Gas vs. oil vs. .....

Jackchips

Joe, Anne. It is a tough call and most of what has been said is true. I had oil, converted to gas and have been very pleased with it. This was over 25 years ago and things were much different-if your old enough you will remember the oil/gas shortage.

Could it or will it happen again, who knows. For now, seeing you have gas, I would stay with it. Historically, they both have there periods of one being higher priced than the other and with todays modern equipment, heat just about as well.

Good luck, you can not make a bad decision as far as going with gas or oil.

Anne_2

Boiler questions

We just bought our first home (New England). Old natural gas boiler, steam heat, asbestos insulation. Trying to figure what to replace it with. First, suggestions for brands of steam boilers? Secondly, given what will probably be happening with gas prices, should we install an oil boiler instead? Lastly, is there any steam boiler that works with an alternative fuel such as wood pellet?

Dale

Replace?

What are your reasons to replace this current boiler? If the reason isn't leaks and the old boiler is still good I think you may find the payback to be very very long. As for asbestos nothing wrong with it if isn't damaged, seal it some more if you want to feel better. If you have the $ and want something new see about converting to hot water for the max fuel savings and max comfort. Steam works but there is a very good reason steam installs in residences stopped forever during the Roosevelt administration.

Joe_13

Tough call

There's a lot of talk of gas prices only heading higher this winter. Problem is conversion to oil will take a long time to recoup since the price of oil will also track higher since gas is going up. The cost of storage tank(s) that would probably have to go in the basement or outdoors also has to be factored in. The only real cost saving might come if you could place 2 or 3 275 gal tanks and fill them durring the off season. If you take a deliverly durring the winter, you'll wipe out the saving. The asbestos abatement will also be expensive. Dale is right, if you're going to go to this much expense, you might want to look at a conversion to hot water. Plenty of good brand name steam boilers available: check the manufacters link on this site.
Burnham, Crown, Peerless, Slant/Fin, etc. Most duel-fuel manufacturers are North of the border. Newmac is one that has a wood/oil model but for hot water not steam. Remember that these systems are very heavy and do not get great efficency numbers. They require a great deal of cleaning of course. I would say look into wood stoves and fire place inserts to get the most heat out of wood to supplement your heating.

Bryan_5

Steve what would that very good reason be? A properly working and maintained steam system is about as comfortable and efficient source of heat that there is. I wouldnt trade it for the world. I am sure some others will chime in on the benfits of converting.
Bryan

Steamhead

I couldn't agree more, Bryan

If a steam system is working properly there's no reason to convert to hot water. There are many pitfalls and the payback would be so long as to make it not worth doing.

Anne, the point of all this is that the boiler is not the only thing that affects fuel consumption. Once the boiler has generated the steam, its job is done. From that point the system must move it to the radiators, and this is where a lot of steam systems falter. Fortunately, this situation is very easy to fix, and not that expensive either. Bryan can attest to that.

Oil vs. gas? With projected massive gas price increases I'd seriously look at oil. Sure you'll have to install a tank and some other goodies, but you might save enough to pay for that. And you could always use an inshot gas burner in an oil-fired boiler if oil prices skyrocket.

Go to the Find a Contractor page of this site to find someone near you who can make your steam system work like it should.

To Learn More About This Contractor, Click Here to Visit Their Ad in "Find A Contractor"

John_19

gas vs. oil

Anne, my advice is to stick with gas. Over the long term, the prices of natural gas and oil move up and down together. This summer has been a bit milder than usual in the U.S., and the gas utilities are 'catching up' with gas storage needs for the winter. Last winter's price spike was due to a perfect storm affecting prices: (1) a hotter-than-normal summer of '02, depleting the amount of natural gas stored nationwide, followed by (2) a colder-than-normal early winter of '02, further depleting supplies, followed by (3) a war in Iraq. The mild summer of '03 is allowing gas storage to get closer to normal and expectations of a normal winter will have gas nearly back to normal in price. Gas will be higher for the next few years than it had been in the late 1990s, but it was unnaturally cheap then.

John@Reliable_4

Anne it's funny!

What people think about steam when they don't understand it? Steam heat is very comfortable, economical and very controllable thru proper venting. As far as pricing of fuels. Oil prices can change 5 times a day up and down and the customer is the one who usually makes out, most oil companies will cut our profit to keep short term price low. Gas is usually regulated and can take months for price to come down once high. The biggest reason I think that oil is better than gas is service! You will know the "oilman" he or she might live next door, the gas companies on the other hand are to big to care about you because once they have you that's it! They are the only game in town. Open the phone book and you find one gas company but look at how many oil companies there are who want you as a customer. Yes I do own an oil company, but facts are facts. P.S. the biggest reason steam went out of style was do to installation costs and subdivisions after WW two .One more thing that drives me crazy, look at an oil bill real simple $.89 per gallon x 150 gallons = $133.50 now try to read your gas bill, better yet call the gas company and try to get them to explain it? We get calls all the time from people about switching back to oil once they start seeing those bills from gas. Hope this helps John@Reliable

Brian_19

gas steam

I would stay with gas. Gas and oil prices will always fluctuate,sometimes oil will be cheaper sometimes it will more. A gas steam boiler is near silent when running. You will hear when an oil burner is running. Less to maintain with gas. No oil filters or nozzles to change on a yearly basis. Not having any tanks in your basement is a plus too.

scrook

gas vs oil

In New England I'd stay w/ oil. While wholesale gas prices tend to rise and fall w/ oil wholesale prices, in this neck of the country gas tends to be more expensive than oil in the long run. Muy understanding is that once you get to say PA/NJ/and further S and/or W that gas becomes competitive.

Other things may factor into the decision however, including whether gas is already piped to the house, if not, whether you really want it for cooking, availability of space for an oil tank, etc. but generally i'd vote for oil.

That said, natural gas is better/cheaper for cooking and cloths drying than electricity by quite a bit.

LP or propane is quite a bit more expensive (in N.E.) than oil or NG however.