat® fuel provides a strong flame that yields better heat and faster hot water than other fuels, and dealers are incorporating higher levels of renewable resources, with strong backing from the State of New York.
Economy: Despite all the talk about rising fuel prices, Bioheat® fuel is generally the value leader. Its primary component, Oilheat, has been less expensive than natural gas in New York State for most of the past 20 years, on a BTU-for-BTU basis.
Consumer Choice: Hundreds of independent companies in and around the New York metro region sell Bioheat® fuel. Dealers price their fuel competitively and work diligently to satisfy customers. The companies that thrive tend to be very customer-oriented. Their customers enjoy friendly, responsive service; expert maintenance and installation; helpful budget programs; and great conservation advice.
High-Efficiency Equipment: Bioheat® fuel equipment is constantly evolving to incorporate advancements in efficiency and comfort. Today's boilers and furnaces use high-tech alloys and sophisticated electronics to enable flexible operation that can be customized to match actual conditions. Many new boilers are designed to incorporate weather-responsive controls that greatly reduce fuel usage during mildly cold weather and provide a more even heat with fewer temperature swings. Other important advancements include two-stage burners that conserve fuel and electronically commutated furnace blowers that save electricity, provide smoother operation and work well with high-efficiency central air conditioning systems. Most full-service Bioheat® fuel dealers employ expert technicians who are certified to install and service today's advanced systems.
Full Service: A full-service Bioheat® fuel dealer supplements fuel delivery with a variety of valuable services, making their business a one-stop shop for home comfort. Many offer budget plans, which spread fuel costs out over 10 to 12 months and eliminate the budget squeeze that can result when expenses for holidays and heating pile up simultaneously. Automatic delivery frees the customer from watching their fuel gauge by electrically monitoring levels and scheduling refills. Service contracts ensure that heating equipment gets the periodic preventive maintenance it needs and reduce an owner's expense in the event of a repair. Equipment replacement helps owners stay current with the latest high-efficiency technology.
Independent Storage: A Bioheat® fuel storage tank provides a comforting degree of reassurance. As long as there is Bioheat® fuel in the tank, a home or building has the fuel it needs to stay warm and be protected from the ravages of cold weather. There is no dependence on pipeline delivery that is subject to interruption from a construction accident or weather-related or environmental incident.
Renewability: America's Oilheat supply has been expanded with the introduction of renewable biofuel. Derived from plants and food byproducts, biofuel is environmentally friendly and boosts the U.S. economy with the creation of production jobs and the potential to reduce petroleum imports. Biofuel is blended with traditional Oilheat to create Bioheat® fuel, which is approved by ASTM for use in all Oilheat applications. Oil-fired heating systems use Bioheat® fuel without any modifications, and the emissions are cleaner. The State of New York supports the use of biofuels with a direct tax credit. To read more about New York's clean, renewable biofuels, visit our Bioheat® fuel page.
Conservation Guidance: The best defense against rising energy prices is conservation; the less you use, the less exposure you have to price inflation. Expert conservation assistance is a vital service available from many Bioheat® fuel dealers. Highly trained Bioheat® fuel experts regularly work with customers to reduce consumption, save money and even integrate alternative solutions like solar energy. A full-service dealer can handle the whole process: consultation, installation and ongoing service. Full service maximizes accountability, because the installer and customer have an ongoing relationship.
"Switch to Bioheat® Fuel" Calculator
Trying to compare Bioheat® fuel rates to gas rates? You've come to the right place! The only way to really compare the two is to convert your gas bill from cost per therm to cost per gallon, like Bioheat® fuel.
Click here to use the calculator!
Safety: A fuel must be safe to be effective, and Bioheat® fuel is an exceptionally stable and safe energy product. Despite packing a robust 138,700 BTUs per gallon, Bioheat® fuel is not explosive, and it won't even burn if a lit match is dropped into it. (A burner heats Bioheat® fuel to 140 degrees and atomizes it to make it ignite.) Given these characteristics, Bioheat® fuel is perfect for long-term storage in a home or building. Bioheat® fuel is also safe when in use because it cannot generate dangerous levels of carbon monoxide in the home without first emitting visible warning signs of a system malfunction.
Cleanliness: Bioheat® fuel emissions are low and headed lower. The increasing use of biofuel and the switch to ultra-low sulfur heating oil are leading to a pristine future. With these important fuel modifications, customers can just sit back and enjoy their shrinking carbon footprints without changing any of their equipment.
Dependable: The U.S. Bioheat® fuel industry is well positioned to deliver its fuel reliably. The raw materials come from the United States, Canada and other petroleum-producing countries and are processed in domestic refineries. A supply disruption is unlikely, because the U.S. maintains the world's largest reserve supply: the 727 million barrel Strategic Petroleum Reserve. The U.S. also keeps one million barrels of heating oil in reserve. The flow of supply to customers is supported by numerous private bulk storage facilities that provide ready access close to home. Many New York City dealers operate their own storage facilities as well, ensuring their customers of a constant supply.
Friendly Service: Bioheat® fuel is a quintessential local American business. Thousands of individual entrepreneurs across the U.S. have developed and built the industry, and their legacy lives on in Bioheat® fuel's friendly, personal service. "House calls" are the very essence of Bioheat® fuel. Drivers visit the customer's home or building every time they deliver fuel, and technicians make periodic service calls. This builds a direct, ongoing connection that fosters great relationships. Many companies are still owned and operated by the families that founded them, and customers enjoy a personal connection that is especially welcome in this age of faceless, multinational conglomerates.