Actually heating oil and diesel are mostly the same product. Heating oil is dyed so that authorities can tell if you have heating oil in your on road diesel vehicles. Diesel is taxed for road use and heating oil is not so running on heating oil is a heavy fine.
The only real difference now is on road (taxed), and off road diesel (non taxed) are low sulfur products, while heating oil can still have a higher sulfur content, but that is changing.
Home heating oil is refereed to as #2 and to light it in an oil burner, it has to be atomized by a nozzle. #1 oil is kerosene.
