To
DPG: I'm not sorry at all, as the more information the better. And I really do appreciate all the effort most posters have put toward sorting out this issue. I should say that the reason I started the post was that I did already have one quote - for $17,500 - and thought it might be on the high side. As noted in original, that was for 7 forced hot water zones (4 primarily for in-house heating) serviced by a Buderus 142 and Turbomax 23 instantaneous indirect water heater. This quote included piping to bring propane to the kitchen stove and a second fireplace (already have one Propane fireplace, which we love), and removal of our Burnham boiler and SuperStor hot water tank. So far I've seen only lower numbers (less than 10K) on cost, for the conversion alone (all "parts" and labor), but I realize those projects might not have been comparable in size.
I have a second person coming to provide an estimate tomorrow (Wed), and it's not the person
Broadhopper suggested. I called "Jeff" twice now (Sat and Mon), leaving messages - and two phone numbers - on his company's very nice answering machine, and even filled out an on-line appointment form, but have yet to hear back from him (or them).
As far as current Propane costs, Fred Fuller quoted us the best price at $2.29/gal (for our expected usage) with the next closest being around $2.59 (vs. oil at about $3.96 as of Dec 31). The attached image of oil vs. propane prices shows a recent divergence favoring Propane that is supposedly due to the "shale gas revolution" (see link immediately below). Our motivation to convert is based on the belief that this divergence will continue.
http://oilandgas-investments.com/201...the-ngl-price/
The image at bottom was created via this link:
http://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/pet_pri_wfr_dcus_nus_w.htm