N/E Peeps or other cold weather BBBers

[pinkmomagain]

Oil or gas heat?

Have always only had oil. But our indoor oil tank has sprung a leak (only about 11 yrs old) and we'd like to figure out our options.

Anybody make the switch and have opinions on it?

[Twoboos]

I grew up with oil, and our first house had it. Our 2nd house had propane, current house has natural gas.

I find we spend less on natural gas than we did on propane. Not sure about the oil comparison, it was too long ago (over 10 yrs) to be accurate.

We have had a couple of gas leaks (including outside at the meter), which have needed to be fixed asap. So that's always nerve-wracking. We have a special gas-sniffer device that DH uses if we think we smell something.

It's probably cleaner than oil, though. And there's no delivery to worry about. I guess I like natural gas the best out of all three. (But really, I like the one that WORKS, kwim? ;))

Do you know if you have a gas line at the street? If they have to run it to your house it could cost a lot.

[gatorsmom]

I don't have much experience with this but my parents house had an oil- burning furnace. When I settled the estate the realtor commented that that would be unattractive to potential buys because of the cost to heat it. It was the original furnace in a house that 40 years old but it was still running very well and had never had any problems. Otherwise, she said, she would have encouraged me to put in a gas furnace. Gas is the way to go right now, according to her and she is one of the best realtors in the area.

I paid the oil bills and iirc it came out about $1000 per year for a small house. I don't know how that compares to gas but I seem to remember being told for that size house it was high. The buyers said they didn't plan to replace the furnace because it was in such good condition.

Eta: we have gas now and already had a small leak in our new house. At least with oil a leak won't kill you in your sleep.

That's all I know. Hth!

[lizzywednesday]

I grew up with oil heat.

It was fine, but the delivery charges were such that one year I remember my father going to the gas station for DIESEL so we could get through a very snowy winter - he was unemployed & we were on food stamps then - so I'm not in love with oil for the reason that it does run out & you have to pay for delivery.

We currently have gas heat and it's pretty good - as long as you have a programmable thermostat, you should save money. We have a basic programmable thermostat, but are considering the Nest system that you can adjust using a smartphone.

I would check gas rates vs. oil delivery charges in your area to see which will be the better buy for you. (I might go with gas over oil anyway because it's one of the things we specifically looked for when house-hunting - it's relatively low-maintenance & clean-burning, so it made sense for us.)

[mom3boys]

I live in Northern New Jersey and we have gas. My parents in NH have oil heat. I prefer gas. I believe it is a little cleaner than oil, and it seems less expensive, and should continue to be less expensive because the U.S. has huge deposits of "shale gas" and therefore does not need to import as is done with oil.

I also like that when you have gas in your home for heat, it is easy to use it for appliances. We have a gas range, a gas clothes dryer (saves $ vs. electric) and our gas grill outside is hooked up directly to the gas line so no need to go get containers of propane. Vs. my parents have an electric range, etc. and I think part of the reason they have one is they don't have a gas hook up.

I haven't done a conversion from oil to gas, though. FWIW we had to have a "sweep" done on our house we recently sold, and the owners of our new house had to do a "sweep" done, (basically an inspection) to determine if there were any old oil tanks buried on the property. Luckily there weren't, at least in NJ if there had been one on our property we would have had to pay to have it removed as part of our sale. So if you convert to gas be sure you have that kind of thing removed (it is probably required by law or something now, anyway).

[SnuggleBuggles]

We have gas. We do the budget plan to spread out cost as some years the bill can be pretty high.

[pinkmomagain]

I do think that gas ends up being much less expensive than oil. We do have a gas line on our street. I believe there are incentives to switch to gas (rebates, etc.). Our appliances, right now, are electric and are about 7 years old. Would consider switching the stove top (glass that has had a crack in it for some time but still works).

BUT, I am pretty nervous about gas. Makes feel super worried about potential hazzards. For those with gas, what precautions do you take to ensure safety?

[scriptkitten]

we have oil in the house we bought in september.

our oil bills have been about $800 a month all winter (since november/december). its horrific. we've been mad scrambling trying to figure out how to make this house more efficient. the boiler system is in great shape and we only really use 1 zone during the day when we are home. the other 3 zones are only used if we are in them and its really cold.

i don't even know where all the heat is escaping to and we never have anything set higher than 65 or even 60 at night.

there is a state program where they do an energy audit and after that they sent someone here to seal our attic for free... we did that. now we are investigating wood pellet boiler systems. we have also been sealing up cold spots as best we can.

[123LuckyMom]

Gas is much less expensive. We have gas. Most of my friends who bought homes with oil converted to gas.

[boolady]

Gas all the way. We have oil heat, and need to convert. In addition to all of the other reasons to convert, we just had an oil delivery about 2 weeks ago, and it brings us up to over $2000 in oil since our first delivery around Halloween. This should keep us until late next October, but it is terrible. We will be converting as soon as we get estimates to do so.

[dogmom]

We have oil, which up until 4 or 5 years ago was cheaper or competitive with gas. Since the price of natural gas has dropped and oil has increased it is ugly. To get gas brought up to my house I would have to around 15-20 K to the gas company. On top of that the only way to bring it up would be to dig up my drive way and get it repaved, it's very long, and that would probably be at least $12 K. Given that I'm just praying that they come up with better alternatives by the time we sell the house. We got a wood burning insert installed, we have 4 heat zones, and we make do with 600 gallons a year, so under $2400 including maintenance and cleaning of the boiler. It also is our hot water. I would definitely go with gas if you had the option, I wish I did financially. Just to make it more miserable I can't use the state MassSaves energy conservation department. It is funded by the utility companies and my electric is municial and they don't have to belong and they choose not to because it's "too expensive." Because of that I am out thousands of reimbursements for energy upgrades and 0% interest loans. The whole state is based on that model and I have not other options.

[georgiegirl]

We have geothermal heat, which is awesome. Electricity powers the geothermal unit, and the back-up system (for when it is really cold, like single digits and below). Our heat bills in the winter are $200-250 for a 3500+ square foot home with lots of vaulted ceilings. We live in Iowa, so it's pretty cold here. It is expensive to get the system installed, but you do get a generous tax credit. We had to replace our units a few years ago.

[khalloc]

I grew up in Boston (in the city limits) and only ever had natural gas. When I went to college I moved to Vermont. When I bought my first house in VT we had propane. Once we moved closer to Burlington we had Natural Gas again. Gas is cheaper and easier to deal with than oil. You dont need to have a huge tank in your house. You dont have to pay to fill the entire thing in one whack. You just pay for what you use. Of course you need to be sure there is natural gas on the street where you are living and then you probably have to pay to have the line brought to your house. or maybe they do that for you since you''ll be paying them each month for gas?

Safety: I've lived in my current house for 7 years and never had a gas leak. as a child my father worked for the gas utility company and I can honestly say we never had a gas leak at our house. I think that is very rare. So its surprising to me to read a post here where someone said that they had a few?!

[sophiesmom03]

Gas if you can get it. Propane is a toss up, can cost as much as oil.

We switched one house from oil to gas and it was so much cleaner, easier to deal with.

We currently have oil and it's so expensive we use wood and wood pellets most of the time!

[Snow mom]

I asked a somewhat similar question recently and maybe the responses would be helpful to you: http://windsorpeak.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=453408

[SnuggleBuggles]

Slightly OT PSA- if you have gas, be sure and pay for gas line insurance. Our gas line under our driveway broke the day after Christmas 6 years ago. We had no insurance on it and it wasn't covered under homeowners. $1200 repair. Everyone said, "didn't you have the line insurance?"; um, no. Didn't know we needed it...assumed it was unnecessary. Now, it's my mission to make sure people look into it. :)

[westwoodmom04]

Slightly OT PSA- if you have gas, be sure and pay for gas line insurance. Our gas line under our driveway broke the day after Christmas 6 years ago. We had no insurance on it and it wasn't covered under homeowners. $1200 repair. Everyone said, "didn't you have the line insurance?"; um, no. Didn't know we needed it...assumed it was unnecessary. Now, it's my mission to make sure people look into it. :)

Gas is definitely cheaper but not available in all locations, including ours. Also, the costs of conversion can be high (unless the gas company is willing to subsidize) as you have to have your oil tanks removed, chimney relined, new furnace, etc. . Oil is a bit safer, but it seems pretty rare to hear about gas explosions (rare enough that it makes the news).

[vludmilla]

I've had both and I much prefer having natural gas. Usually gas burners last much longer than oil ones which is an additional benefit.

[pastrygirl]

Ugh. Oil heat, and bills close to 1K each month in the winter, from November to April.


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[nfowife]

Oy. Ya'll are scaring me! We have gas and live in a pretty temperate climate. We are moving to NE this summer and our rental house will have oil heat. It's a small house but I'm worried!

[westwoodmom04]

Oy. Ya'll are scaring me! We have gas and live in a pretty temperate climate. We are moving to NE this summer and our rental house will have oil heat. It's a small house but I'm worried!

Heat is expensive period. My parents heat their similarly sized house with gas, we use oil. We pay about $1000 more a year. That is certainly significant, but not, to me at least, overwhelming.

[arivecchi]

we have oil in the house we bought in september.

our oil bills have been about $800 a month all winter (since november/december). its horrific. we've been mad scrambling trying to figure out how to make this house more efficient. the boiler system is in great shape and we only really use 1 zone during the day when we are home. the other 3 zones are only used if we are in them and its really cold. Holy moly! Do you have large windows? High ceilings? We used to have a home with super tall ceilings and windows everywhere and the gas bills were huge in the winter. Now we live in a similarly sized house with shorter ceilings and no huge windows and our bills are pretty reasonable - approx $150-200 a month. I bet the house would be even more energy efficient if we replaced the windows. We have gas.

[scriptkitten]

Ugh. Oil heat, and bills close to 1K each month in the winter, from November to April.



ok. so i'm glad i'm not the only one.

[scriptkitten]

Holy moly! Do you have large windows? High ceilings? We used to have a home with super tall ceilings and windows everywhere and the gas bills were huge in the winter. Now we live in a similarly sized house with shorter ceilings and no huge windows and our bills are pretty reasonable - approx $150-200 a month. I bet the house would be even more energy efficient if we replaced the windows. We have gas.

open floor plan, LOTS of windows (4 huge bay windows in the most used heating zone, 3 of which overlook the wildlife conservation area out back so this is a totally planned inefficiency--- LOL!), high ceilings.

we're doomed.

[KLD313]

ok. so i'm glad i'm not the only one.

I pay $500 to $600 every three weeks and that's because I don't fill the tank. There has been a day or two where we put diesel in to get by until the next delivery. I stopped my oil contract and went to a company that will come out when you call and give you how much you want. Last year I was getting $1000 plus bills at a time.

Having said that, I don't mind oil. I like that it can't blow up. I never liked the idea of gas furnaces in an attic. I was in the business so I know they're safe, it's just a personal thing.

[hellokitty]

I've never had oil heat before, but have had either gas or electric. Gas is waaay better than electric.

[Indianamom2]

We have gas. My inlaws have oil. We have a 20 year old house that is very well insulated/sealed. My inlaws have a 100 year old very drafty farmhouse. We both live in Indiana where it gets cold.

They pay an exorbitantly high amount each year to heat the house (and it's still not ever truly warm). I want to say it's around $3000 for the winter months.

We pay about $63/month year round (on a budget plan) and our total cost is about $750/year and usually we pay less because they credit our account when we don't use the full amount.

As far as safe-guards, gas makes me somewhat nervous, especially since our old gas oven did indeed try to poison us about 2 years ago, but we have carbon monoxide detectors that also detect explosive gas, so we try to be as safe as possible.

[joonbug]

North NJ, renting a house with oil heat. Hate it, last winter (our first winter here!) we just blew through oil like crazy, 400 every 3-4 weeks and that was a very mild winter. We surely did not expect it, had moved from a 1-floor apartment with gas heat. The second winter, we mostly rely on space heaters in the areas where we hang out - downstairs in the living area during the day and the bedroom before the bath, I just make sure I turn those off whenever leaving. The thermostat turns on once a day before we get up for the day. The savings were pretty substantial, I would say we spent maybe a bit over half of the amount from last winter. This years winter was also pretty cold and snowy, we still have not gotten to warmer than 40 degrees on a regular basis...
Also, the house is an oldish house, the downstairs especially is pretty bad, lots of old windows, open space, kitchen is drafty, we can feel cold air seeping through around the windows, power outlets, cabinets etc.

[Mommy_Mea]

I haven't read the other responses, but gas is much cheaper than oil to heat. If I remember correctly, it is about half the price?

But, it needs to be available to you. We have oil heat. The gas line ends about three houses up from us. We got a quote from the gas company to run the line to our house, and it was $14,000+.

Between the new boiler ($7,000+) and running the gas line down, it would take nearly 20 years to pay for itself. And that is only if the gap between gas and oil cost remains the same. It used to be roughly equal cost to heat with oil vs. gas.

[MontrealMum]

We have electric and pay $180 a month (equalized payments). Our previous place was oil and we paid a touch more (when added to the electric bill as that other total is), but that was over 10 yrs ago when oil was cheap. It's now significantly more expensive. We have thick walls and newish windows. I don't really have a preference between the two as they both power(ed) radiators so the actual heat given off is of the same type. QC is very resource rich so we're fairly lucky in terms of cost here. We don't have the option of gas in our neighborhood. It's all either oil or electric with a woodburning stove thrown in here and there.