New to gas heat (how much, townhouse, water heater)

[felicitev21]

My landlord informed me today that he will be converting my townhouse from oil to gas heat. I have no idea about how that will affect me. My hot water is controlled my the oil heat, will it now be controlled by gas? How much will this affect me costwise, since I am responsible for heat bills? What happens when it is installed, do I call. The gas company, they turn the gas on and then bill me from there? I currently only use my oil for hot water, not heat because its too outrageously expensive
I use electric heaters to heat since I don't have to pay electricity.
Oh yes I have a 2 floor 3 bedroom townhouse.

[mmyk72]

Wouldn't you continue to use those space heaters since you don't pay electric. Gas is supposed to be cheaper than oil, so whatever your cost was SHOULD be lower afterwards.

Ask your LL about your situation... We don't know if he put in separate meters, etc. There's a chance he is realizing how high his electric bill is due to people using that for heating and would rather pay for gas to reduce cost.

[NCproud]

Point blank, gas is high! My house is gas heat and I had the tanks picked up and have been heating 1800 sq ft with space heaters for the past two winters. It does make a difference as of what heater you use. Some space heaters are useless. The ones I use are by Lasko and are temp controlled. It actually makes zone heating very easy. Propain fluctuates as bad as gasoline and it spikes just like gasoline too. If your electric is free, I would not even consider heating with gas. If your land lord changes to the hot water heater and other things you may not have a choice but to have a gas bill, but you still could use the space heaters. I did a reply recently on space heaters with the ones I recommend, just search, "space heater".

[western mass and love it]

The OP is getting switched to natural gas not propane. I have nat gas and use it for heat,cooking and hot water and my bill in the winter is around 130 a month and drops to around 45 in the warmer months.

[NCproud]

Originally Posted by western mass and love it

The OP is getting switched to natural gas not propane. I have nat gas and use it for heat,cooking and hot water and my bill in the winter is around 130 a month and drops to around 45 in the warmer months.

Well, there ya have it.

[Cato the Elder]

Originally Posted by western mass and love it

The OP is getting switched to natural gas not propane. I have nat gas and use it for heat,cooking and hot water and my bill in the winter is around 130 a month and drops to around 45 in the warmer months.

Are you single? Eat out? Travel a lot? We had National Grid just for hot water and cooking and we could never keep it below $150 and it was usually above $200. In Michigan, we had it for all three like you and our bills easily topped $400 in the winter (new tankless water heater, new furnace, new Jenn Air cooktop).

[lukyelle]

I have Columbia Natural Gas - just moved here but the previous owner's budget plan was $75 a month year round. I got off the budget plan for the first year to see - as total usage might be below $900/yr for me. It it heat and hot water only. Cooking and the dryer are electric.

[felicitev21]

Oh yeah, my stove and washer / dryer are electric. So I would only be using it for hot water and maybe heat.

[xo_kizzy_xo]

Originally Posted by lukyelle

I have Columbia Natural Gas - just moved here but the previous owner's budget plan was $75 a month year round. I got off the budget plan for the first year to see - as total usage might be below $900/yr for me. It it heat and hot water only. Cooking and the dryer are electric.

I'll be curious to know what your usage ends up being. We're thinking of switching over from oil to gas-only-for-heating-and-hot-water.

I just spent most of this past week in a very cold house with no hot water because I was scraping the bottom of the oil tank. I received a partial fill-up yesterday -- a little over 1/4th, maybe? The price on the delivery receipt is close to $400


(I realize I shouldn't be shocked at this as a native New Englander. But I am.)

[Cato the Elder]

Originally Posted by xo_kizzy_xo

I'll be curious to know what your usage ends up being. We're thinking of switching over from oil to gas-only-for-heating-and-hot-water.

I just spent most of this past week in a very cold house with no hot water because I was scraping the bottom of the oil tank. I received a partial fill-up yesterday -- a little over 1/4th, maybe? The price on the delivery receipt is close to $400


(I realize I shouldn't be shocked at this as a native New Englander. But I am.)

Assuming that you have a 250 gallon tank, you received around 70 gallons. If you paid $400, you need to find a new oil supplier. You're paying over $5/gallon! It should be around $3.50/gallon.

You will also need a separate hot water heater if you switch over to natural gas. National Grid wants to charge us over $1000 to reconnect our gas to the street because our line was "cut at the street." The rep told me that they dig up the street and physically cut your line if it hasn't been used in a while, hence the large reconnect fee. If this is truly how gas companies work, it sounds pretty crude to me. If your oil boiler is inefficient, it might very well be worth it. Just make sure to check all the random costs.