Converting From Oil Boiler to Electric

jp_2

what do you have in the walls?

John Parker

Converting From Oil Boiler to Electric

My oil bill for the 2007/08 heating season was over $2,500. I have insulated the floors, windows & doors and keep the thermostat at 62F or less. Unused rooms are closed off. I've GOT to replace the oil fired boiler before I go broke! I am thinking of replacing the oil with an electric fired boiler to heat my old hot water radiators. I have 240V single phase power at about $.09 per KWH. Oil will be $4.38 or more per gallon. Natural gas is not available, only LP. My home is 3,000 sq. ft. brick, 1849 construction. I would appreciate any thoughts and suggestions anyone might offer on this. Thanks!

Steamhead (in transit)

What kind

of boiler do you have now? If it's an older model, even a new oil-fired boiler can produce much savings. Some boilers can burn either oil or propane depending on what burner is installed.

Have you compared the cost per BTU of electricity vs. oil? Will you need to upgrade your electric service to install an electric boiler?

"Steamhead"

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Hydronx_2

electric

At those rates you could save in the neighborhood of 30% in fuel costs. See attached fuel comparison chart. If your current boiler is 85% efficient you are paying about $36 per million BTU. If you put in a 100% electric boiler you would be paying $26.37. Depending on how your system is setup you may be able to keep the old boiler and add the electric boiler to the system so that you have the options to use either.
Glen

John Parker

My old existing oil fired boiler is giving about 72% efficiency by my servicemans estimate. At that rate I "guestimated" my savings at 50% by going electric, possibly using off-peak useage to maximize savings. I read several financial newsletters and all are predicting oil in the $5 to $6.00 per gallon after the current decline ends and markets reset to higher levels next year. No matter how efficient new oil furnaces are I can't see any justification for staying with oil given the realities of today.

One other problem I do have is half of my radiators are steam and I either have to convert them to HW or change to baseboard tube/fin. Are there any problems mixing HW radiators with baseboard type? Thanks!

Steamhead (in transit)

What

are the respective heating loads on each zone? If they're big enough, it might pay to use two separate boilers.

One advantage of steam over hot-water is there is much less danger of freezing the pipes and radiators in an extended fuel or power failure.

"Steamhead"

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John Parker

The walls are brick, one foot+ thick. Probably hollow in some areas but no way access and tell for sure. Built in 1849. I know, it's a giant heat sink.

John Parker

11 radiators are HW, 10 are steam. They are well balanced and operate well. Hot water is pulled from one side of the boiler and steam from the other side. If I understand you I should retain the steam by using a seperate boiler?

Steamhead (in transit)

Yes

This would give you some redundancy if one unit broke down, besides automatically giving you two zones. Plus, you'd only need to fire one smaller boiler in the summer if you want to use an indirect hot-water heater (tank), rather than firing a large boiler. This would of course be more efficient in the summer.

"Steamhead"

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