Oil or gas (insurance, how much, house)

[Nestlequik]

Lost the home we planned to purchase because of an appraisal difference of $43k. Now we're back to looking and we've previously excluded homes because they had oil. Those with experience, what is your experience with oil? How much is the conversion to gas? Is a conversion something we can ask for in the contract/offer?

[manderly6]

I'd be shocked if anyone would do the conversion for you. It can be very costly and possibly impossible if there are no gas lines close. If you don't want oil, your best bet is to just continue to exclude those homes.

[Eric S]

If there is an existing 1/2" gas line in your house, the conversion should be pretty straight forward. Expect to pay about $5K (roughly) for the conversion. You could pay a couple grand more or less, depending on whom you choose to do the work. If there isn't existing natural gas service in the home, I haven't any idea how much it would cost.

My old home in NJ had an oil furnace. For my entire 12 year stay, I really wanted to get rid of it..., but it just kept on running. My last couple of years in NJ oil had gotten quite expensive. I't talking like $500 a month to heat a small cape during winter. I'm not convinced that going natural gas would be cheaper, but a new furnace certainly takes some worry away about the unit failing during the coldest days of winter. Having an oil truck making routine deliveries to your home also kind of sux.

-Eric

[Sergio M]

Gas can explode. Oil does not.

[Nestlequik]

Thank you, it gives me something to build from.

[FrmlyBklyn]

Originally Posted by Nestlequik

Lost the home we planned to purchase because of an appraisal difference of $43k. Now we're back to looking and we've previously excluded homes because they had oil. Those with experience, what is your experience with oil? How much is the conversion to gas? Is a conversion something we can ask for in the contract/offer?

I have oil even though when I went house shopping I specifically looked for gas heated homes.

1) if you have a service contract the companies are unusually responsive to your boiler problems because they can't afford to lose any more customers and most likely are locally based, try that with PSEG and you could be waiting a while. The heat content of oil per gallon far exceeds an equivalent amount of natural gas therefore, potentially you will be burning a large amount of gas to heat the house, though on a dollar basis, it's still currently cheaper to heat with gas.

2) It's better to have the oil tank in the basement rather than in the ground, unless the tank is spanking brand new, only because cleanup can be a real b*tch if you leak oil in the ground with the NJ EPA. Huge cost and cleanup!

3) If you have natural gas service to your home, conversion to gas heat will probably run about $5k, not including drainage and removal of your oil tank.

4) If you have oil heat, make sure you obtain oil tank insurance, most likely from your oil distributor since most insurance companies want nothing to do with enviornmental nightmares like oil spillage.

5) Oil does not explode, gas does. That said you can buy a carbon monoxide/natural gas detector in home depot that will detect said leaks. Leaks are far and few between, I wouldn't worry too much about that if you do go to natural gas.

6) Short of a major compressor problem with all of the pipelines that criscross NJ, no need to worry about not having gas delivered to your home. You can't say the same thing of oil which is delivered to NJ via barge and ocean-tanker.

7) You can ask for them to convert, but it's probably be cheaper to ask for a price concession. One thing about oil - I'd definitely have the tank tested as part of the inspection process, this will be above and beyond a normal home inspection. If you have an oil leak or they find anything unusual, I'd use it to get out of the contract.

[todd72173]

Gas is wnt you want. Oil might have been popular in the early 1900's.

[actank]

When purchasing a house with oil heat there are a few things to remember to protect yourself. The following is the approach I would use:
Underground tank: If the house has an underground tank see if you can get the owner to agree to remove it and install an aboveground tank. The aboveground tank can be located outside, garage or in the basement. If the seller does not want to remove it, inform the seller that they can apply to the State of NJ for grant money that will pay most of the cost for removal and installation of a new tank. Most people qualify for the grant money and some companies will help fill out the paperwork and even finance the project. If they still do not want to do anything with the tank and you plan to remove the tank it is important that you hire a company to take soil borings around the tank (minimum of 4). The borings must go to a laboratory for analyses, do not accept on site analysis. If the laboratory identifies there is petroleum contamination in the samples this will be reported to the NJDEP and a spill number will be assigned. At that point the seller is responsible to remove the tank and clean-up the site. If the soil shows there is no contamination as soon as you take title to the house purchase tank insurance through a fuel delivery company. Once you are in the house you can apply for grant money from NJ. If you do not plan on taking the tank out of the ground you can opt for a tank test which is less expensive than soil sampling. The results of either a tank test or soil sampling can be used to purchase tank insurance. If money is not a problem I would have a tank test, corrosion measurements and soil sampling performed this way you will have evaluated the entire tank system.
Aboveground tanks :If the house has an aboveground tank it is also important to have a professional evaluate the tank. This evaluation should consist of a visual examination of the structure including the piping. The evaluation should also include ultrasonic measurements of the wall structure. These measurements actually measure wall thicknesses and can locate weak spots in the metal. If an aboveground tank were to leak in your basement the clean-up in most cases is more difficult than if it leaked underground. Also buy tank insurance which is very cheap compared with underground tank insurance because of the low risk for a release. One other caution if the house has an aboveground tank and the house is over 20 years old have the grounds searched for underground tanks. What happened in the past was that the underground tank leaked people just left it there in the ground and installed an aboveground tank. If this was the case you could have a major clean-up.
Testing Companies: When hiring a company to do the tank evaluation make sure the technician has a NJDEP license to do testing. Also choose a company that has been in business at least 5 years, over the past 15 years we have been in business I have seen testing companies come and go and many do not carry proper insurance. When hiring a company it is important to identify whether you plan to remove the tank or to continue using it.
Gas heat: Oil is a more efficient fuel to burn than gas and is a lot safer to use. Also there have been many times in the dead of winter where the gas company has cut-off places like hospitals and schools due to low pressure in the lines. Many times in other parts of the country there is not enough pressure in the lines to maintain a normal temperature in the house.
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