oil furnace or propane?

Should I replace the propane furnace with an oil furnace? would that be very expensive? oil tank in basement and all?

Reply to
boubou
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First of all, why? Is the existing furnace out of date or in need of major repair? Is fuel oil currently cheaper in your area per unit of heat times efficiency factors of typical oil or propane furnaces? Is it likely to remain so? If there is a savings to be had how long would it take to recoup the cost of making the change at your rate of consumption? Will you be in this home long enough for this to happen? Will an oil furnace have greater maintenance requirements and how much will that cost?

Reply to
Steve Kraus

I would stay with LP. First new high efficiency furnaces are almost maintenance free, where oil needs regular maintenance to ensure proper and efficient operation. Plus oil efficiencies run in he 80% range where gas can run as high as 98% efficient. Greg

Reply to
Greg O

unless your area is different from mine, there is no propane furnace efficient enough to pay for the difference in price over oil. Oil has more fuel value per gallon and costs less[here] than propane.

Reply to
yourname

Don't forget the service end of it! To guaranty efficiency you need to service the oil furnace every year. There goes the difference! Greg

Reply to
Greg O

Reply to
boubou

Some water heaters are electronic ignition, some are standing pilot yet.

Did you know that more houses start on fire from electric problems?? Are you going to disconnect the electricity from your house too?

Fuel oil companies over fill oil tanks, running the excess all over your basement.

We had a house explode from a NG leak here a few years age, funny thing was there was no NG in the home! The leak was in the street, and followed the water supply into the home, then boom!

How many people die in car accidents, EVERY DAY?!

The point I am trying to get across is don't worry about it! Thousands of homes have LP or NG connected to them and yet it is an occasional thing when one blows up. Probably more turkey cookers burn down houses every year!

Today's equipment is so safe there is little chance of a fire from a gas leak. Most fires from leaks I have heard about are because the homeowner tried to do a repair himself, and left a gas fitting leaking!

Buy oil if it give you the warm fuzzies! I work on all of them and damned near every oil burner I see is so far out of tune it is just scary! Then most home owners will not allow me to do the proper cleaning and tune-up needed to get their burner running to even 80% efficient. Every oil burner I have worked on without fail is full of sot or ash, to the point that I would bet the efficiency is less than 50%, still customers will refuse the proper repair because it will cost them $300-$400!

Again, I work on all sorts of heating equipment, oil is my LAST choice in most situations! Greg

Reply to
Greg O

TO greatly reduce the danger of the pilot light igniting flamable fumes, mount it higher. It's almost always pilots near floor level that ignite low lying fumes.

Reply to
Nick Hull

Do oil furnaces burn any cleaner than they use to? The last time I lived in a house with oil heat was about 10 years ago and the furnace was relatively new (< 5 yrs old). Every year or two when my wife did her spring cleaning, she would wash the drapes and curtains. The water from the washing machine would almost be black. Whenever I did painting in the house, I would wash down the walls and have to emply the bucket 5 or 6 times due to the grime from the oil heat. Is this still typical for many people with a modern oil buring furnace?

Reply to
Jim

I have hot water heat. An oil furnace (versus the boiler) may be a whole different story though. My house has the original heater from 1987 when the house was built. I&#39;ve never experienced the problems you had and my house exterior is white. Hot air heat from any fuel source is more likely to spread contaminates in the air.

Reply to
Edwin Pawlowski

Yes they do burn cleaner now. Oil is still oil though. If left without regular maintenance your unit can be a thorough mess. If you get oil, make sure it is cleaned and serviced EVERY year. You also have to have it initially setup and then maintained by someone that knows oil. That includes a combustion efficiency test EVERY year. If you dont, then I wouldnt waste the money. Bubba

Reply to
Bubba

1: Yes, they&#39;re cleaner. 2: The grime on the inside of your house is unlikely to have come from a properly functioning oil furnace anyway, since the combustion products are supposed to go OUTSIDE. Thus, the grime was probably from someone who&#39;s house, factory, or power plant was upwind of you.
Reply to
Goedjn

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