Switch from oil to natural gas?

[reenie1]

We live in a house built in 1992 and heat with oil/forced hot water. The gas company recently contacted all homeowners in our neighborhood to let us know they will be installing a gas line on our street. We need to pay $1000 for them to hook our house up to the line, and the money is refunded if we switch to gas heat in the next year.

Does anyone have any thoughts as to whether it is a good idea to make the switch or not? It looks like it will cost at least $8000 to switch to gas heat. Is gas heat considered more desirable? Are there other heating options we should be considering? Any questions I should ask the gas furnace people?

Thanks so much for any advice you can give regarding this!

 

[Frannie115]

Personally I would hook up to the gas. It provides good heat and I found it to be the most economical. I'm not sure what your $8000 is for?? That sounds like a lot.

Our last house had a dual system (gas downstairs/electric pump upstairs). The electric heat was the worst! Blew out cool air and stayed on for hours . The first floor was always so much warmer.

A couple of years ago, we decided to build a house in the "country". Now we are on propane heat (I refused to get electric). To fill the tank can be anywhere from $450-$600 depending on oil/gas price. That is a hefty bill 2 to 3 times a year. I guess they can put us on a monthly plan if needed.

Hopefully that natural gas pipeline will come down our street one day

 

[dizluvah]

Our home has natural gas heat and around here it is significantly cheaper than oil heat. I can't offer any info on your questions...

 

[reenie1]

Thanks for the replies! The $8000 is the quote I got for removal of old equipment and installing a new high efficiency boiler for forced hot water heat. There is a rebate, but that would be offset by needing a new water heater as well. We could do forced hot air for a little cheaper, but I've heard that's a lot dustier. It is a lot of money, but given that our current furnace is almost 20 years old I'm figuring we might be replacing it soon anyway. If we decide to go this route I will get more quotes.

 

[Brer Shay]

We moved to a "new to us" house in August 2007. It had an oil fired boiler from 1964. The house had three heating zones that I managed fairly well, keeping us at 68 degrees when active at home and 62 otherwise. In our first year, we spent $3600 on oil. I didn't know how we could afford the $8000 or so for a new boiler, but there was no way we could afford the oil either. In December 2008, we switched to natural gas and a high-efficiency boiler. My heating cost is now roughly $1100 a year. I'm MUCH happier with that number. Our state offered a low-interest loan for replacing furnaces/boilers with high-efficiency models which we took advantage of. With the cost savings, it has been WELL worth it.

 

[rock_doctor]

I would convert it over. Oil is the second most expensive way to heat your home (electric is the most in most areas). Imho $8k is a really high quote unless you are converting from hot water to hot air and that would mean instillation of ducts and a new AC/Furnace. I would look into what rebates you can get from your electric company, gas company and the Govern't. You may be able to off set a nice chunk of your costs. Just remember to burn your oil tanks to empty before changing over. To dispose of the old oil and tank can cost a fortune. You remove the old radiators/base boards yourself. Probably will save you a grand and you can get money for the old copper and aluminum.... good luck.

If you are pressed for cash most boilers have oil to gas conversion kits. It may be a good temp fix to hold the old system over until it must be changed. I would contact the company that made the boiler and ask. I bet there is one.

 

[bettymae1121]

Well, I don't know if this helps but I spent $900 this past year on natural gas, that's for heating (1300 sqft), cooking, water heater, and the clothes dryer. If there is a cheaper way to go, I don't know of it. In your shoes, if I had the money I'd jump on the chance to go to NG. Good luck!

 

[karenos]

We switched over from oil to natural gas about 2 years ago. We were able to take advantage of rebates from the state for removal of our tank (yes, our tank was underground - house built in 1945 - that is how they did it then) and rebates from the furnace maker as well as our utility.

We now have a very efficient furnace and last winter we probably spent about $1200 on gas for an approx. 2000 sq. foot house. It was a good investment!

karenos

 

[chalee94]

i switched over 6-7 years ago from oil to NG. i have been very happy with the results...also nice to get rid of the tank in the back of the house...

OTOH, i do live in NC so heating is a somewhat different issue for me than in the northeast. i also was at a point where i had to replace my old furnace anyway and decided to switch...

 

[dakcp2001]

Isnt there a tax break for doing this? I am pretty sure my neighbor mentioned some kind of tax break when he switched from oil to gas and he seems very happy with his decision.