Are oil furnaces hard to maintain?
In theory, the answer is yes. In practice, most people won’t notice a big difference between an oil furnace and a gas furnace. The differences between the two are only really a factor if you’re planning on not hiring a professional to inspect and maintain your furnace, which is not a good idea in either case, but it is a particularly bad idea for oil furnaces.
Oil produces a lot more residue when burned. And that’s fine — your oil furnace will have filters and a chimney to keep that residue under control. But soot and other contaminants will build up in the system over time, and they’ll need to be cleaned to keep the furnace functioning properly.
On top of that, when you get your fuel delivered by a heating oil Yorkshire provider, it will need to be stored on an oil tank, as this website shows. And that tank will also need inspection and maintenance to prevent contamination.
All of that is not a problem with gas furnaces. Those only have an air filter at their intake vents, which you can clean and change yourself. However, even without soot production, gas furnaces still need to be inspected once a year to prevent mechanical issues. And oil furnaces also need to be inspected and cleaned about once a year. So as long as you’re not trying to DIY your furnace care, owning one shouldn’t be more trouble than owning the other.
