Natural Gas likely to be viable for forseeable future?

Jason_15

This is an excellent question. one I have pondered many times as I get ready to replace my natural gas boiler. Are there any american made oil boilers that would accept a gas conversion burner?

D107

Now that I'm planning to have Buderus super-efficient gas

replacement boiler installed, is there any concern out there that natural gas will dwindle in supply and rise in price to the point where there will be no choice but to use oil, etc?
Or will they come out with super-efficient dual-fuel models?

Or will some new fuel emerge from the auto industry that will be viable for home heating?

Geothermal looks out of reach for most residences,and solar is limited.....

Mike T., Swampeast MO

If what I'm reading is correct, there's LOTS of natural gas--much of it from domestic or offshore sources.

Electric generation in the US has been responsible for much of the recently increased demand with actual infrastructure responsible for the bulk of supply "problems".

If the markets work like everyone says they're supposed to work, no one fossil fuel can long be sustained at either an unusually high or low price.

For the first time since Three-Mile Island, new nuclear plants are in the works; there are some advances in "clean coal" that truly seem promising. For the environmentally hysterical areas liquified natural gas is on the way.

Beyond this, I believe there's a growing trend to demand that our government start devoting mega-funds to develop truly viable alternatives to fossil fuels. Securing sources for resources that come from increasingly hostile areas does not come cheaply.

Paul Pollets

Which Model

are you considering?

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D107

buderus model

it's the GB 142; my estimated heat load is about 55Kbtu; existing mostly cast iron rads about 75K btu. (in westchester ny area). Have had a few pros down--one thing that was discovered was that either due to money concerns or bad engineering, the old gravity system was re-piped into a loop system, from radiator to radiator with 3/4" supply lines going up the old 1" risers, etc. (not to mention the current 1981 weil mclain 7 section hot water boiler has no bypass, is not pumping away, has no low water cutoff, undersized expansion tank, etc.)

The thought was that unless I had ALL the basement piping redone--establish the pipe manifold to have separate supply and return lines plus the near boiler piping--I would not see that 98% efficiency. So it sounds like mucho $$ AND I thought gee suppose natural gas keeps skyrocketing........

Steamhead (in transit)

Future-proofing

If you get an oil-fired boiler, you can put a gas conversion burner in it if oil gets more expensive than gas and stays that way.

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S Ebels

Who knows?

From everything I have read, it appears that we are not on the edge of the precepice, so to speak. We are however, entering the stage of the game where fuel commodities will continue to be greatly affected by any disruption in the supply chain. In other words prices may stabilize for a year or a few years then go bonkers for a time before settling down at a substanially higher median price than before. This past summer and fall is an excellent illustration. If that's not scary, think of a civil war in Saudi Arabia.

In my sales presentations for customers, I try to advise them or at least make them aware that there are boilers on the market that are suitable for gaseous and liquid fuels. The Viessmann Vitola series for example. These boilers will accept natural or LP gas burners, as well as fuel oil while returning combustion efficiencies in the mid to upper 80% range. I have heard through the grapevine that there will soon be a Vitola set up for solid fuel, or at least bio based fuel pellets also. What this means is that you could switch fuels as conditions warranted by merely changing the burner on your boiler. On the Vitola this is a matter of about four bolts and some programming changes. Current price differences in the fuels market do not warrant the expense of buying another burner but I anticipate a day when they will. Especially if a person buys a years worth of fuel in advance.

As I tell my customers, right now it sounds far fetched but in 5-10 years it may be common. Again, Who Knows?

Just some food for thought.........

Dan Goodridge

Gas/oil burner

System 2000 boilers can use either a gas or oil burner

Mark Hunt

And what will he do


with all of those "extra" btu's???

Smallest oil fired unit is???

I don't care whether it condenses or not, modulation is the key.

An oil fired unit will fire at max every time it comes on, the GB will not.

And just how "efficient" will that power burner be??

Sorry folks......the oil industry has been left in the dust when it comes to technology.

Mark H



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Constantin

Well,

it's a shame that your gravity install was converted, as such systems are usually ideal, out of the box, for condensing boilers geared with very small circulators. You'd get energy efficiency on the BTU conversion as well as the distribution side of the plant. I hope that the professionals you'll hire will bring the system back into balance and performance.

As for the NG question, I don't think we'll be running out of gas but energy prices are almost certain to rise. A oil boiler that is certified to run on either oil or gas might be a good hedge but no condensing boiler exists on the US residential market (to my limited knowledge) that is mfgr-certified to run on oil and gas burners. The Monitor FCX is the only condensing oil boiler on the US market, and HeatWise make the tiny (for our shores) oil burner that fires it. A call to Monitor or Heatwise might be in order...

Ron Schroeder

Inteligent controls, proper burner sizing and possably a buffer tank will achieve similar savings to modulation. We will probably see 2 stage oil burners here in the US soon too. Brookhaven National Lab is starting a study to quantify the effects of various controls and system configurations.

Almost any oil boiler can be converted to gas with a power burner. Very few gas boilers can be converted to oil. An oil fired system potentionally could be easier to convert to bio fuels.

Ron

D107

thanks guys for all the input; utility's 'therm factor?'

I guess the oil-gas debate will be with us for awhile, though I would not like to have to add an oil tank to my basement.

I see that from 9/04 to 8/05 I used 1400 therms for heat, HW, dryer and stove which totalled $2039. That's probably not terrible for a 55K btu heat load uninsulated 27'x 27' house in three zones design temp about 10deg. but it seems I could get savings of at least 40% with condensing boiler, modulation, insulation, piping, controls, etc. Plus I didn't mention my direct HWH is 16 yrs old so i may not have long to make my decision. To repipe they'd have to rip out alot of my finished basement ceiling.

Also I see the utility multiplies the total CCF used by a 'therm conversion factor' of about 1.034. I thought therms were simply an even amount of CCF?

Glen

not entirely -

Weishapt has a residential sized modulating oil burner on the shelves now - testing product applications as we type. But I am not sure when they will be available on the wholesaler shelves. Reportedly costing as much (or more) as a Vitola. Would still be worth evaluating even if the price is BMW priced.