I'm converting a two family home from oil to gas and need info on... everything.

Neep · 10-23-2007, 12:46 PM

My local gas company has a deal going on where running the line to my house is free, and I get 750 off per heater unit, as well as a discount on the removal of the oil tanks.

Sounds like a good deal, now I'm trying to do a bit of research to compare heaters, and figure out what features even exist and what their merits are. My $750 rebate is only availible on the high efficiency units as sold by the gas company (Keyspan, if anyone's in the area) and they only sell two, a Bosch and an American Standard. I need to make sure if I go with these units, I'm going to be happy. It is a possibility that I will get a gas line, and go with a different heater than those offered by my gas company, if there is a compelling reason, I just want to make sure there isn't a really good reason to get something else, BEFORE I shell out a bunch of cash for two heating units.

Basicaly, I'm just looking for resources I can look through to learn all I can about this process. I'm a new home owner in general, so furnaces are foriegn, and I have no clue about the trials and tribulations of converting to gas. Does anyone else have any experiences Horror stories, or those of success (Horror stories are best though! :P More interesting and will instill a bit of caution in me)

Also if any of you have any suggestions on whether or not its worthwhile to convert other appliances (Hot water heater, Stoves, Dryers... anything else?) and how best to go about this process, it'd be apreaciated. The whole house is getting redone, so I'm open to any suggestions.

Oh! Almost forgot! One unit is a boiler (base board heat) and the other is a furnace (Forced Air) The oil units, while oil, are relatively new, I think 3 to 5 years old.

NateHanson · 10-23-2007, 04:27 PM

Yipes! I'd keep the oil if they're new. There's nothing wrong with a new oil furnace. They're efficient and clean. I certainly wouldn't spend $15000 to replace two 3 year-old furnaces!

Save the money for another part of your renovation!

What I WOULD do is get that gas line installed, and put in a gas range, water heater, and dryer, if those are getting replaced. The water heater will save you a couple hundred a year over electric, so that's a no brainer. A dryer will also be cheaper to run than electric. A gas range is up to you, but many people greatly prefer to cook on gas rather than electric.

Nate

Neep · 10-23-2007, 06:57 PM

$15,000? That seems like a lot of money, I was expecting more on the order of 2-3,000 maybe a bit more. If you're doing the math from a 10% Tax Rebate, and the 1,500 I said I was going to get off, that wasn't a GOV discount, that was a discount from the gas company... if you came up with that number from somewhere else... where? I'm confused and now a bit more worried about converting to gas :P

NateHanson · 10-23-2007, 09:42 PM

I needed to replace an oil burner in northern MA about 2 years ago, and I got quotes for converting to gas. (I already had gas service to that house for range and dryer.) The cost for replacing one oil burner with gas was in the $8-9,000 range. I rounded down for your two, because my price included some chimney work that was required for a gas furnace. That's how I got ~15,000 for two furnaces.

I've heard of people getting gas furnaces installed for less than I was quoted, so maybe you'll do better in your area. But for me, I stuck with a modern oil replacement for about $3500. Get some quotes, and make your decision from there.