I am putting up an addition and just found out we have natural gas next door that I can pull off to feed my home. Is it worth the trouble? Is it that much cheaper? Right now Ii have oil system that can use updating. I was already thinking of replacing it so nows the time to make changes.
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I don't know about the realative cost of the fuel.
But with NG you don't need to worry about oil spills or tank leaks, running out of oil. oil filters, much less maintance, etc.
The only advantage that I know for oil is that it is not as explosive, but it NG problems are very, very, very rare.
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A-holes. Hey every group has to have one. And I have been elected to be the one. I should make that my tagline.
Prices fluctuate, but last season heating oil was about 2.5 times as expensive per BTU as natural gas. Add in all the hassles of storage, maintenance, delivery, etc., and IMO gas is the better choice
What Bill & TJK said - I'm living in the second house converted to gas, & wouldn't think of using oil - did either of them mention not having a hulking tank in the basement, & the horrible smell of spilled oil?
You will get as many different answers as posters. When I looked into it 2 years ago, oil was a lot cheaper, but these things cycle. Our modern oil burner is great, efficient, and I like the fact that I am forced to have a technician in once a year for cleaning. Our tank is big enough that we buy when the fuel is cheaper...
I also like the fact that I can get fuel myself if necessary, and am protected (somewhat) against a fuel monopoly. The safety factor is nice too, but not significant.
We had propane in our first house - I will not do that again - pricing fluctuations and companies were terrible to deal with, even though we owned the tank!
Here are a few links. I couldn't find the one that lists all the fuels - the one where coal costs 3% as much as oil or gas!
The first link is by an oil company, caveat emptor. Their charts are department of energy sourced, however... The 2nd has a chart for entering your efficiencies and fuel costs. They are from googling oil vs natural gas.
http://www.fmanj.org/pdf/FMAOilvGas.pdf
http://www.climatesolutions.org/pubs/pdfs/fuelcost.pdf
the gulf is full of natural gas, we have about six natural gas refinery within 50 miles. But here natural gas is higher than anywhere in United states. They can pretty much name their price when ever they want. My gas bill was about $25 a month and then it went up to $390 a month later. I ,m not using no more gas than usually. I switch to totally electric.
nuts nuts nuts - I'd like to switch to all wood!
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Interesting how its different in various areas of the country. We did LP rather than oil about 5 years ago and couldn't be happier with the choice. We own our tank like you did and we call around in the summer months for price and have seen a 75% difference. Since it is a 1000 gal tank filling it once in the summer lasts us through the winter. A lot of our friends have oil and seem to pay more per gallon than we do. As others have said, it's probably is cyclical though and LP will take its turn at the top.
I just updated my heating system. I went from oil forced air to natural gas hydronic. I LOVE IT!! I am getting 97%+ efficiency, no noise, wall hung 130lb Buderus boiler that is pretty much plug and play. But with all these benefits, it take many years to get back the investment. Only do it if you plan on being there for 10 years or more.
You will have to reasearch and run the numbers inyour local area. Most times gas is a bit cheaper, but gas prices do fluctuate just like oil does. A large percentage of gas goes to firing electricity generators.
Find out where the nat gas in NJ comes from and whether it is a long term secure supply.
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