Oil to natural gas heating conversion - ballpark cost?

[lakelover]

I got an oil delivery yesterday and the price of the oil made me think I should really start looking into this. So as a start, I wonder if anyone here has converted to natural gas & what's their experience, in initial cost and savings?

I know every system is a little different, but here's what I've got now: Oil fired hot water heating system with a coil for domestic hot water. The boiler is 8 years old, the house is 59 years old. My average amount of oil burned over the last 5 years is 581 gallons/year. That comes to an average of $1786/year over the last 5 years for oil. (Paid $4.05/gal. yesterday).

There is natural gas available on our street, but I would have to have a line run from the street to the house (about 40-50').

Any ballpark thoughts on this?

 

[Mylo53]

Re: Oil to natural gas heating conversion - ballpark cost?

I am just starting the process myself. Gas company (UGI) said no cost to me if I convert to gas heat. That is the 1st thing I am planning. I need to contact one of thier qualified installers and get a quote on the conversion parts and labor. I can run my own pipes inside the house and just have them do the hook up. I just installed a new furnace in October due to flooding and didn't have time to think the process thru. I am now ready to get on with life. I'll let you know when I get prices from the installers.

 

[lakelover]

Re: Oil to natural gas heating conversion - ballpark cost?

Sounds like a good deal, I'll be interested to hear how it goes as the process moves along. Thanks.

 

[r.j.dawg]

Re: Oil to natural gas heating conversion - ballpark cost?

We did the conversion a few years ago. We had an old oil fired boiiler that was on it's way out so we decided to make the switch. We installed a Viessmann Vitola 200 with an indirect fired HWT. http://www.viessmann.ca/en/products/Gas-fired-boilers/Vitola_200.html

Our contractor was great as he did all the paperwork with the gas company and at the time there was a government rebate program in place for people switching over to gas. Running the gas line to the house didn't cost anything as the first 70 ft was free. After everything was said and done we were out of pocket around $1200 which included the removal and disposal of the oil tank.

 

[dolluper]

Re: Oil to natural gas heating conversion - ballpark cost?

How old is the boiler...some were lined with asbestos....pricey to remove enviro reasons....if not scrappers love them...the new gas furance install will be 2400 -3600 depending on locale effic and work involved.....rebates can lower cost....diffinatly you will cut your cost for fuel to about half {depending on furance you choose} about 5-6 years to recover initial cost {ball park}get some quotes and pay Attention to warrantys less than 10 is no good,some make you sign service contracts to be valid...do your homework its worth it some brands of furances can be flacky...expensive to repair and many problems with direct fans,boards...good luck

 

[Fishing Dude too]

Re: Oil to natural gas heating conversion - ballpark cost?

Furnace is $1200 here for 100,000 btu self install, another $200 for water heater self install. Then you have the oil tank to get rid of which is good for a bbq once burned out, or just take to scrap yard. As for the gas line to your house have it marked out rent a ditch witch hire a contractor lay it but it my be free from gas company.

 

[ezmobee]

Re: Oil to natural gas heating conversion - ballpark cost?

My gas bill this season has been absolutely ridiculously cheap.

 

[lakelover]

Re: Oil to natural gas heating conversion - ballpark cost?

I called the utility company today and there are no rebates or incentives in upstate NY for converting. They have them downstate (NYC area).

Don't know whether to wait if out for a while and see if anything comes along, or take the plunge out of pocket and go ahead. I'd kick myself if I paid for it and then there was a gov't program again that applied to my area.

Everybody I've talked to has told me that their gas bill has been half or less of their previous oil bill. Another thing I like is that 99% of the natural gas used in this country is domestic, takes the middle east (mostly) out of the equation, at least for supply.

 

[lakelover]

Re: Oil to natural gas heating conversion - ballpark cost?

Today I talked to my furnace man and he tells me that my boiler can be converted to natural gas without replacing the boiler, just the burner, a big money saver.

Anyone ever had this done?

 

[dwco5051]

Re: Oil to natural gas heating conversion - ballpark cost?

Replaced my oil burner with a gas burner on a firetube boiler in one of my properties in the late 70's when oil was still somewhat cheap. Did it more for convience than a major cost savings at that time. It has probably saved me over $40,000 over the years. At out current prices here in central Penna. gas will give you about 4 times the btu's of oil per dollar. Gas burners themselves are a fairly small part of the cost of a new boiler. If you are using a knowledgable contractor and he thinks that your boiler is suitable for just a conversion go for it. Should have a payback of only about two years at the most.

 

[lakelover]

Re: Oil to natural gas heating conversion - ballpark cost?

Thanks, that's exactly what I was hoping to hear. I used to work with my furnace guy & I'd see him every day, and he tried to convince me years ago to convert, I wish I'd listened to him then. I had quickly figured in my head that the payback time would be 2 to 4 years on the outside.

The power company will run the gas line from the street to the house for nothing. Otherwise I need the burner conversion and a gas water heater, as I currently take my domestic hot water off the boiler.

I also understand that gas boilers require less maintenance.

 

[dingbat]

Re: Oil to natural gas heating conversion - ballpark cost?

If the savings sound too good to be true, it probably is

http://www.energykinetics.com/index.php#calculator

 

[lakelover]

Re: Oil to natural gas heating conversion - ballpark cost?

I haven't given up on this conversion idea, even though it's been a long time since I posted in this discussion. One of my stumbling blocks was my wife's hesitance to want to convert because of the horrible gas explosion stories you see on the news. After a lot of gentle persuasion, logic, and actually talking to people who have done the conversion, she is on board with the idea!

I may have to save a little for the initial outlay, so am not rushing into this. There are energy provider rebates available in metro NYC area, but not upstate where I am located. What I'm wondering is, what do you think the liklihood is or seeing rebates again for this type of conversion? There's the big fracking issue in NY right now, so I don't know how that might affect the probablilty of another round of rebates. And I don't see any big push regarding general energy efficiency on a federal level. (Please let's not get too political here, I need info, not a closed thread!) Somehow I think I may be a day late and a dollar short on that issue, like some other times in my life!

Edit update: contacted provider and they said that 2013 conversion program info will be relased on Feb. 1, so it looks like there may be something coming up.

 

[generator12]

Re: Oil to natural gas heating conversion - ballpark cost?

Good luck if you can get rebates. I converted from oil to gas (furnace) in December, despite the fact that my oil furnace wasn't really old. What was old was paying around $860 to fill my tank.

Got the line run through the basement, a 60,000 BTU Bryant installed, old furnace and tank removed - all for $4200. The line from the street to the house was provided free of charge by "WE Energies".

I've only seen one energy bill since the conversion, and that was for half of a warm December, but I'm confident that I'll realize the 4 to 5 year payback mentioned by others above. The gas unit is quieter and much cleaner, as well.

 

[Howard Sterndrive]

Re: Oil to natural gas heating conversion - ballpark cost?

I'm waiting for some sort of incentive/rebate program too.. nothing on the horizon yet here. In the meantime, I just crank up the 2 gas fireplaces and turn the furnace off. I only run the oil furnace about 3 hours a week now according to the counter on my thermostat, and then the hot water tank is oil fired so that should probably go.

 

[lakelover]

Re: Oil to natural gas heating conversion - ballpark cost?

I'm waiting for some sort of incentive/rebate program too.. nothing on the horizon yet here. In the meantime, I just crank up the 2 gas fireplaces and turn the furnace off. I only run the oil furnace about 3 hours a week now according to the counter on my thermostat, and then the hot water tank is oil fired so that should probably go.

Yep, I have domestic HW off the boiler too.

 

[lakelover]

Re: Oil to natural gas heating conversion - ballpark cost?

Just found out rebates are available for 2013, $560 for boilers and $210 for attached HW heaters.