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Dear fellow brownstoners:

This was my first winter in my new brownstone, and I learned a lot about heating and heating costs. I don’t have to tell you that oil prices were sky high over the past 8 months. Not only that, but in my case, the boiler which is old but functional, kept breaking down. I’m told this is due in part to the fact that the tank is 1/2 full of sludge. As a result, I could only fill about 100-150 gallons at a time, and I had to pay close attention, lest the sludge clog my boiler and shut it down. This constant attempt to keep things regulated was pretty sucessful, but I still had about 12 episodes when I had to call a dear neighbor or friend to come by and check out/fix my system.

The long and the short of it is, I am considering all of my options for next winter. Here are the options that I am aware of:

– Clean out the sludge in the tank and see how things go next winter.

– Convert to a gas system.

– Figure out some other, more green option.

No matter what I decided to do, it has to be cost effective, not break down 12 times, and hopefully have some kind of pricing incentive program.

Please share your ideas, suggestions, knowledge.

Thanks so much.