Questions about houses with heating oil and septic systems (Boston: real estate market, heat pump)

[BosYuppie]

The nightmare scenario I've heard is when you convert from oil to NG and forget to cancel your delivery of oil. They show up and flood your basement with oil. Fill that fill pipe with concrete if you get it converted.

[gf2020]

Originally Posted by BosYuppie

Fill that fill pipe with concrete if you get it converted.

The fill pipe gets removed when you have your oil tank removed.

[r_p]

Originally Posted by johngolf

As a former MAer (Waltham, Marlboro, Andover) I can tell you that both are a PIA. Try and avoid them if possible. City sewage, gas heat, and central AC is the best combination.

Oil based heating is not bad. IMHO it is more reliable and possibly safer. Gas to your house can be switched off for any reason.

Also see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merrim...gas_explosions

[MikePRU]

As others have already said, the only thing that determines what access you have to public utilities is infrastructure. Some towns have it and some do not. Weston, MA has one of the wealthiest populations in the country and pretty much the entire town is on septic systems. Even in some towns that have a municipal sewer system there are often neighborhoods on the fringe of town that the system doesn't reach. There's really no rhyme or reason to it.

When it comes to septic systems though, some towns have a municipal sewer system and some do not. If you want to avoid having a septic system, then there are probably some towns you will not want to consider.

Availability of natural gas is a little more helter skelter. Plus, as someone already said there may be gas available on the street but because the house pre-dates the gas line the house may have an oil fired heating system or on rare occasion I'll see an electric system. You can always convert if you want to. The size/cost of the project depends upon how far away the hook up point is and how much of the existing heating system would need to be replaced in order to accomplish the conversion.

There's really no simple answer to your question unfortunately.

Originally Posted by mdovell

I would point out that if you have septic and oil make sure you know what pipe it is. I've heard stories of rather dumb delivery people that put oil in the septic tank venting pipe and overloaded it.

That's shocking! What kind of a numb skuill pours oil into a PVC pipe sticking up out of the ground? An oil fill spout is metal and sticks out of the side of the house.

Originally Posted by BosYuppie

The nightmare scenario I've heard is when you convert from oil to NG and forget to cancel your delivery of oil. They show up and flood your basement with oil. Fill that fill pipe with concrete if you get it converted.

I've heard of that. Better yet . . . the person who does the conversion should cut the pipes off and fill the remaining section with concrete.

Originally Posted by gf2020

The fill pipe gets removed when you have your oil tank removed.

They're supposed to but it doesn't always happen.

[robr2]

Originally Posted by MikePRU

They're supposed to but it doesn't always happen.

Any legitimate company removing an oil tank will pull a permit that requires fire department oversight and a final inspection to ensure the fill pipe is removed. It's not a DIY job and tanks cannot be scrapped outside of an approved tank yard.

Now could it happen? Of course but it's a rarity.

[OutdoorLover]

Originally Posted by robr2

Any legitimate company removing an oil tank will pull a permit that requires fire department oversight and a final inspection to ensure the fill pipe is removed. It's not a DIY job and tanks cannot be scrapped outside of an approved tank yard.

Now could it happen? Of course but it's a rarity.

Hmmmm, that's what I did with an oil tank when I lived in western NY 20+ years ago. I wasn't aware there were any restrictions and just went down into the basement and cut it up with a Sawzall to make it easier to remove and took it to the dump - oooops!

[Shrewsburried]

Originally Posted by robr2

Any legitimate company removing an oil tank will pull a permit that requires fire department oversight and a final inspection to ensure the fill pipe is removed. It's not a DIY job and tanks cannot be scrapped outside of an approved tank yard.

Now could it happen? Of course but it's a rarity.

Something being required and something happening are separate.

The fire department in my town didn’t inspect my boiler install until 7 months after the install ... and their phone call happened conveniently AFTER a nearby home burnt to the ground due to a faulty flue install on a fireplace insert.

Depending on your town, if the vendor is known and reputable there’s a good chance the only eyes which will see it are the installer and the customer.

[mdovell]

What type of company? Well if you have someone dumb enough then yeah someone can think that.

I remember reading about some asbestos contractor in hanover that was fined because they didn't use any PPE's and it went all over the place. I'm all for DIY stuff but sometimes you really have to check the regs. I just put in shelving in a closet of mine. My stud finder found some electric so I put it lower. If I didn't have that it could have been much worse.

[G-fused]

OP - don't shy away from it just because it isn't familiar to you or you think it is not reliable or that it is old technology, etc. It's really not a big deal at all. We've always had sewer, water, gas, etc. so were also unfamiliar with oil heat and septic. Then we moved to the sticks a couple years ago into a place with oil heat and septic. Not a big deal in the least. It all works fine and I don't feel like it is any less realiable that town/city utilities. Oil prices fluctuate and so can be a bit more expensive than gas but cost has been really low for a while. We also did get a wood stove (which we love) and that saves a ton on oil and is just really nice to have. Bottom line - it's no big deal so get over any stigma you have.

Besat of luck.

[trevor0101]

I moved into a house with oil + septic + well last year, having never had either at any point in my life. It really hasn't been a problem at all to be honest. Oil delivery occurs automatically, and while it's a bit more expensive than NG, it's not too bad. Septic is basically a no brainer, just don't be totally dumb and constantly dump fats / oils down the drain. Well is a no brainer, I don't really think about it.