Frequently Asked Questions
Home Heating Products
How good is your oil?
Top Oil provides our customers with the best quality fuels, across a wide product range. We pride ourselves on our “best of breed” approach and ensure that only the finest end product is delivered to you. We manage our own terminal at Dublin Port. This means that we ship the oil in from refineries and handle the oil at every step from port to pump. This ensures a quality product is delivered to your home, every time.
What are the different types of home heating oil?
What is kerosene?
Kerosene (colloquially known as kero) is the cheapest and the most popular form of home heating oil in Ireland. On www.top.ie, more than 95% of our customers order kerosene.
Kerosene is a low-sulphur, clean burning oil which is used in the majority of modern oil-fired boiler units. It is used to fuel Aga stoves (and similar models). It is also known as paraffin. Interestingly, kerosene is the fuel used to power jet aeroplanes too!
Kerosene produces a high level of heat in an economical manner because it burns cleanly. Kerosene is the only fuel oil suitable for use with an indoor oil-fired boiler and condensing oil-fired boiler.
What is marked gas oil?
Marked gas oil, also referred as “gas oil” or “green diesel”, is a cost efficient, clean and safe home heating alternative. It should only be used for heating systems with an outdoor burner. It is illegal to use Gas Oil to fuel an off road vehicle. Gas Oil is also used to fuel ships.
Gas oil and diesel are virtually the same. The fact that they are so similar is the very reason why a dye is added to gas oil in order to distinguish it from diesel (sometimes you will see diesel pumps with the label ‘Marked Gas Oil’).
How do I know which home heating oil I need?
If you have ordered from us in the past and have not changed your boiler, we will know what type of heating oil you use. If this is your first time ordering with Top Oil you can have a look at your tank – there should be a sticker displayed to state which type of oil you should order. If you are still unsure, just make a note for the driver during the order process and he will check before the delivery is made.
The majority of oil-fired burners are set to run on kerosene by default. In general, gas oil can be used to fuel oil-fired home heating systems. It is important to note that gas oil cannot be used as fuel for condensing boilers, and they should only be used in an outdoor boiler that is fitted with a conventional vertical flue. Burning gas oil is not permitted where a low level flue is fitted.