Re: The Physics Behind the Spanish Blackout

On 6/10/2025 1:18 PM, Carlos E.R. wrote:

But nobody who owns a detached home and can afford the switch to something else wants to have oil heat anymore here, and at the very least if they can't switch fuels entirely they're sun setting their forced-air HVAC in favor of a mini-split setup.

 Somebody told me years ago that the advantage of oil heating is that there are many suppliers. You are not tied to one.

But, upstream from them, there are relatively few.
And, the quality of product and service varies greatly.  It was not
uncommon to have to clean out the injectors when a vendor sold you a
load of oil with lots of "dregs".  Your remedy?  Don't buy from
him again (though there is no guarantee that the next supplier
won't similarly find itself pumping from the bottom of THEIR tank!)
Having to store a supply on your property meant YOU had to assume
responsibility for maintaining it in periods of unusual demand
as the vendor (that you may be in the process of changing!) has
no way of knowing your consumption (nowadays, there would be
opportunities for better modeling of this on a per-customer basis)
Plus, cleaning out the filter, injectors, combustion chamber, etc.
Much more maintenance than gas (or electric).