Oil or Propane for a really small house

kevin coppinger_4

just measure up the rads to what the edr is and replace the old boiler...kpc

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Dave_4

Oil or Propane for a really small house

We have a small (700 SF living space plus basement) single family house. It is 70 years old but recently carefully insulated. We've estimated the heat load post insulation at about 30,000 BTU and are getting ready to replace our steam coal-conversion oil fired snow-man with hot water.

Our fuel options are oil or propane. Seems like oil is certainly cheaper than propane, even though propane equipment could be more efficient. However, I've not seen any oil fired boilers that are smaller than 100% oversized for our heat load. Seems like that is a recipie for a very inefficient and short-lived oil boiler, and maybe propane (which seems like it could be sized better) would be so much more efficient as to overcome its inherent price disadvantage. Or maybe there's a tiny oil boiler out there that I don't know about. Thanks!

MacVane

get rid of that steam system
A Baxi Luna wall hung gas boiler is an good choice,it will modulate the btu output of the boiler by using an outdoor reset
you can also put an outdoor reset on an oil fired boiler
The outdoor reset will lower the temp of the boiler,saving you money

Steamhead (in transit)

Why?

there's nothing a hot-water system can do that a steam system can't, including individual room temperature control, and besides a steam system won't freeze like hot-water can.

As for fuel, I'd stay with oil. Propane is a very poor value on a cost-per-BTU basis.

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Jack

Your best value in this

case is to go with Propane and install either one Rinnai 1004 or two 556WTA's (www.ductlessheating.com). If you have problems moving air to any room check the Tjernlund Air Share. When buying LP get as large a tank as you can afford and bury it. Get a 500 or 1000 gal and you will eliminate the mid-season buying blues, especially for a house that size. The Rinnia's are a simple install and will heat your home efficiently and reliably.