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December 5, 2007
Oil vs Gas Heat??!
We've been notified by the boiler company who inspects our 4 unit brownstone that the current oil boiler needs replacing. Our co-op president is forecasting imminent doom and destruction if we don't adhere immediately, however I'd first like to call in an independent assessor to evaluate the pros/cons of gas vs oil.
Apparently if we swap from oil to gas we'd need a separate hot water boiler, new gas piping, permits etc and it'd potentially cost $9000 just for the gas boiler, or $6500 for oil.
A: does anyone know of such an assessor?
B: has anyone converted a brownstone from oil to gas that can share there experiences?
C: can anyone recommend an honest/competent oil/gas boiler company that you've worked with?
If you know anyone who has experience with these kind of issues, then I'd love to hear from them.
Cheers
Comments
We converted to gas from oil about 18 years ago and have not looked back. We have forced hot air and so there was very little involved in the conversion -- ie we already had a separate hot water heater. We also got a rebate from Keyspan for converting and getting a high efficiency furnace. The new(ish) furnace also takes up about one third of the space of our old one.
Posted by: guest at December 5, 2007 2:32 PM
We converted about 15 years and with one huge exception have been very happy. At that point Brooklyn Union Gas was offering some kind of promotion where they gave you the boiler, you paid for the installation or vice versa. We love the fact that there are no more oil truck deliveries, it's clearner, we freed up the space of the oil tanks, and the price of gas is considerably cheaper than oil (at least right now it is).
However, no one alerted us to the fact that our new higher efficiency boiler would be emitting much hotter fumes and we ended up having to replace our chinmney flue in a four story brownste at the cost of $12,000. You definitely have to check that out - can the existing flue deal with the fumes or is the passage too small?
Posted by: Brooklynnative at December 5, 2007 2:39 PM
2:32 again -
We did vent to the outside through our back trap door, the installer's configuration worked out fine. We used Victory Brothers. Talk to Ray Victory.
Posted by: guest at December 5, 2007 2:56 PM
Since I'm looking at brownstones to buy, I'll add that it seems like in some of them getting the old boiler/oil tank out of the basement can be difficult. I've seen several places where they converted to gas, but left the old thing sitting there taking up space. If your building hasn't got a front hatch, how will you get it out. Can they cut the thing up?
Posted by: guest at December 5, 2007 3:10 PM
^generally they get cut up
Sometimes the biggest problem with the tank is not the tank itself but the oil inside. I've seen jobs where said oil was pumped out to a neighbor's tank, through a temporary hole in the party wall!
Posted by: an architect in Brooklyn at December 5, 2007 4:10 PM
While we're on the subject of oil, what's everybody paying for oil this season? We just had our first fill-up and the charge was a painful $3.49/gallon, which I believe is a dollar more than last year. Ouch.
Posted by: guest at December 5, 2007 9:40 PM
switch to gas, you will make up any cost difference this season alone.
I have a number of buildings, some oil, some gas. The price of oil is 50% higher this year than it was last year. Gas is the same as last year.
So the building that cost $8000 to heat last year with oil will cost me $12000 this year. The one that cost me $8000 to heat last year with gas will cost me $8000 this year. That's a big difference.
Also, in the summer you can shut down your boiler and just use the tanks for hot water which is cheaper.
Plus no tanks, gas isn't as dirty, no oil deliveries, etc.
Posted by: guest at December 6, 2007 9:37 AM
I'm assuming it's now too late to switch to gas for the season. DOesn't that have to be done prior to the time you actually need the heat?
Posted by: guest at December 6, 2007 11:56 AM
thanks for the comments...
to the multiple building owner, do you recommend anyone to work with?
Posted by: tmh at December 6, 2007 8:40 PM
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