replace oil boiler with an electric boiler?

Michael Rogers

I just locked up with Hydro at 0.076 for five years. It looks as if I should also take a look at an electric boiler, even just to supplement my gas boiler.

Bob Scott

replace electric boiler with electric boiler?

I am moving into an older but very well built home with an old oil boiler heating system. The house is about 2300 square feet, moderately air tight, with ceiling insulation but no wall insulation (masonry walls). My concern is not just the oil boiler but also the old buried oil tank. I am very afraid it is rusting and could leak in the near future. I want to avoid digging it up and replacing. I also don't really have the indoor or outdoor space to put in another non-buried tank. I am considering replacing the boiler with an electric boiler. Electric rates in my area are about $.065/kWh. The last owners paid $2.49 per gallon for oil last summer, with all likelihood that the price will continue to go up.

Can you advise on electric boliers? Will we be satisfied with the heat? Is is a relatiely simple conversion from the oil boiler to an electric as far as the piping and radiators? Any best manufacturers of products or things we should look for?

Thank you for any assistance you can provide.

Steamhead (in transit)

The cost per BTU would bankrupt you

sure you couldn't put the tank under the porch or someplace similar?

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Edward A. (Ed) Carery

Electric vs. Oil boiler ????

Steamhead and Paul,


First I will say that I am an oil & gas guy at heart.


However, at those rates, you may be surprised about the price of the electric vs. the oil. I ran them by hand, and then checked my numbers using the site link below. My results were almost identical to the site.


Long story short, the oil was more slightly expensive than the electric.


I used an 85% eff oil boiler, which is achievable but optimistic. Bob’s old boiler obviously would not get that kind of efficiency.


If he still has to pay that high of a price for oil, and he is relatively sure that the electric rates will not spike soon, as hard as it is to believe, the electric may be a viable option.


To rehabilitate his oil system will require replacement of the fuel tank. I don’t know how bad the old oil boiler is, but it appears by his post that it is time for that to go too.


To answer your question Bob, once the boiler (electric or oil) makes the hot water and sends it on it’s way into your system, the layout of the existing heating distribution system becomes the primary factor to consider for your comfort.


The electric boiler will be less expensive to purchase and install. Your electric service must be able to handle the additional (and large) load, which may require you to do an update to the electric service. That must be factored into your cost of installation.


Once the electric boiler is installed, there is very little maintenance necessary.


If oil prices do drop, (which is anyone’s guess) and if electric prices spike, you can also consider adding the oil boiler to the system redundant to the electric, at a later date.


Interesting issue here


LINK TO COST CALC SITE BELOW:

http://www.hearth.com/fuelcalc/findoil.html


Ed Carey

Paul Fredricks_3

Yes, you wouldn't bury a new tank. In the basement works best, or out side next to the house.

You would have to remove the old tank one way or another. Hopefully it's not leaking now and you want it out before it does.

Electric heat is VERY expensive.

John Starcher_4

At the rates you quote....

...I am coming up with a cost per therm of $1.91 for the electric, and $2.11 for the fuel oil, assuming 85% efficiency of the oil boiler.

If you reduce the oil efficiency to 80%, it comes out to $2.24/therm.

Starch

Paul Fredricks_3

Woh!

I'm paying at least .15 a KW here in CT. Lots of delivery charge in there.

I just remember seeing the stickers on new washing machines comparing hot water costs. Electric was always 4 time more than gas.

Edward A. (Ed) Carery

Price comparison

John,

I did the calcs per million BTU @85% oil and 100% elect. Came out within pennies of yours when adjusted from million to therms.

See my post above re same.

I have not compared the unit prices in a while. This is an interesting issue.

In my 35 years in the field I have never seen electricity less than oil for any appreciable length of time. Oil did jump up past electricity for a short time in the early 70’s when we were all sitting in gas lines at the pumps, but it fell quickly, and electricity went way past it, staying there for years.

However, since the majors have now realized that they can gouge the heck out of us and continue to get away with it, this time it is questionable how quickly the major oil companies are going to be willing to drop fuel oil prices for any appreciable dollar amount or for any length of time.

It will be interesting to see where the electricity prices finally end up. I can’t imagine that the major oil company will be making such record profits, and the electricity utilities will not want their “piece of that action”.

For now, I would like to get some of my electricity at .065 too. I am at around .12

Ed Carey

John Starcher_4

Hi Ed -

We, too are in the .12/kwh range. Electricity (straight resistive) is the most expensive fuel, although the gap is narrowing!

I would love to see .065/kwh!!!!!

Starch

Steamhead (in transit)

Most times

electric and gas rates are quoted without including all the taxes and fees that appear in very small print- the utilities really don't want you to think about these things. So I figured in some extra on that .065/KWH rate even though Bob didn't say whether he included these items. Just trying to make sure we have a level playing field.....

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Edward A. (Ed) Carery

Electric rates

Very Good point Steamhead.

I never really thought to ask about it.

If Bob just looked at his electric bill and only looked at the KWH rate, instead of actually calculating the total cost per KWH based on his total bill due, there could be quite a difference.

If he used such a rate to compare to the total delivered price of FO, the entire picture could change.

Ed Carey

John Starcher_4

Agree with you both......

...you have to look at the total cost.

I just take the total $$ on the bill, and divide it by the number of KWHr used.

Starch

Ericjeeper

off peak rates here

Our local electric Co-Op sells offpeak power at 4.9 cents.. if he could come up with an electric boiler with a fairly large storage.. Would that work?
My cousin in Germany uses this setup.as fuel oil there is very very costly. When I was there in 2004 it was 3.8 a gallon then. I bet it is well above that now.

Bob Scott

actual electric rates

I want to thank you all for responding, your help is appreciated. I got out some electric bills and divided total costs by usage, as recommneded, and to my surprise, the $.065 I quoted was higher than the actual cost. The actual cost (even with a monthly base cost factored in)was more like $.058. Great rates comapared to most of the country!! By the way, I live in Southern West Virginia and am served by Appalachian Power Company, part of American Electric Company. Electricity in WV has not been deregulated, and does not appear that it will be anytime soon. APCO's rates are supposed to go up, by about 20% over the next 4 years.

JohnWood1

hydroelectric..... the best!

As you have hydro power and oil is an imported and ever more scarce product, I'd say economics will out for you and go eelectric. If you have low temp emitters, you could use a SEISCO modulating electric "mini-boiler" to achieve greater comfort and savings on install as well as the consumption of juice.

Coolest install for me was to use both LP and electric on a boiler control. Set up so lowest cost power was lead and higher was lag. When situation with cost changed, so did lead lag positions. Big benefit was sizing the boilers at 50-50% of load so they ran "in the zone" plus gave redundancy.

jw

JohnWood1

hydroelectric..... the best!

As you have hydro power and oil is an imported and ever more scarce product, I'd say economics will out for you and go electric. If you have low temp emitters, you could use a SEISCO modulating electric "mini-boiler" to achieve greater comfort and savings on install as well as the consumption of juice.

Coolest install for me was to use both LP and electric on a boiler control. Set up so lowest cost power was lead and higher was lag. When situation with cost changed, so did lead lag positions. Big benefit was sizing the boilers at 50-60% of load so they ran "in the zone" plus gave redundancy.

jw

Blackoakbob

Check this site....

for a comparison chart www.electromn.com I've used their
electric boilers for a few years and have been very satisfied. Also, axeman-anderson has an electric storage
type boiler available. IMHO I would keep the oil boiler, it's paid for, replace the oil tank with an above ground one set up an electric boiler and have a "choice" as the market varies. They can be piped primary-secondary and controlled by individual t-stats. I set one up on natural gas last fall and the customer switched over in September when natural gas started to climb from $6.32/therm to $9.88/therm and he road out the worst of the price rise thru the early spring. He was very pleased with the savings. Best Regards