Houses with natural gas heat system (Portland, South Portland: real estate, apartment, how much)

[Swede in CA]

Hello citizens of Maine. My friend is moving to Portland, ME and we were wondering how to find a house for her with natural gas (not oil) heating? Is it special part of Maine, which could be converted to gas bc gas lines? Could someone tell us where the majority of homes with gas and how much it cost to convert the house to gas?

Does anyone build new homes around Portland?

[lrfox]

Most natural gas is in portland. I don't know the costs but some other members will.

[WhoFanMe]

Hello Swede and welcome to the forum. As lrfox has explained much of Portland does have gas at the street and other areas have bottled (propane) gas available to give you the ability to heat and cook with gas. A real estate agent can set up a search for your friend with houses in her price range that are heated with gas and not oil. Yes, there is still new construction in the Greater Portland area, just not as much as the first part of the decade.

[K-Luv]

There are plenty of homes in Portland that do use natural gas to heat, but I would say that the majority are still on heating oil.

I have never used heating oil in my life, but from what I hear from others it sounds as though it is not that much more than natural gas as the price for natural gas doubles and sometimes triples over the winter. I have seen natural gas bills close to $400 for one month (in Minneapolis).

The advantage to natural gas is that by law the utility company cannot shut off service due to non-payment durning the winter months. Heating oil will not be delivered to your home if you do not have the money regardless of how cold it is outside. Natural gas also has the option of a payment plan.

Another thing to look for in Portland is an apartment in which the heat is paid by the landlord.

[StevensAve]

We live in Portland and now have oil. We plan to convert to Natural Gas. The local utility will install the gas line free of charge to your house - up to 25 feet - from the main line on the street.

So, even if the house of your dreams has oil, it may be possible to switch fairly easily to gas.

[WhoFanMe]

I have a client who purchased a home in South Portland on 10/15/08 who wants to convert from oil to gas, but it was too late in the season for the gas company to do the work until the spring. I have another client building in Gorham who is putting in an oil furnace that can be easily converted to natural gas/propane so there are options out there.

[dubthang]

I currently have natural gas for my apartment on Congress St. It is actually more expensive this year (so far) than when I had oil heat at my previous places (both Maine and NH). The NG is used for heat, hot water, and my stove. It could be simply that my apartment isn't as well insulated as ones I've had in the past. NG is nice in that you don't need it delivered, but you can't shop around for the cheapest price either as with oil.