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Oil to gas conversion

Silvion
Silvion Member Posts: 26
I have a question for the pros out there.

If I switch from oil to nat gas for heating. And lets say I used 1000 gallons last year.

Can I say that all I would need is 1390 in natural gas btu to get the equivalent heat for a steam system? Or are there other factors I need to consider?

Comments

  • RDSTEAM
    RDSTEAM Member Posts: 134
    .....

    Well.....if you needed the same exact amount of heat as the previous year, then yes you would use somewhere around 1,400 therms......but this is highly unlikely. Are you trying to size your gas burner? What exactly are you trying to accomplish with this? Many factors are involved in amount of fuel consumption, but if your sizing your system thats different.
  • Silvion
    Silvion Member Posts: 26
    Oil To Gas

    I am trying to determine if its worth it to convert to gas. Not sure how long these oil prices will stay so high.



    thanks

    sil
  • SWEI
    SWEI Member Posts: 7,356
    math, and predicions

    Math here http://www.eia.gov/neic/experts/heatcalc.xls



    Predictions being worth less than you pay for them, I would have to guess that liquid fuel prices are not likely to drop much anytime soon.  NG?  Who the blank knows, but even a steady uptrend would take years to become a major economic issue for most of us.
  • Silvion
    Silvion Member Posts: 26
    Heat Calc

    In that spreadsheet. How should I adjust for the delivery charges of gas. I am assuming that is only for the supply charge.



    thanks

    silvion
  • SWEI
    SWEI Member Posts: 7,356
    just divide

    The bottom line on the bill by the number of therms and you'll get a net cost per therm.  It's best to look at 2-3 months and average them.
  • Silvion
    Silvion Member Posts: 26
    thanks

    Duh,

    I should have thought of that. I was looking at all the little **** pieces that make up the bill.



    Thanks
  • heatpro02920
    heatpro02920 Member Posts: 991
    NG prices

    Natural gas is not going to stay low forever, and if or when rather, they decide to put an end to the fracking they are doing, you could see it double pretty fast...
  • conversiontime
    conversiontime Member Posts: 87
    about right

    I switched to NG this winter, normally burn around 1000 gallons oil and on track for approx 1400 therms. Probably end up a little higher but I have dialed up the therm approx 4-5 degrees this year.



    Biggest issue to research is find out your local utilities cost per therm AT YOUR CITY GATE. I made this mistake of not realizing you will pay likely different NG rates than the common henry hub quotes. Make a long story short in my area of Maine we are on the Canadian Sable fields pipleline and my utility has been paying approx 2.5 the henry hub prices for city gate delivery during peak winter delivery and the cost varies every month. Unusual situation but again ideally you live near a larger gate area that will have much cheaper prices.



    Still will end up saving money at these prices but point is NG prices are all over the map when you really examine the local gate prices.
  • SWEI
    SWEI Member Posts: 7,356
    edited March 2013
    NG pricing

    Henry Hub and City Gate prices matter to traders, but are best vaguely related to what you will actually end up paying, thanks mostly to hedging and long-term contract prices negotiated months or even years before you use the gas.  The utility will have historical rate information on file which is slightly more interesting, but still of limited usefulness for predicting your future costs.



    As a consumer all you really need to know is what the bottom line will be.  Find a neighbor or three with similar-sized houses and ask to see a couple months worth of bills.  Just look at the total cost in dollars and divide by the number of therms used that month.  I try for an average of at least three winter months when making projections, then add a ramp to that in anticipation of future price increases.
  • clamshelldigger
    clamshelldigger Member Posts: 4
    any opinions on a decent gas boiler

    Hi,  I am currently going through estimates at my residence (standard LI cape style house), to convert from oil to gas.  National Grid referral plumbers are giving me generally 2 types of boilers, Burnham es 2 (105,000 BTU and Buderus gc 124 (130,000 BTU).  I currently have a Weil-Mclain oil burner in this house for 25 years with no problems, other than the price of oil is now a mortgage payment. I've done some research reviews on the Burnham and Buderus and haven't seen anything negative other than the Buderus will be more cost.  One of the plumbing contractors told me he's backing off on the Burnham ES2 because of the last 40 installed, recently he had to replace the electronic control boards on approx 24 of them, due to Burnham's new design. He will install the Burham if I want (better rebate) , but pushing 130,000 BTU Burderus due to excellent reliability , better German made quality and doesn't want to be  coming back replacing the modules.  I am not worried about the cheapest price, I just want reliability!  My question is , does anybody have opinions on these boilers or has anyone heard of any problems with Burnham es2 control modules ?
  • SWEI
    SWEI Member Posts: 7,356
    opinions will come forth

    but would you mind starting a new thread for this?
  • gennady
    gennady Member Posts: 839
    edited March 2013
    BURNHAM es

    Is a non condensing mid efficiency boiler. Buderus gc 124 is also non condensing mid efficiency boiler. Did you considered high efficiency condensing direct venting boiler? You will not need expensive lining and rebates are doubled.
  • clamshelldigger
    clamshelldigger Member Posts: 4
    Oil to Gas conversion

    Finally got my password working again, thanks Dan.  I'll post a new thread as per the request
This discussion has been closed.