Some basic facts about oil heat, safety and the environment:

• According to a report by the National Fire Protection Association, oil heat equipment caused the least amount of deaths of all heating fuels. Unlike propane and natural gas, oil can't explode. Before it can even burn, it must first be turned into a fine particle mist and then ignited.
   

• While some have characterized oil as being "dirty". In fact heating oil is clean, contains no carcinogens, and is biodegradable. Reports that depict oil heating as an environmental hazard are unjustified.
   

• A properly maintained residential oil tank can last for decades and do not present a threat to human health or the environment. Oilheat has the least environmental impact of any type of space heating and hot water fuel, attributable to it's high efficiency and clean burning. Natural gas and propane are similarly benign, while electric, coal and wood heat are far more detrimental to air quality.
   

• An unpleasant fact of life is that all common heating fuels exact some toll on the environment. Oil is sometimes spilled in the transportation process. Millions of leaks in natural gas lines allow methane, one of the worst "Greenhouse Gases", to foul the air.
   

• Home oil heat equipment is so efficient, and emissions are so negligible, they are not even regulated by the federal Clean Air Act, unlike other petroleum products.
   

• Oil poses one of the least risks of carbon monoxide poisoning to your family. A report by the Consumer Product Safety Commission found that gas units are associated with 82%, of carbon monoxide deaths in the home. Oil units were involved in less than 1/10 of that.