Gas or Oil heat?

[PAYROLL PRINCESS]

I need advise. I have to replace my furnace. It's 30 years old and was making a lot of noise by the end of last winter. Right now I have an oil furnace. I'm thinking of switching to gas. The gas company will hook me up for free because I'm within a certain number of feet to the main line. However, the cost of the new gas furnace will be higher than the oil furnace. My question is: will it ultimately be cheaper in the long run to pay for natural gas or oil to heat the house?

[Vito]

My guess (and it's just a personal guess) is that oil prices will eventually even back out.

If you have the option to wait a year or so, I highly recommend getting a couple of those "radiator" type electric space heaters. Turn the heat in the rest of your house down at night by an extra 5-7 degress from normal, and use the space heaters just to heat your sleeping rooms. I think we saved in roughly $50 a month (maybe even more) this winter doing this, and the space heaters paid for themselves very quickly.

Then you can get an idea of where oil prices are headed, and then potentially make a decision then.

Even if you decide to buy a new oil or gas furnace, I still think the space heater for bedrooms at night is a very good way to save on energy costs. The newer oil filled radiator type models are really good. They have thermostats to set the temperature you want and they're very safe.

[DizneyRox]

I know a lot of people are switching to gas. There is no way that oil prices are going to get back down to where they were.

Heating oil is a more crude version of deisel. It's just plain dirty! We just built and went with propane. I knew nothing about it until this past year, but I'm happy we decided on propane.

1. We don't have/need a maintenance contract. Since they are clean, we don't have yearly cleanings, etc. It's a direct vent so no ugly chimney that needs cleaning as well.
2. It was about $7500 less to go with propane vs oil.

If it were me, you really, REALLY want to look at geothermal heating. If you know nothing about it, read up. Yes, it's more expensive, yes, it's a "different" technology, but it's a step in the right direction. Coupled with solar power, you can almost be "off the grid". Estimates put the break even point on a geothermal heating system at between 5 and 10 years. After that you are saving money, and the savings are HUGE looking at todays oil/propane prices.

Our house is less than a year old, we're seriously looking at going with geothermal before the next heating season. We'll use the propane as a secondary/backup heating source.

[Ed]

Furnaces? Few and far between down here. :D

Seriously... we had a natural gas furnace in our old home in Maryland, and it was great. Clean, quiet, dependable, and relatively inexpensive. One of the main factors that I always felt was a big benefit was that I didn't have to worry about a fuel oil truck being able to get to us in snow and icy weather. And I can imagine that being in Mass. you get more than your share of that nasty stuff. :snowball:

[barnaby]

My question is: will it ultimately be cheaper in the long run to pay for natural gas or oil to heat the house?

I have oil heat with radiators. When my oil furnace goes (hopefully not for awhile ;)), I plan on switching to gas or propane. I love the radiator heat.
I do think oil will eventually drop, but I don't it will ever be cheaper than the alternatives like gas or propane.

[PAYROLL PRINCESS]

Thanks for everyone's imput. Everyone I talk to seems to think gas is the way to go. I got my third gas furnace estimate yesterday and it was a LOT less than the other 2. And it is with a very reputable company here in town. So I'm gonna seriously consider that option.
As for waiting another year, I don't think my existing furnace will make it. The last guy was an oil/gas guy and when he looked at the furnace he said it was in very bad shape, so I need to get moving on this.

[LauraF]

I have a gas furnace currently at my house and I find it much better than oil. It's very efficient and doesn't make much noise, plus heat bills are less than they were for oil in my last place. It's clean, easy to use, and like someone else said, I don't have to worry about the oil truck getting to my house in the snow anymore. :thumbsup:

And yes, if it's going, please don't wait and try to eke another year out of it. My landlord when I was renting tried that and we all had no heat for a week when it failed. In February.

I live in Westborough (hi neighbor!) and have a really good gas furnace servicer and installer (came out at 11:30 at night and -20 when my boiler sprung a leak) if you need another name for your list of quotes. PM me if you're interested.

Good luck!

[crazypoohbear]

I have a gas furnace currently at my house and I find it much better than oil. It's very efficient and doesn't make much noise, plus heat bills are less than they were for oil in my last place. It's clean, easy to use, and like someone else said, I don't have to worry about the oil truck getting to my house in the snow anymore. :thumbsup:

And yes, if it's going, please don't wait and try to eke another year out of it. My landlord when I was renting tried that and we all had no heat for a week when it failed. In February.

I live in Westborough (hi neighbor!) and have a really good gas furnace servicer and installer (came out at 11:30 at night and -20 when my boiler sprung a leak) if you need another name for your list of quotes. PM me if you're interested.

Good luck!

What part of Westboro??
Who did you use, was it someone with their own business or a franchise?

[LauraF]

What part of Westboro??
Who did you use, was it someone with their own business or a franchise?
Right across the street from the high school football field. (Go Rangers!) :number1:

They have their own business, based out of Charlton. I found them when my landlord needed to renew the heating service contract and they've been fabulous to deal with. I plan to "bring them with me" to my new house.

[crazypoohbear]

My first apt as a married couple was on Ruggles Street! (It was the same bedroom that my father was born in 91 years ago!)
We use to have big labor day and 4th of July parties because they use to have big fireworks displays at the high school.
Are you on Ruggles or west main??

[LauraF]

I'll send you a PM - I get antsy about putting too much personal detail online. :)

[Hull-onian]

We are on a reasonable budget with National Grid. They are great. If you can get a gas furnace, then get one. Good luck on your decision. We heat a ten room house very nicely and live on Nantasket Beach so we get the northeast wind, which is brutal :freeze: by the way. We have gas cooking, water heater, and a gas dryer. It is steam heat with radiators. However, our heating bill is not too bad.

[PAYROLL PRINCESS]

Thanks for all your advice. I just met with the Gas company today. They are going to pull the permits and start digging after that, about 6 weeks she thinks. She said no problem having it done before the snow starts flying. Now I just have to figure out how to pay for it!

[PAYROLL PRINCESS]

I'll send you a PM - I get antsy about putting too much personal detail online. :)

Hi neighbor! I'll have to remember to ask my sis tomorrow if we know you or your family. It really is a small world.

[crazypoohbear]

Thanks for all your advice. I just met with the Gas company today. They are going to pull the permits and start digging after that, about 6 weeks she thinks. She said no problem having it done before the snow starts flying. Now I just have to figure out how to pay for it!


Have a yard sale and get rid of all your old shoes and clothes :D Just the shoes should pay for the new system and all the gas til the year 2525!

[Hull-onian]

Thanks for all your advice. I just met with the Gas company today. They are going to pull the permits and start digging after that, about 6 weeks she thinks. She said no problem having it done before the snow starts flying. Now I just have to figure out how to pay for it!

You made a great decision to go with gas heat. It is clean, efficient, and less expensive. Good luck with it!!!

[stormy57]

Not to rain on your day but, I hope you got a price for removing your old oil tank. Can be expensive if tank is in ground.

[thrillme]

Don't ya'll have electricity up there???:confused:

My heater's all electric...but I don't use it much. I don't like to mess with gas. Gas just scares me and I've really never heard of using "oil" in a house???

[crazypoohbear]

Don't ya'll have electricity up there???:confused:

My heater's all electric...but I don't use it much. I don't like to mess with gas. Gas just scares me and I've really never heard of using "oil" in a house???

Some people up here do heat with electric, but they have to be very rich! Some winters it could cost 500.00 per month to heat with electic.
Lots of people have oil heat. There have been a few times when the oil company will come and go to fill a tank only to discover too late that they have just pumped 200 gallons of oil into the wrong house... and the house they pumped it into doesn't have an oil tank
They just flooded someones basement with oil!! That has happend a couple of times

[thrillme]

Lots of people have oil heat. There have been a few times when the oil company will come and go to fill a tank only to discover too late that they have just pumped 200 gallons of oil into the wrong house... and the house they pumped it into doesn't have an oil tank
They just flooded someones basement with oil!! That has happend a couple of times

Holy enchilada! That sounds like a TOTAL mess.

I guess I can't say too much because my electricty bill in the summer can run about $250-350 and a friend of mine hit $450 last month (I HATE SUMMER :mad:). In the winter (all two months of it) we're good with around $100.

[PAYROLL PRINCESS]

Not to rain on your day but, I hope you got a price for removing your old oil tank. Can be expensive if tank is in ground.

The price includes taking away the old furnace and the oil tank which is in the basement. In fact I saw the contractor who's going to do the work today at my company's golf tournament and he let me know he got the message that I'm going to go with him. And he told me not to rush because he knew I wanted to use up some of the oil in the tank because I have about 3/4 of a tank left. That's about $800 worth of oil with today's prices.

And to the person who suggested heating with electricity, we actually had friends who partly decided to sell their old house because it had electric heat and the price was astronomical.

The gas company said it would take about 4 weeks just to pull the permit to get permission to dig!

And to Crazypoohbear-I could afford to replace the furnace AND buy DVC if I sold my shoes!! Hmmmmm that's something to think about.
Who thinks my sis knows I have a shoe obsession?

[merlinmagic4]

And he told me not to rush because he knew I wanted to use up some of the oil in the tank because I have about 3/4 of a tank left. That's about $800 worth of oil with today's prices.

And to the person who suggested heating with electricity, we actually had friends who partly decided to sell their old house because it had electric heat and the price was astronomical.



I just saw an ad on craigslist yesterday that someone was buying oil!!!! He said he pumps it out. I thought it was soooooo odd but maybe not....

We have electric heat and I thought we did really well last winter. I thought people with oil and gas were paying a lot more but I guess that's another thread :)

[crazypoohbear]

Holy enchilada! That sounds like a TOTAL mess.

I guess I can't say too much because my electricty bill in the summer can run about $250-350 and a friend of mine hit $450 last month (I HATE SUMMER :mad:). In the winter (all two months of it) we're good with around $100.


That's the same thing up here with gas heat. In the winter my gas bill can go up to 150.00 a month (And I keep my house cool, the heat never goes above 65 degrees!!) But in the summer my gas bill is about 25.00 per month!

As for the oil fiasco, not only is it a huge mess but then they have to get the EPA involved in case the oil has leaked into any ground water/drinking water nearby.

[LauraF]

I second that - electric heat is so cost prohibitive up here that it's actually a negative in houses that are on the market in many cases (unless you have a zone for each room and plan to turn that down in unused rooms).

Now if I had electric radiant heat for my sidewalks/stairs to melt snow and ice as featured on This Old House - that's a payment I'd not mind. (Take the money I pay the plow guy . . . ) :D

[thrillme]

That's the same thing up here with gas heat. In the winter my gas bill can go up to 150.00 a month (And I keep my house cool, the heat never goes above 65 degrees!!) But in the summer my gas bill is about 25.00 per month!



Ohhh...65 what a WONDERFUL temperature :cloud9: SIGH...Alas...I can't even imagine the cold ya'll northerners get in the winter. I experienced 7 degrees once when I went to Tahoe one year (they had some storm roll in). I went skiing and oh my.... before too long I found myself in the bar with a beer, a magazine and a fireplace.

[poohluva]

Good luck with your new gas furnace. We have forced hot water by gas and love it. We also have a pellet stove insert in our fireplace, it helps out a LOT with keeping the gas bill down and the house warm.:flame:

[PAYROLL PRINCESS]

Good luck with your new gas furnace. We have forced hot water by gas and love it. We also have a pellet stove insert in our fireplace, it helps out a LOT with keeping the gas bill down and the house warm.:flame:

I know here in MA they are having a hard time finding pellets for the stoves. I hope you have better luck.