How Does an Oil-Fired Heating System Work?

Heat Distribution

Your thermostat senses that the room temperature has fallen below your thermostat setting and sends a signal to your heating system to provide heat for your home.

Oil-fired heating systems distribute heat in one of three ways:

1. Warm air through vents
2. Hot water through baseboards
3. Steam through radiators

When your oil burner is engaged, heating oil travels from the tank to the burner by way of a pump. There it becomes a fine mist mixed with air. The fuel/air mixture is then injected into the burner where it is ignited in the combustion chamber.

Heating System Types

Depending on the type of system you have, water-based or forced hot air, the system works differently to disperse heat throughout your home.

There are two main types of water-based systems: hot water systems and steam systems. Water is heated in either a cast iron or steel boiler before it is dispersed throughout your home.

In a hot water system, the heated water is circulated through radiators or baseboards. In a steam system, water turns to steam and rises through pipes to the radiators.

In a warm air system, your furnace heats air. A blower then forces the heated air up through ducts and out of vents in your floors or walls. The air gets drawn back to the furnace through a return duct, and the cycle repeats.

Finally, emissions from the combustion of fuel and air exit the system through a flue pipe that runs out of your home through the chimney.

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