When was heating oil first used

And while there have been announcements of new gas reserves, there have also been shifts in energy policy that should increase the demand for natural gas in energy production and even transportation. For these reasons the industry is fairly stable in the face of fierce competition. In , Donald E. Lawes, Sr.

Lawes rented the property and formed a partnership called Lawes Coal and Supply. They operated for two years and in incorporated into Lawes Coal Company, Inc. Since , Lawes Coal Company has been run by the three generations of the Lawes family. Today, the business is run by brothers Donald E. The brothers we handed the family business from their father about 17 years ago who had run the family business since the s. He became friendly with many of those guys and they would have him sit in on their card games.

One day he announced he wanted to be more local and start his own coal business and before he got off the train that day, one of the fellas had got up and walked around and collected 15 names on a piece of paper for one delivery of coal to get him started.

In the early years Lawes delivered coal as a source of fuel, but as heating oil became more widely used as a source of heat, the delivery of coal went by the wayside.

Just as the needs of the community changed, so did Lawes Coal Company — going through many transitions over its long history.

To be competitive, Lawes expanded to supply gasoline, diesel fuel, kerosene and propane. Air-conditioning sales and repair has also been added, as well as underground storage tank removal, installation and repairs.

Lawes also maintains an extensive lawn and garden equipment inventory, including everything from fertilizer, grass seed and mulch to shovels and lawn mowers. They also supply, sell and service power equipment, lawnmowers and small tractors. We do heating and air conditioning and we are now getting involved as accredited home heating auditors.

And that is where the industry is at. I think low sulfur biofuels will give us a strong leg up in the future. Cernak Fuel has been continuously owned and operated by the Cernak family since it began in In , John sold the business to his brother, Michael Cernak. In , Mike sold the business to two of his five children, Leslie and Rick, who would answer the phone as children when an emergency service call came in.

Today, five oil trucks deliver heating oil and diesel fuel to customers in Hampshire, Franklin, and Hampden counties. The use of devices such as cell phones, two way radios, computers, service testing equipment, among others , has provided Cernak Fuel with the means to better serve its customers with greater accuracy and efficiency.

Technology has also lent itself to expansion. Back in the early s I was working for dad and we were not computerized at all and I happened to stop by the local diner for lunch. Our arch competitor was there and I stopped to talk to him. I mentioned we were getting a computer and he said it makes a big difference and you have to keep up with the times. Cernak Fuel also installs new, state-of-the-art, heating equipment in Hampshire County.

Five service vans are equipped with a large inventory of burner parts. Each burner technician is licensed in the state of Massachusetts. A major modern challenge for the operation has been keeping up with the regulatory environment. I think companies that do not put out this effort fall by the wayside. It really is a challenge for the smaller business that does not have separate staff dedicated to keep up with this.

There were over a dozen fuel suppliers based in Portage during the mids to early s. Today, Crawford Oil is the only locally based fuel oil supplier in Portage. Company President, James Jim H. After working a few years at the Weyenberg Shoe Factory, Delbert worked as a bulk delivery driver. In the late s, Delbert became an agent for Shell Oil. Shell Oil Company built a bulk tank facility and pump system east of Portage. The company paid Delbert one to two cents per gallon for the fuel he delivered.

A couple of years later, Delbert bought the bulk tank facility from Shell Oil Company. In , with over 30 years in the industry, Delbert wanted to retire and sell his company and Jim Crawford was ready for a change from his teaching career.

In the fall of , Jim and the late Jim L. Crawford Oil continued to expand and called on larger commercial accounts, added a complete line of lubricants, diesel and aviation fuel. As gasoline retail margins began to decline Crawford sold off all his retail outlets except for one.

The use of naturally occurring bitumen coincided with the building of the earliest cities; bitumen was used to create asphalt near the Euphrates river in Iraq as early as years ago. From there, its use spread to Europe and throughout the world.

It was the Ancient Greeks who gave it the name we use today, petroleum, from the Greek "petra" meaning rock, and "oleum" meaning oil. The modern history of oil began in the s, when a Canadian geologist discovered that crude oil could be distilled into kerosene to light lanterns.

The invention of heating oil happened soon after, when M. Fessler invented the oil burner to take advantage of the crude oil discoveries in California. The company he founded, Fess System Co. From there, the oil industry grew and spread around the world. Scientists are still discovering previously unknown reserves of oil in remote locations, such as above the arctic circle and deep below the ocean. In fact, in recent years, the oil industry has produced a surplus of oil—hence why prices remain so low.

As the country's leading supplier of home heating oil, our resources are unmatched, and we've never run out of oil. Oil refining is the process of converting crude oil into other useful products. The history of this process dates back to when the first oil wells were drilled successfully in Ontario, Canada.

Before the extraction process was invented, oil could only be accessed from the natural seepage identified in various areas around the world. What is heating oil used for? How is heating oil produced? How many people use heating oil in the UK? When was heating oil first used? Does heating oil have any other names? Heating oil has several names that all mean the same thing. It can be cheaper than gas! Industrial heating oil can clean systems Some industrial heating oil is manufactured very well.

Heating oil is cheaper in summer Heating oil is a relatively cheap fuel to start with, but it can cost more in times of great need. Want to order your heating oil today? What else can we help with? Our Google review score 0. Deliveries made within 24 hours 0.