boiler replacement/oil to gas conversion
Hi, Just looked at a house with a very old oil boiler. Can anyone tell me anything about replacing it and/or converting to gas? The broker suggested that the gas company would give us a boiler as an incentive to convert — REALLY?? That doesn’t sound plausible to me . . . How difficult/pricey is…
Hi,
Just looked at a house with a very old oil boiler. Can anyone tell me anything about replacing it and/or converting to gas? The broker suggested that the gas company would give us a boiler as an incentive to convert — REALLY?? That doesn’t sound plausible to me . . .
How difficult/pricey is a conversion, and what does new boiler generally cost?
Thanks very much, I’ve been in an apartment for my entire adult life so I have very little idea about these things . . .
Mopar, was that $1,250 for conversion or $12,500?
I got quotes on this last year, $6500 for a new oil boiler vs. $1250 for the conversion.
Definitely agree get the chimney inspected — we did not, and boiler was a little oversized for the chimney, so it leaked about a year later. Relining was $3700.
Sorry elm, should have said good luck with the house hunting!!!
It’s not difficult to do an oil to gas conversion if the process is followed properly, but it will take a little time. The permits alone can take 8 – 10 weeks from Building Dept.. You can call a licensed Plumber that participates in the program, you don’t have to use a Plumbing Company that they refer you to. Nationalgrid doesn’t do conversions anymore. The boiler is given at a discounted rate than purchased on the open market. If it’s a residential building, it’s going to be a Burnham boiler. The model will depend on whether it’s a steam or hot water system. And for all of the reasons that bobjohn mentioned, converting is a great idea if it’s in your new home budget!! Congratulations on the purchase!!!
i also converted w/national grid ~4 years ago. they handled everything including permits and oil tank removal (although i hear they may no longer do this). also rec’d discounted boiler + water heater.
i needed asbestos removed and i used abatek corp for that and i needed chimney work done too. altogether everything may have costed just under 10k
I just went though the same conversion. National Grid will give you discounted boiler (I got Burnham ES2 for $900). Plus you can deduct most of the conversion from the taxes. Conversion will include more then just replacing one box with another. You need to do the following:
– have permit open for replacement.
– inspect/line chimney
– do something with asbestos if there is any
– remove old oil tanks
– remove old boiler
There are few well respected plumers on this board who might want to give you price on the conversion. I cannot give my cost since it included replacing all piping and radiators with five zone system. I also got remote reset card.
There are compelling reasons for conversion (from my own experience):
– oil boiler breaks down more. I could replace filter, clean oil line or fix wiring and even then I had to pay for service contract because this thing stopped working a few times and I did not know how to fix it.
– you need to keep track of oil left in the tank.
– tanks consume a lot of space in basement.
– oil smells and oil boiler smokes out at time with black smoke.
– new boiler (oil or gas) is much more economical then the old one. After I switched to new boiler my heating bill went down twice (it is even more dramatic since oil went up in price since the last year).
I would guess, that your savings in heating bill from switching to new boiler will pay for the cost of installation in about 3-5 years.
Yes, but I would put insomething better. They give you a break on the cost of the unit.