To convert to gas, or to stick with oil?

WillG13

Hi all, my wife and I recently bought a 2-family home in MA and are currently living on the second floor and renting the first. It was built in 1900, and the first floor unit is gas with baseboards, and our second floor is still oil with forced steam radiators in every room. We were told that our oil burner is on its way out and are exploring all our options regarding replacing the unit. I've had multiple companies come out and assess the situation, and out of the two that got back to me, one suggested we convert to gas, and one to stick with oil. (If it changes anything, our current oil provider who recently stopped doing gas conversions is the one who suggested we stick with oil). I've gone back and forth multiple times attempting to determine what the best option would be for us. Being that I'm a part time real estate agent and knowing that we ultimately plan to make this an income property and rent out both levels, I know the alure/ease of gas over oil for future tenants. Also, the gas line we already have coming into the home is large enough to support the demands of the second floor, so another positive. As I was speaking with a MA Save rep today though, seeing if we can apply for one of their 0% interest loans, the rep was telling me how much less efficient and more costly it will be to switch to gas as opposed to keeping the oil, basically attempting to dissuade me from doing so entirely, while at the same time telling me about the rebates he can offer me for replacement oil systems. I've found myself going back and forth on the matter many times. From my perspective converting the entire house to gas will make for easier future renting/maintenance as they will be all the same gas systems, not to mention the conversion is over $1k cheaper than a replacement oil system, even with the removal of the oil tank factored in. Also the owner from Economy Plumbing and Heating Co who would be doing the gas conversion who came out to take a look has seemed the most knowledgeable and straightforward. Again though, I'm certainy not an expert and I just want to set us up the best I can for the future. We hardly touch the thermostat so I could care less about how quickly the house heats up, but things like water taking forever to heat up or a drastic monthly cost increase as compared to oil, could all be potentially problematic. Any advice would be greatly appreciated, thanks anyone in advance for their time! 

EBEBRATT-Ed

For practical purposes the difference in efficiency of gas versus oil is probably 2-3% with oil slightly more efficient. I assume your keeping this steam.

Gas boilers should have regular service but usually require less attention than oil. And getting rid of the oil tank is a +

Many on this forum will say the contractor you choose is more important than the boiler you pic or the fuel you burn.

Believe me when I say we see horror stories every day here from homeowners who come here seeking help after a bad install. You might want to check out a few posts like the current one @Steamhead has posted "Todays episode of you can't fix stupid"

The quality of the contractors and technicians (especially steam) is at an all time low and dropping fast.

Watch closely, if your contractor does not measure every radiator in the house (the only way to size steam) or sizes the boiler based on the old one or guesses...........run away fast.

Equally important is that the contractor follows the install manual:

He should use black pipe and not copper tubing on the steam work
Follow the boiler mfg. piping diagram for pipe sizing and piping configuration ...at the minimum
Skim the boiler after completion
Set the pressure control to cut the burner off at 2psi maximum


If your looking for a good contractor @Charlie from wmass & @New England SteamWorks but they usually have more work than they can do and are likely busy. You can PM them

Jamie Hall

To back up what @EBEBRATT-Ed said and add a bit.

First, you mention "forced steam". Um... no. It's either steam or forced hot water; steam is not forced. Best to make sure of that. Either way, if you keep the existing emitters -- radiators -- there shouldn't be that much difference in price between a gas boiler install and an oil boiler install. I'm puzzled by the price difference you suggest -- and a little concerned The difference should be entirely in the cost of the boiler alone, or the gas should be more expensive if removing the oil tank is taken into consideration.

That said, I can somewhat understand your dilemma. although either option should take little or no attention from a tenant, there does seem to be a "spook" factor with oil heat. Never figured out why -- I'd much rather not have a highly explosive gas piped into my house, but there it is.

Another factor to make absolutely certain of and get a tight commitment on with gas is actually two pronged: first, that your gas provider will actually have some gas to provide on cold dark nights at zero and second that your town will even permit you to install more gas. Some have voted to not permit new installations of gas, and it would be worth finding out and getting in writing, notarized, from your building officials that they will permit the conversion.

I myself would stick with the oil.

ethicalpaul

Wow, your oil guy recommends staying with oil? Imagine that!!

Yes, convert to gas.

Hot_water_fan

As I was speaking with a MA Save rep today though, seeing if we can apply for one of their 0% interest loans, the rep was telling me how much less efficient and more costly it will be to switch to gas as opposed to keeping the oil, basically attempting to dissuade me from doing so entirely, while at the same time telling me about the rebates he can offer me for replacement oil systems.

No idea why the rep said this.

One consideration is that gas boilers come in smaller sizes than oil. This is more efficient - I can't imagine one floor of the building needs a 80,000 btu oil boiler. Likely you can install the smallest gas boiler they make. You can use this to come up with your heat loss:

https://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/article/out-with-the-old-in-with-the-new

How is your gas billed now?
Most utilities bill the gas itself at cost.
The variety comes in the delivery: some charge a monthly flat fee and others bill by the unit for delivery. If it's a flat fee, then oil will be at a major disadvantage.

Jamie Hall

Here is another heat loss calculator -- which I prefer: https://www.slantfin.com/slantfin-heat-loss-calculator/

As I said -- or at least implied -- do your homework. First, if this is a steam system (still not sure of that), the building heat loss has nothing to do with the size of the boiler. The boiler must be matched as closely as possible to the radiation which it is powering. On the other hand, if this is a hot water system, then while the amount of radiation determines the operating water temperature, the size of the boiler must be matched to the building heat loss as calculated above.

Now I will further muddy the water. If this is a forced hot water system (as I say, I still don't know) and if you have done an analysis with the Slantfin calculator of your heat loss, and if have analysed your installed radiation and find that you can heat the building with relatively low temperature (say 130 to 140) water, I would seriously consider an air to water heat pump as your main source of heat (possibly leaving the oil boiler in place as a back up for when the electricity and the gas both fail, which they will)

yesimon

Being that I'm a part time real estate agent and knowing that we ultimately plan to make this an income property and rent out both levels, I know the alure/ease of gas over oil for future tenants... From my perspective converting the entire house to gas will make for easier future renting/maintenance as they will be all the same gas systems, not to mention the conversion is over $1k cheaper than a replacement oil system.

Gas no question. Even though I'm pessimistic on the future prices of natural gas due global market forces - you aren't paying those bills. However oil delivery companies are highly problematic for tenants because they frequently require credit checks and ask for large deposits - not to mention potential headaches if/when you change tenants, measuring remaining oil levels and juggling delivery contracts.

WillG13

@ Hot_water_fan - it's National Grid, so monthly usage payments. And thank you all so much for your opinions and advice!

Jells

FWIW, if your burner is on the way out but the boiler is OK, can't you just get a new gas conversion burner? I guess it depends on the model. I had a new boiler installed that was a oil style with a gas burner. Seemed a good hedge against gas rising at the time, now it looks like oil will never be cheaper than gas.