If you've ever looked at the price of propane versus heating oil and thought, "wait — why am I not switching?" — you're not alone. A lot of Nassau County homeowners ask the same question every winter. Propane does cost less per gallon on the surface. But heating your home isn't about gallons. It's about heat. And once you account for how much heat each fuel actually delivers, the comparison looks a lot different than the sticker price suggests. Here's what the numbers actually say — and what they mean for a home like yours.
Is Propane Cheaper Than Fuel Oil? What the Per-Gallon Price Doesn't Tell You
The short answer is: propane costs less per gallon, but it delivers less heat per gallon — significantly less. One gallon of heating oil contains approximately 138,500 BTUs of energy. One gallon of propane contains approximately 91,500 BTUs. That's a gap of nearly 47,000 BTUs, which means you need roughly 1.5 gallons of propane to produce the same heat as a single gallon of oil.
So when someone says propane is cheaper, what they usually mean is that the gallon is cheaper — not the heat. Those are two very different things. The only fair way to compare fuel costs is by price per unit of heat delivered, not price per gallon. Once you run that math, the picture changes considerably.
Is Oil or Propane Cheaper to Heat With? Running the Actual Numbers
As of January 2025, the New York residential heating oil price was $4.037 per gallon, according to EIA data. Propane in the same period was running around $2.90 per gallon. On the surface, that looks like a meaningful gap in propane's favor — more than a dollar per gallon cheaper.
But let's do the math that actually matters. At $4.037 per gallon with 138,500 BTUs, heating oil costs roughly $29.15 per million BTUs. At $2.90 per gallon with 91,500 BTUs, propane costs roughly $31.69 per million BTUs. In other words, at those New York prices, heating oil is actually the less expensive fuel on a heat-delivered basis — by more than two dollars per million BTUs.
That gap may not sound dramatic, but across a full Long Island heating season — which typically runs from October through March — it adds up. A home that burns through 1,000 gallons of heating oil in a winter would need the equivalent of roughly 1,500 gallons of propane to produce the same heat. At those prices, that's a meaningful difference in your annual bill, and it runs in oil's favor.
It's also worth noting that the price relationship between these two fuels isn't fixed. Both are tied to global energy markets and can swing significantly from season to season. But in New York specifically, heating oil has historically held a cost-per-BTU advantage over propane during peak winter months — and the current pricing environment reflects that pattern.
The efficiency argument is real but limited. Modern propane furnaces can reach efficiency ratings up to 96–98% AFUE, while modern high-efficiency oil systems typically land between 85–87%. That efficiency advantage does close some of the gap. But it rarely closes enough of it to flip the math, especially in a market where New York propane prices tend to run higher than national averages.
What Does It Actually Cost to Switch From Oil to Propane in Nassau County?
This is the question most comparison articles skip — and it's the most important one for anyone already heating with oil. Because even if propane were cheaper to run, the cost of switching fuels is a major variable that almost never gets factored into the math.
Converting a Nassau County home from oil to propane isn't a simple swap. You're looking at replacing the oil burner, removing or decommissioning the oil tank, installing new propane-compatible equipment, and having a propane tank placed on your property. Real-world estimates from Long Island homeowners put that conversion cost in the range of $35,000 — compared to roughly $20,000 to simply replace an oil system in kind. That's a $15,000 premium just to switch fuels.
To recover that $15,000 through fuel savings, you'd need propane to be consistently and significantly cheaper per BTU over many years — and in New York, the data doesn't support that scenario. The math rarely closes. Most homeowners who run the numbers honestly find that the conversion cost alone makes switching economically difficult to justify.
There's also the tank ownership question, which doesn't get nearly enough attention. When you heat with oil, you typically own your tank. That means you can buy from any supplier, shop around for the best price, and switch companies whenever you want. With propane, most suppliers require you to use their tank — which they own and rent to you. That creates a lock-in dynamic that limits your flexibility and your leverage on price. For Nassau County homeowners who value being able to control their fuel costs, that distinction matters.
Nassau County's housing stock adds another layer of context here. The county's homes were built overwhelmingly in the post-World War II decades — the late 1940s through the 1960s — when oil heat was the standard and natural gas infrastructure was limited across Long Island. The oil systems in most of these homes are already paid for, already operational, and already part of the house. Switching fuels means replacing infrastructure that works. That's a cost most homeowners simply don't need to take on.
Heating Oil in Nassau County: What Local Homeowners Should Know
Nassau County is one of the most oil-dependent counties in the state. Approximately 135,208 Nassau County households heat their homes with fuel oil — that's 28% of all households in the county, and it represents roughly 65 million gallons of heating oil delivered in a single winter. This isn't a legacy fuel slowly fading out. It's the dominant choice in a market that was built around it and continues to run on it.
That scale matters for a few reasons. It means local supply is robust, delivery infrastructure is well-established, and competition among suppliers keeps pricing in check. For Nassau County homeowners, the oil market is mature, accessible, and genuinely competitive — which is good for you.
How Does Automatic vs. Will-Call Heating Oil Delivery Work?
One of the most common concerns homeowners have about heating oil — and one that sometimes drives interest in propane — is the fear of running out. Nobody wants to wake up to a cold house in January because they forgot to schedule a delivery. It's a legitimate worry, and it's worth addressing directly.
We handle it through two distinct delivery models, and you get to choose which one fits your life.
Our automatic delivery service uses predictive computer models to track your usage patterns and forecast when your tank will need a refill — before it actually runs low. You don't have to call, you don't have to monitor your gauge, and you don't have to think about it. We deliver when you need it, based on how your home actually uses fuel. For families, for people who travel, or for anyone who simply doesn't want to manage this themselves, it's a genuinely hands-off solution.
Our will-call service works the other way: you decide when to order, you specify exactly how many gallons you want, and you pay online. No contracts, no extra fees, no minimum requirements. If you like to track prices and order strategically — buying in the off-season when prices tend to ease, for example — this gives you full control. You can place your order through our online ordering system or mobile app without ever picking up a phone.
Both options serve Nassau County homeowners, whether you're in Garden City, Bellmore, Plainview, Mineola, or Baldwin. The point is that running out of heating oil is a solvable problem — and it doesn't require switching fuels to solve it.
Is Heating Oil Bad for the Environment Compared to Propane?
Environmental concerns are a real part of why some homeowners start looking at propane. Propane burns cleaner than older heating oil formulations, and that's a fair point — historically. But the heating oil available today is not the same product it was twenty years ago, and the environmental gap has narrowed considerably.
We offer low-sulfur and biofuel-based heating oil options that significantly reduce emissions compared to conventional fuel oil. Bioheat blends — which combine ultra-low-sulfur heating oil with renewable biodiesel — can cut particulate emissions and carbon output meaningfully, without any changes to your existing heating system. You don't need new equipment, you don't need a conversion, and you don't need to take on any additional cost to make a more environmentally conscious choice.
Ultra-low-sulfur heating oil, which is now the standard in New York, has sulfur content that brings it much closer to natural gas in terms of particulate output. The days of the old, heavy-smoke oil burner are largely behind us — modern oil systems running on low-sulfur fuel are cleaner, quieter, and more efficient than most people realize.
For Nassau County homeowners who care about their environmental footprint but aren't ready to undertake a full heating system overhaul, this is a practical middle path. You stay on a fuel that works for your home and your budget, and you reduce your emissions without a five-figure conversion project. That's a meaningful option that most propane-versus-oil comparison articles don't mention — because most of those articles aren't written by someone who actually delivers heating oil in Nassau County.
We've been doing this since 1976. We've watched the product improve, watched the equipment improve, and watched a lot of homeowners make fuel decisions based on incomplete information. The biofuel and low-sulfur options we carry today are a genuine answer to the environmental question — and they're available to you now.
So, Is Propane or Heating Oil the Better Choice for Nassau County Homes?
For most Nassau County homeowners, heating oil is the more cost-effective choice — not because it's cheaper per gallon, but because it delivers more heat per gallon, costs less per BTU at current New York prices, and doesn't require a $35,000 conversion to access. The infrastructure is already in your home. The supply is local and competitive. And the product itself has improved significantly in terms of efficiency and emissions.
Propane isn't a bad fuel. But for a homeowner already on oil heat in Nassau County, the math rarely supports switching — and the comparison articles that suggest otherwise are usually skipping the part about conversion costs, tank ownership, and what New York prices actually look like versus national averages.
If you have questions about your heating options, want to know what oil delivery looks like for your neighborhood, or are ready to set up automatic or will-call service, we at OK Petroleum Distribution have been the answer for Long Island families since 1976. Reach us at (631) 321-0549 — we're straightforward about pricing, flexible on delivery, and we've been doing this long enough to give you a straight answer.
