Oil vs Propane

paul zeszotarski

I have had no problem wih propane. i say go with propane.

Tom Hyde

Oil vs Propane

It is time to replace my old (over 20 years) oil burner and furnace. I have hot water base board heat. I live in a moderate climate. Connecticut. In a small cape with full upstairs dormer. But I don't heat the upper floor.
What are the advantages and and disadvantages of Oil vs Propane. Cost to run, environmental issues. Cost of fuel.

Thank you.

Keith_8

pros and cons

Tom,

If natural gas is not available then propane will be a significant improvement over your current oil boiler.

Have you done a heat loss of your home to determine what size boiler you need?

Size your new boiler for the entire house.

The propane tank needs to be located at least 15' away from your house. But not more than 100'.

A condensing propane boiler will allow you to size the boiler for whole house even tho you do not heat the 2nd floor. The boiler will have the ability to reduce it's output by modulating down the firing rate. It will also have the ability to reset the heating water temp based upon the outdoor temp and your actual heat loss requirements. Regarding combustion efficiency, most of the time you will be in the low 90% for efficiency vs. mid 80% for fuel oil. When it comes to system efficiency the advantage becomes greater for gas.

Oil has made significant strides in being more efficient in the last 20 years but they still are not as flexible as gas at this point.

If you do decide to stick with a new oil boiler, properly sized and installed it will save you significant fuel over your current boiler.

Contact your local propane dealer, get some quotes on the propane and a tank to store the fuel in. Some of the companies will lease or give you a tank when you sign an agreement to purchase the fuel from them.

Be aware that a gallon of propane has a gross BTU value of 92,000 btu's vs 140,000 btu's for #2 heating oil. You need to factor that in when you compare the fuel costs.

Either scenario requires attention to detail to achieve the results you are seeking.

Keith

millhouse_2

Might also want to consider the historical cost of oil vs propane. EIA(http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/oog/info/hopu/hopu.asp) provides weekly and monthly residential oil prices since early 1990s (including CT). Since propane is a by product of petroleum, the price of propane tracks oil. Over the last 16-17 years, only in recent months was it more cost effective to heat w/ propane than oil (I live in Mass) and that is taking into account a 10% more efficient propane appliance and normalizing on BTU output b/t the fuels.

Another thing is the tank. We did not want a 500 gallon yard art display, so there was a cost to bury the tank. If you opt for a "free" tank from the propane company, you're married to the company until you swap tanks. Or you could buy the tank...boy, the propane companies hated it when I said that!!

[Deleted User]

Why does the propane tank need to be more than 15 feet from the house? When I worked at a gas company, we put them right next to the house.

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Keith_8

not sure

Might be because of the possibility of a propane leak.

Does the size of the tank have anything to do with it?

My uncle had one for cooking and it was placed along side the house.

Good question,

Keith

mtfallsmikey

'Cuz that's the code

Codes require tanks to be a minimum distance away from doors, windows, crawl space vents, etc. Also, types of piping listed for burial, locations of 1st,2nd stage regulators.

[Deleted User]

You're right about the code requiring certain distances from doors, windows, openings to the home, etc..., but if you meet those clearances you can put the tank next to the house. However the size of the tank does matter. A tank that holds between 125-500 gals. w.c. has to be a min. of ten feet from the home. You can however put two or three 420 (120 gal w.c.) tanks together next to the house. Three 420's would hold about 297 gallons of LP when full. Unless you have a bad driveway in the winter or you go through alot of gas, that would be plenty of gas.

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