Help! any converts to propane heat from oil~

[ApS]

Originally Posted by marinewife

Hello again, forum goers- when it rains it pours... we recently moved into our home in Tuftonboro, built in 1977. We had Strogens come to service the oil tank and system and check things out. It had not been serviced by the previous owners for 2 years, and it turns out things are in very bad shape. The service man actually disconnected it and said we need either: a new oil system, fix the things that are wrong, or perhaps a propane system. This week it's 50 at night, so I can manage this week. However, time is of the essence here.

If anyone has experience switching over, I would appreciate any insight you have. Whatever I do will be expensive, but since this is what my husband calls 'the final home', I need to do what it takes. I know someone who switched to propane for around 8K, said its cleaner, no oil smell, and easy to use, but they're up in NY state.

ANY and all first hand knowledge would be greatly appreciated! Thank you in advance.

Curious if this house was bought through a realtor.

Check if this problem was disclosed by the seller.on the sales agreement. Some compensation for the defective units may be forthcoming.

Another thing: My Dad's 1972 buried oil tank was determined to be leaking, and authorities insisted that it be replaced. It took thousand$ to dig it up! You might want to abandon oil altogether, and save yourselves another headache.

[loonguy]

Our last move was from a home with an oil furnace to a home with propane. I do not know the cost differential, but we are very happy with propane. We expanded the use to include the stove, outside barbecue (it is great not having to refill portable propane tanks), and fireplaces (which we equipped with thermostats that start the fireplaces when the inside temperature drops to back up the main propane furnace that does not work when the power is out because it needs electricity to circulate the heated air).

The major risk with propane is reliance on the propane company to deliver the propane when the tank is low, which is the same risk with oil. We had one incident when we were traveling: the propane tank was not refilled and one of our water pipes froze and caused some damage while we were away. We filed a claim with the propane company and they covered the repair costs. Since then, the company has always filled our tank before it was at risk of running out of propane.

[iw8surf]

Originally Posted by ApS

Curious if this house was bought through a realtor.

Check if this problem was disclosed by the seller.on the sales agreement. Some compensation for the defective units may be forthcoming.

Another thing: My Dad's 1972 buried oil tank was determined to be leaking, and authorities insisted that it be replaced. It took thousand$ to dig it up! You might want to abandon oil altogether, and save yourselves another headache.

Definitely a problem leaking oil tanks but less of a problem than in the past. New tanks are so much better than in the past for longevity and I feel like I don't see new ones being buried anymore. At least when we redid ours it went from underground to in our basement.

In my opinion oil heat is tried and true, arguably the best heating source from an economical standpoint (assuming natural gas is a hard no) and you just cant really match the heat per BTU ratings. If I was OP and I had already an existing system, I would look at repairing it back together and replace some new components rather then abandon everything and completely start new.

[marinewife]

Thank you so very much for the replies so far!

We already have a propane tank outside for the stove and the fireplace which was converted at least 20 years ago from wood to propane/gas.

We bought the home thru a realtor, the inspection was cursory and did not go into the oil equipment in the basement as thoroughly as the serviceman from Strogens did, taking things apart and looking inside as far as he could.

I spoke to a high end home builder in Wolfeboro who said 95% of their builds are currently with propane.

Coming from NJ, my entire life was in homes with natural gas, and fuel costs for summer were $30.00, winter heat maybe 120.00, so tanks and any discussion of set-ups in heating are completely foreign to me- I never pumped gas for my car until July- I should probably change my username to JerseyGirl~

I'll keep digging for info and get a couple of estimates with explanations so I can become more knowledgable on everything, but I always left this stuff to my husband- he is so busy working on the property outside that I figured I could get some help here.

While I have very few posts, since I began looking for a NH home in 2014, I have read posts on all sorts of things for the past 5 years and feel that forum goers are extremely knowledgable and helpful. Thank you again! ~wife

[jeffk]

I wonder when people have done cost comparisons if they have factored in the REQUIRED yearly service for oil systems. If you don't service oil systems, bad things happen. It is recommended to service propane yearly but I usually did not (did it about every 3 years) and never had any problems, although I probably lost a little efficiency. Plus the tank is outside, not inside. As mentioned, oil is dirtier/smellier than propane.

While I second the newest mini-splits (work down to -15 degrees), in this area you will probably need a backup system for the coldest winter nights. You would definitely want to discuss this with a professional for the systems. I know people that have the minis and LOVE them. I will definitely get them in the future but I already have an existing system that would be relegated to backup.

I also had a very nasty problem with an FORCED HOT AIR oil system called blowback. The heat exchange system broke down and leaked into the house covering EVERYTHING with soot. I had to have professionals in to clean the house. We also had to wash all linens and clothes, even stored stuff. We had to wipe off all stored food products. The soot worked its way into the tiniest cracks. It was a HUGE mess. While I think a propane forced hot air system could also have the problem, the mess, I think, would be far less. Not sure if you have air or water baseboard? I had the broken oil system replaced with propane and was very happy.

[SAMIAM]

Another vote for propane. Use it at home and commercially.Main reason is that propane burns clean and requires much less maintenance.
Also ran a line to my outside BBQ as Loonguy did (thought it was an original idea : )

[Overlake97]

Can also use for cooking and gas fireplace. We converted from oil about 8 years ago with no regrets.