New oil furnace

[tzolkin]

Anyone live in cold climate and willing to share their experiences with a newer energy efficient oil furnace?

We have an old monster of a furnace that we no longer use and are considering putting in a new one to heat our home. The first winter we lived here we burned about 1200 gallons of oil and the house was still absolutely freezing. We have since gone to heating with two coal stoves. (We have also put insulation and new windows in almost every room.) The main living areas and the second floor are very warm, but we're planning to put in a new kitchen and reconfigure some of the rooms which would likely result in getting rid of one of the stoves. We would like to heat the house with a furnace and supplement with the one stove (not running it all the time).

With the current price of oil it's hard for me to imagine spending over $4000 to heat my home each year. But if I run the two coal stoves very hot we would likely spend almost $2000 in coal and the temperature varies from room to room more than it would with forced air. I just have no idea how much it would take to heat our home and everyone I know uses wood, coal, gas, or propane so I don't have anyone local to ask. Are others spending an average of $600 per month (150+ gallons)? Has anyone replaced an old furnace with a new one and seen a drastic reduction in their fuel? I have been researching the energy efficient models, but would like some personal experiences.

Note: we're in central NY-- 10+ feet of snow, need heat Oct-April. Our home is about 3000sqft, but there is not much direct ductwork for the second floor. (It will surely be cooler upstairs than it has been running a toasty coal stove in a room where all the heat went right up the stairs.)

 

[jimaok]

I also had an old monster oil burner that I replaced with a Burnham boiler several years ago. We heat an 1846 solid brick farmhouse (2500 square feet) 11 foot ceilings and big old cast iron radiators. I also replaced my thermostat with a programable one. It goes down to 60 at 11PM and kicks back on 68 at 5 AM. At 9 AM (when we leave for work) it goes back down to 60. At 4 PM it goes back up to 68. I have gone from burning on average 12 gallons per day to about 8 gallons. I also change the oil filter, nozzle and clean out the ashes at the start of the season and everytime I get a fillup. I really like the Burnham model because it has an articulated ash door. This makes it really easy to open up for cleaning.

I hope this helps.

 

[tzolkin]

Thanks.

I've seen charts online to calculate the savings depending on the AFUE of your old and new system. It estimates about 30%, which seems to be your experience.

I have also gone back to work and my youngest will be starting kindergarten, so we will definitely get a programable thermostat and the house can be cooler while we are gone.

 

[angwill]

We too have an old beast of an oil burner. We heat 1500 sq ft and when we only used the oil burner we went through 200 gallons every month in the coldest months. At todays fuel prices it is expensive. Oil runs the same price as gas for a car where we live so if it is $3.75 a gallon like gas it will cost us $754 per month to heat. this is keeping it at 60 at night and 64 during the day. New windows, new roof, some new insulation. We did put in a pellet stove last time gas prices were this high so that has cut down on the cost some. We fill up 2 times less with the pellet stove since it does not heat the whole house.

That said I am afraid to put in a new oil burner because we very rarely have problems with the old one we have as long as we clean it every year and put in new air filters. Last year we put in a new nozel, rods, and fuel filter on the tank for just over $100. I fear the new burners are not made as well and we will put the 30% savings in the heating companies pocket.

Thanks.

I've seen charts online to calculate the savings depending on the AFUE of your old and new system. It estimates about 30%, which seems to be your experience.

I have also gone back to work and my youngest will be starting kindergarten, so we will definitely get a programable thermostat and the house can be cooler while we are gone.

 

[ellone]

We too have an old beast of an oil burner. We heat 1500 sq ft and when we only used the oil burner we went through 200 gallons every month in the coldest months. At todays fuel prices it is expensive. Oil runs the same price as gas for a car where we live so if it is $3.75 a gallon like gas it will cost us $754 per month to heat. this is keeping it at 60 at night and 64 during the day. New windows, new roof, some new insulation. We did put in a pellet stove last time gas prices were this high so that has cut down on the cost some. We fill up 2 times less with the pellet stove since it does not heat the whole house.

Holy crap that is expensive. We have a 1200 sq ft house and it has no insulation in the walls. We used about 200-220 gallons every other month during the winter. We have a small child so we keep it warmer than you did. 64 at night and 68-70 during the day.

I did have a super efficient Viessmann installed about 4 years ago. My installer had never heard of the company before I asked him to get one for me. He was very impressed by the furnace.

 

[Brer Shay]

We purchased a 1960 home with 2400 sq ft about four years ago. The heat was oil fired and original to the house. Our first year, we went through about 1400 gallons or $4200. The next year I said I wasn't sure we could afford to put in a new system, but I also wasn't sure we could afford to use the old one! We ended up installing a high efficiency natural gas model and our heating bill for the last three years has been right around $1200 a year. I know it's a double savings from both the efficiency and the heat source, but it was a great option. If it's available to you, consider checking into it.

 

[CTdiznymom]

We replaced our clunker oil burner 30 yrs. ago when we moved in to our home. We replaced it with a Thermal Pride unit. It's probably the best purchase/improvement we have made. We have done yearly maintenance and have never had one problem. Everytime the service man(never the same guy) comes to clean the unit he tells me that it's the best unit you can buy. The guy was here just last week and he told me that it's the "cadillac" of units, and if our basement ever flooded (no chance of that ever happening) this unit would be the one to handle it. So I highly recommend Thermal Pride if you get the chance to compare.

 

[Lisa_M]

Reading this thread is scaring me. We recently started renting a home with an oil furnace. We have not had it filled yet. It is OLD and the landlord said he is going to try to put a new one in prior to winter. I'm thinking if he doesn't, I'm just going to get big space heaters or ask them to renegotiate the lease. It has to be cheaper than $800 a month. We surely can't afford that. When we looked at the house, I didn't know much about heating oil, but knew that alot of people around here use it. I better get started on getting some quotes.

 

[tzolkin]

Thanks for all the replies.

We purchased a 1960 home with 2400 sq ft about four years ago. The heat was oil fired and original to the house. Our first year, we went through about 1400 gallons or $4200. The next year I said I wasn't sure we could afford to put in a new system, but I also wasn't sure we could afford to use the old one! We ended up installing a high efficiency natural gas model and our heating bill for the last three years has been right around $1200 a year. I know it's a double savings from both the efficiency and the heat source, but it was a great option. If it's available to you, consider checking into it.

Unfortunately natural gas is not available here.

We also have a completely full tank (about 300 gallons) plus, I think, about 500 gallons still on credit because we haven't used what we previously purchased since we've been heating just with the coal. That will be nice chunk of our heating costs for this winter which would be nice since we'll be putting out the expense of a new furnace plus the renovations.