Oil vs Gas

[Hottub]

I am soon going to be updating my heating system. I currently have a 50+ year old oil burner.

Does anybody have any info./experience with either buying a new, efficient oil burner, or switching the whole thing to gas?

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"Ahh, Beer. The cause of, and answer to all of life's problems"

[TooCute]

Go solar, baby!!


From what I can tell - and it is very difficult because of all the propaganda that oil companies spew - you have to consider which factors are the most important to you. Oil is cheaper than gas, I think per gallon (but I can't find any info on how much people on average pay over the course of a year) and if all you need to do is buy a new oil burner, that will probably be significantly cheaper than switching to gas. However, if you go gas, gas is way cleaner than oil (despite what the oil companies say), and releases about half of the CO2 that oil does, and much smaller amounts of other bad gases and particulatr matter (which translates to soot/smog I suppose). It does, however, release about the same level of CH4 (a greenhouse gas), so its effect on the ozone layer is comparable. Apparently gas burners break down and require maintenance far less than oil burners (but againn if you're getting a brand new one that may not be an issue).

The biggest thing for me would be that by going natural gas, you don't have to rely on the oil company coming and making deliveries all the time. It drives me nuts. Without fail, they will come and fill up the tank on the days when oil prices are the highest. I seem to recall one time last winter towards the end of the winter we called and asked to have the tank only filled up half way, and only when it got down towards empty. Lo and behold, they show up and fill the tank when it didn't need to be filled, and gee look, it was the say that gas prices were the highest. We called the oil company and their response was "Oh, we're sorry, we must have gotten mixed up!" Us: "We don't want to pay for this oil that we didn't ask for and at the highest price of the year!" them: "But why are you upset that we filled your tank? You're going to need the oil anyway!" stupid retards. They couldn't understand that it was the end of the winter and for all we knew oil prices would be far cheaper the next time we actually needed gas (after all, summer was coming up so that could have been quite a few months!). In the end we ended up having to pay the $400+ dollars for the oil fillup. It sucks. If you have natural gas, it's a direct line to the gas company. None of this manipulative shit tha pisses me off.

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[SatCam]

I'm living 1 and a half months with oil heat, and it blows. First of all, all the time, when the heat comes one, these stupid floor radiators click. And with gas heat, theres only about 2 floor heaters per room, that dont make any noise. 2nd of all, the thermostats are gay. With gas heat, you have these nice digital thermostats, but with these, they're these little analog things.

And about not having gas to power your stove, I have this gay little electric stove, that is still hot after you turn it off, so it's basically impossible to not overcook somthing unless you turn the heat off 5 minutes before it suppose to be done. With gas, there is no heat when the flame is off.

So I'd take gas in a heartbeat, unfortunatly, the only way to get gas up here is to get propane tanks in your packyard and have it delivered.

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[Mike Teacher]

Too Cute; if you're not a teacher, ya should be!

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[TooCute]

I am a teacher! I have been for like 5 years!

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[TooCute]

I have this gay little electric stove, that is still hot after you turn it off, so it's basically impossible to not overcook somthing unless you turn the heat off 5 minutes before it suppose to be done.

Can't you just move the food to another burner that is off, or take it off the stove & put it on a trivet?

But I agree, electric stoves suck because it's so much harder to control the heating precisely, especially for stuff where you need to go from low to high heat quickly like scrambled eggs etc.

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[Hottub]

Thanks, TooCute. Your info was quite informative.

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[gypsy]

Geothermal is the only way to go

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[Reephdweller]

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[SatCam]

But I agree, electric stoves suck because it's so much harder to control the heating precisely, especially for stuff where you need to go from low to high heat quickly like scrambled eggs etc.
Yea, I do that sometimes but if I want to LOWER the heat, the heat change will take effect about a few minutes after I do the change.

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[sr71blackbird]

I have a prejudice in this, in that I work for the gas company, but if I was buying a house, and I had a choice of getting one with gas or one with oil, Id go gas. There are many things to consider when purchasing a system, but Id look for a high efficiency system with electronic ignition and a power vent or direct vent. The increased efficiency will more than pay for itself in terms of cost well within one heating season. Gas is a domestic product too, and you dont have to have your money enriching the mid east, and it comes into your home by pipe, so you dont have to worry about running out or clearing snow for an oil guy's delivery. Plus youll save space in your basement without the tank and youll not have that stink. Another thing, check with your home owners insurance and youll see its true, a gas heating system is cheaper than an oil system on your premiums! If your worried about safety, I assure you, its the top thing my and every gas company is concerned with, and as you know, if there is a problem with gas it makes the news, thats how rare it is. I had a woman who had a oil fill up and it was mid summer and she had her oil guage next to her washer and as she was doing laundry, she noticed that the level was going down. she was concerned and called the oil company and they asked her if she saw any oil on the floor and she said no, and they said they would check it at her next tune up (which you dont need with gas) in October and they would look at her guage. She would look at it from time to time and it kept bgetting lower and lower. Finally, she called them and insisted they come. They get there and find that the oil was leaking in this little dry well at the base of her boiler and it had completely drained all 500 gallons of oil! The oil company was required to call the EPA and they came and told her that would have to cut a 10 foot square of her basement out and excavate the contaminated soil. It stank for months, real bad and they fined her and it cost her over 200 thousand and she couldnt even use her home owners insurance on it, AND they dropped her!

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Many Thanks Soup!

[SatCam]

Plus youll save space in your basement without the tank and youll not have that stink.

Oh I forgot about the stinkey shit smell

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[Hottub]

Blackbird, That was awesome! If you can get me some particulars on gas conversion, that would be a great help. PM me with some details if you get the time.

Thanks a lot!!

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[Mike Teacher]

The oil company was required to call the EPA and they came and told her that would have to cut a 10 foot square of her basement out and excavate the contaminated soil. It stank for months, real bad and they fined her and it cost her over 200 thousand and she couldnt even use her home owners insurance on it, AND they dropped her!


sr71 Damn! You are the Master!!

I saw a house at the NJ shore where they had to take out a tank and dig out the soil that the tank had leaked into.

It was a hole you could have easily fit the house into, you could have put the house in the hole and buried it quite nicely, I can't imagine the cost.

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[TheMojoPin]

"Now we're cooking with EVIL gas, Hecubus!"

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