Converting from oil heat (how much, furnace, tank, conversion)

[KarenBo]

I'm looking at homes in NY, and in the area I like, 90% of the houses have oil heat. I've only ever had natural gas before. I understand that oil heat costs more but I'm not sure how much more. Also, a friend mentioned converting over to natural gas or propane (if natural gas isn't available). Anyone have thoughts on this? I kind of want to have an idea of what it would cost me before I actually buy something.

[BobKovacs]

The cost of oil heat vs gas heat bounces back and forth from one being more cost effective to the other, depending on the costs of each fuel in your area. Given recent oil prices, it's likely that oil will be higher right now. Changing fuels in most cases requires a new boiler, which can easily run $4-5,000, plus removing the old oil tank, which can run $500 if it's in the basement, to many thousands if it's in the ground and has been leaking. Some utility companies will help with the cost of conversion, so check with the local gas provider to see if they have any programs in place to do so.

[procfreq]

Go check out the Long Island board and do a search for this topic. This exact thing has been discussed over there somewhat recently (I'm currently considering a move to LI and wonder the same things).

A major issue is that gas lines simply aren't available in many areas. If there *is* a gas line in the neighborhood, the gas company will route it to your home if it's within a certain [very short] distance for free (varies by locale, I'm sure); outside of that distance, the charge is per foot. And this, of course, excludes the cost of a new gas furnace and removal of the old tank, as the poster above mentions. One of the LI posters did the math on such a job, and the total amount was really significant (and cost prohibitive).

[shadowfax1997]

Not sure about your situation, but I switched my oil boiler to an oil/wood boiler. I toss a few logs into the furnace, the oil comes on and lights the wood, and the wood heats the house through forced hot water. Oil is there for back up or when I don't want to deal with wood. I have 10 acres of woods and cut my own wood. Works great. My parents have a similar system that must be 20 years old now.

Purchasing cut and split wood here is expensive - $250 for seasoned wood.

[Bydand]

You might want to check the price of Propane in the areas you are looking at. My personal experience is that if an area has mostly oil heat, Propane is going to be every bit as expensive to heat with. That is not taking into consideration the cost of changing the heating unit itself no matter if it is a boiler or Forced hot air furnace.

[Cruikshl]

I've noticed from posts on the CT board that some old houses that are 1500 square feet use the same amount of oil as my 3850 sq ft house that is new. I keep mine on 67 too. Something to be said for efficiency.

[Mikieo415]

Keep the oil furnace. The price difference is probably not large enough to recover the costs of new equipment. The key to having the furnace run efficiently is to have it cleaned properly and have the oil burner adjusted correctly. There are cleanout holes in the furnace that must be removed and a sweeper ran through them in order to clean the soot out correctly. A high soot buildup will kill your furnace and can make you use a ton of oil.

[rubytue]

Another advantage to oil is that #2 fuel oil is essentiall desiel without the road tax. If you want a generator, you can run it from your oil tank (if you get a deseil generator). If you run out of oil, you can tide yourself over tile the truck can come from the gas station. And, they are working on Biodesiel options for heating oil delivery (or, if you brew your own from waste oil, then you are set)

[Cosmic]

When you buy oil, typically 100% of the money goes to buy the fuel.

When you buy natural gas only so much of the money goes to buy fuel. Maybe like only 60 odd cents of the dollar actually purchases fuel. The other cents goes for transportation charges, fees, monthly service charges, more fees.

With fuel oil there is no monthly service charges, also you do not pay sales tax.

I have natural gas. Very easy for the company to cheat you. Like with a monkey'd up meter. Just had that experience from mine. Also they love to monkey with fuel contracts to determine what you will pay in the future. Once oil is in the tank you own it.

Wish I had oil heat again. It is so much more than just comparing the price.

[Bydand]

Cosmic, last time I filled my oil tank it didn't magically appear as soon as I needed it. Part of the cost IS transportation, there are some fees, No monthly service charges, but you do pay taxes on the oil. It isn't sales tax, but it is the tax that both the fed and state gov't put on fuel. Not as high as road taxes on Diesel, but it is still there.