My 60+ year old oil heater is giving up the ghost. Probably this summer we’l replace it. I see these tiny little gas heaters that are relatively maintenence free, and I think I’d like to convert.
I’d like to free up the space my monsterous oil heater and 250 gallon storage tank take up in the basement, but I believe right now (Philadelphia) gas is more expensive than oil. Any thoughts, pro or con?
I am building a house. I was told that propane used to be much cheaper than oil a few years back. Many people were installing it. But, things have stablized and the prices are about equal now.
From what I understand gas is cheaper to install. I save about $1,000 on the build.
The gas company will come and put in the underground tank for free, as long as I sign a 5 year or so contract with them.
Gas burns cleaner than oil, so there is less maintanance required.
With gas I can have a gas dryer in the basement, a gas stove in the kitchen and a gas line to the porch for a grill. These are all desireable.
I decided on propane. I didn’t do much research on price, though. So, I’m interested in what others have to say in this thread.
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I think this will do better in IMHO.
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I’ve lived in different parts of the country, and have relied upon natural gas for heating, and currently rely upon oil for heating. A major squawk of mine is relying upon someone to bring fuel to my home (oil) so that I can heat my home and hot water. On the other hand, natural gas is readily available, without waiting on a delivery. No, I’ve never run out of oil, but I get freaked out when the temperature is 15 degrees, and I go to the basement and the gauge reads “1/8 of a tank”–even if there is a delivery truck coming the following day.
Plus, there’s something unnerving about the idea of having 200 gallons of heating oil stored in a tank in my basement…
I have experienced both oil & natural gas heat in the past few years.
I’ll tell you what I see as the pros & cons of each.
Oil Pros/Natural Gas Cons
ready supply in the basement, don’t have to worry about the natural gas line pressure, which is a big problem for some people in my neighborhood. The gas distribution company can’t seem to maintain adequate line pressure to serve all households sufficiently, so some people’s furnaces shut off due to low gas pressure. It happens especially often during cold snaps, and in the mornings when people turn up their thermostats to a daytime temperature. Talk to your immediate neighbors to find out if they have had any such problems.
Oil companies around here are much smaller than the gas company, serving fewer customers each, which means you tend to get faster service when there is a problem.
Many more oil companies around here, so there is some actual competition, versus the single-choice gas supplier.
It’s weird, and I don’t know how this could be scientifically true, but when I turned up the thermostat for my oil burner the apartment heated up a lot faster than with the gas furnace.
Natural Gas Pros/Oil Cons
You don’t have to worry about the oil company not making a scheduled delivery, or forgetting to call to request a delivery if you don’t have a scheduled delivery set up.
No worries about 300 gallons of fuel oil leaking out of the tank & ruining your stuff in the cellar, though I suppose you do have to worry about a gas leak making your house explode. I know people that this happened to.
Some additional thoughts:
Since this is IMHO, I’ll offer mine:
Oil will not explode. Gas can and occasionally does, even though this doesn’t happen often. End of story for me. I am very glad that we don’t have any gas lines to my house, and I’ll never choose it. But that’s just me. Our tank is in a small room above ground just outside the basement, so if it were to leak, we would be able to tell before contamination spread. It has a gadget that sends a whistling sound when it’s almost full so the delivery person won’t overfill it. The delivery service has a formula based on the weather (heard of “degree days?”) so we don’t run out.
I already have a gas line, for my stove and dryer. I’m in a Philly suburb that’s well established, so there’s no problem with gas pressure or supply. I just have a few months to decide on the new system and was looking for input. Any horror stories of either system? Preferably first or second hand, not “friend of a friend”, but any info is valued!
I’m going to sound like the voice of doom, here, but unless you’ve actually asked your neighbors if they’ve ever had problems, I wouldn’t be so sure. My house had enough gas pressure to run a dryer, stove & water heater, but neighbors didn’t have enough to run a furnace (this was while my house still had an oil furnace). I live in a town that was established 350 years ago, my neighborhood is “well established” at more than 100 years old, and some houses have had chronic gas pressure problems for the last decade or so.
Just being a pessimist on your behalf. 
Oil furnaces are (slowly) going the way of the buggy whip–and, for good reason, as the latest generation of gas furnaces deliver efficiencies (93+ percent) that oil-fired furnaces can’t begin to touch. To run at peak efficiency, oil furnaces require more service. Gas is environmentally more sound. Explosions from natural gas leakage are exceptionally rare. Moreover, you can purchase appliances (washer, dryer, hot water) that run off of gas. The supply of natural gas is stable–and expanding. A crisis in the Middle East could seriously hit oil supplies. The speed at which a furnace warms a house is dictated by the unit’s BTU rating, not by the fuel (gas or oil).
Depending on your locale/lot size, you might want to investigate geothermal heating.