Converting from oil heat to gas - and going green with HE boiler (solar, furnace)
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I've had it with oil heat. Just had it. We've been heating with oil in our Colonial Revival for four years now. We've serviced the oil burner and despite that, our heating bills are running $500 a month (in the worst of winter), and we're in Norfolk, VA.
That's about 170 gallons of heating oil per month, and I *hate* to think of WASTING all that oil.
We're going with a super dooper high efficiency tankless gas-fired boiler, with a AFUE of 95%. It's a modulating burner, using as much or as little gas as is needed.
My neighbors have seen their utility expense drop dramatically with this system (oil boiler to high-efficiency gas boiler), and I'm hoping and praying mine does too.
Cost to install is $7,500 (which hurts me to even think about).
The existing oil-fire boiler is about 10 years old, so it's not that old, but the other problem is, our oil tank needs to be replaced. Other than dumping more money into the old system, we're trying to go green with this fancy new tankless system.
My question is, has anyone here converted from a not-so-old oil boiler to shiny, new high-efficiency gas boiler? What was the result in dollars? Do you know if it increases resale value?
Please - no spiels about weatherstripping. We've insulated and weatherstripped and caulked and closed up every hole we can find.
Let's talk boilers and dollars.
I'd love to hear about other people's real-world experiences.
one of the best uses of biodiesel would be as a heating fuel. When in used in an internal combustion engine it tends to release more NOx at higher blends. When used in furnace fuel it does not have the impact of high compression that creates the NOx
I have a 2500 sq ft house and spent $1200 some months this winter until I figured what worked for us. After that it was about $450 to $500 per month but I had to turn the thermostat down to 48. No joke and I'm not doing it next winter. I have a very old boiler but put in all new parts so it's basically a new boiler. I go through 100 gallons per week if I kept the thermostat to 65. I had to turn it down to 48 and it burned 100 gallons in 3 weeks which was better. But I'm not going through that again.
I'm looking into other ways to heat my home next winter.
We've converted oil to gas using incentives from National Grid (don't know if you have NG in Norfolk) and total cost was about 3,000. That's including all plumbing and disposal of old burner, etc.
Our plumber said not to bother with the really high energy eff. burner- just use the 85-90% since they are simpler, cheaper, and easier to maintain. He said the really high 97% has more things that go wrong. We took his advice and are happy.
That's about 170 gallons of heating oil per month, and I *hate* to think of WASTING all that oil.
About 2000+ sq ft in that house? That's not an hugely excessive amount for your house and location. I have a calculator here that you can use to figure out what the NG will cost you based on your oil costs.
1.Change the cost per gallon for oil , be sure to change the efficieny rating if you know it.
2.Change the cost for natural gas to your local rate, be sure to change the efficiency rating if you know it.
If you hit submit at this point on the right the cost per million BTU will change based on the the numbers you've provided.
In the second section from the drop down box select oil and input any amount. For example if it's costing $3000 per year for the oil use that. Hit submit again. The table below will provide the costs for other fuels for same heat.
For example using the default values of $3 a gallon for oil and $1.18 per therm of gas. We then change the the drop down menu in second section to oil and use a figure of $500. The NG comes out $238.66.
Hi Rosemary,
I feel your pain, as my house is about the same size, but 1890 vintage, with not enough space between the old mortar and outside brick to put insulation in the walls.
While I LOVE radiator heat, I HATE using fossil fuels. My house is surrounded by trees so solar doesn't work, and I've gotten electricity from wind. So my solution to not wanting to use too much oil has been a combination of keeping the thermostat at 55 or 60 (depending on whether or not I'm home...), installing a wood burning stove in the fireplace, and using electric heaters in the rooms I'm using.
It's not that comfortable a solution and I'm thinking about converting from oil to gas, so please let me know your experience!
And anyone else - other ideas for making my situation greener?
After nearly going broke heating our 1600sqft house with oil fired boiler, I had a new propane boiler installed before selling my Minnesota farm to my son.
I am anxious to hear about his savings.
I should have gotten rid of oil heat many years ago.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Want more ideas about oil heat to green!
