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Old 01-16-2012, 08:43 AM   #41
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52 degrees in the bedroom and 56 in the living room right now. Waiting for the wood stove to start putting out heat. It's free, though.

Space heaters: I'm watching for a no-fan type space heater, such as a dish type, at garage sales and thrift shops. Want it pointing right at me in the hour before the wood stove heats up the room. My hands get really cold if the room is cold, and I can't play piano.
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Old 01-16-2012, 10:06 AM   #42
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I live on the Connecticut shoreline, in a 2500 sqft house built in 1857. We have oil heat (radiators) and domestic hot water, and use almost exactly 800 gallons per year of oil. Here are the figures for the past 4 years (including service fee).

2011 -- $4252
2010 -- $2897
2009 -- $2186
2008 -- $3482

Some of the yearly variation is tied to the timing of deliveries around the end of the year, but it generally correlates closely with oil prices, since our usage is fairly constant.

We installed programmable thermostats about 5 years ago, which cut down on our usage. We also finally installed flue caps on our fireplaces.

I just signed a contract to convert to natural gas as soon as my current tank of oil runs (almost) dry. It will cost $3900 to convert and I am estimating that it will drop my yearly heating costs, at current relative prices, by approximately $2600 per year. Pretty good payback period, I think.
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Old 01-16-2012, 10:14 AM   #43
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I just signed a contract to convert to natural gas as soon as my current tank of oil runs (almost) dry. It will cost $3900 to convert and I am estimating that it will drop my yearly heating costs, at current relative prices, by approximately $2600 per year. Pretty good payback period, I think.
A payback in less than two years? Yep, I'd say definitely a good deal.

Knowing my luck, if I did something like that the price of natural gas would go through the roof. Based on projected supplies, doesn't look like that will happen.
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Old 01-16-2012, 10:30 AM   #44
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I just signed a contract to convert to natural gas as soon as my current tank of oil runs (almost) dry. It will cost $3900 to convert and I am estimating that it will drop my yearly heating costs, at current relative prices, by approximately $2600 per year. Pretty good payback period, I think.
Years ago we had oil heat and electric cooking and hot water heating. When we converted it all to natural gas, we experienced a short payback period as you are expecting. And since our oil heat was forced air, we really appreciated getting away from the odor and oily residue that oil forced air heat tends to have. We never regretted spending the money for the conversion. I'm thinking you're going to be very pleased.
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Old 01-16-2012, 12:38 PM   #45
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I just signed a contract to convert to natural gas as soon as my current tank of oil runs (almost) dry. It will cost $3900 to convert and I am estimating that it will drop my yearly heating costs, at current relative prices, by approximately $2600 per year. Pretty good payback period, I think.
If you have the room, consider keeping both. Two boilers can easily be plumbed in parallel (or series if you wanted). You've already paid for the oil one, if NG shoots up someday and oil drops, you'll be glad you did...just a thought anyway. Also, in the event that your NG supply ever gets disrupted, you can still heat the house (and in a pinch you can run out and buy diesel fuel at the gas station for your oil burner, its the same stuff).

I have two completely separate boilers in my house tapped into the same baseboards; they can run independently or simultaneously and either is capable of heating the house (though I no longer use the oil one). I can switch from one to the other with the flip of a couple of switches. So even though I put in a hi-tech wood boiler a few years ago, my oil boiler is ready to go at a moments notice. Just to be sure I burn 20-30 gallons of oil a year just to keep in exercised and ready to go.

Of course with wood its more important to have a backup (so you can go away for a few days), but even so, something to consider.
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Old 01-16-2012, 01:08 PM   #46
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Originally Posted by Gumby View Post
I just signed a contract to convert to natural gas as soon as my current tank of oil runs (almost) dry. It will cost $3900 to convert and I am estimating that it will drop my yearly heating costs, at current relative prices, by approximately $2600 per year. Pretty good payback period, I think.
When we moved into this house I converted from oil heat to NG. The NG pipe went right to the house, but the previous owner hadn't gotten the house hooked up. All the other appliances were electric, so I took the opportunity to go to NG for hot water and cooking (I don't think I'll change the clothes dryer over from electricity: I'm a little worried about the safety aspect of that). It has been a lot less expensive, a lot less trouble, and the fumes are gone. As a bonus, the oil tank was in the garage and I gained about 15 square feet of floor space for storage. I think you'll be happy, we have been.
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Old 01-16-2012, 01:23 PM   #47
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I switched from oil to ng in '06 and been very happy so far. no more clean-outs The last straw was when I paid $550 for a tank of oil and it lasted less than 2 months. No more oil deliveries and i'm on balanced billing of $84 a month with the gas company.
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Old 01-16-2012, 02:10 PM   #48
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. . . and the fumes are gone.
An intangible but certainly valuable benefit to me. The young wife has often complained about the oil smell.
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Old 01-16-2012, 04:08 PM   #49
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Old 01-16-2012, 04:09 PM   #50
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Old 01-16-2012, 04:52 PM   #51
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I switched from oil to ng in '06 and been very happy so far. no more clean-outs The last straw was when I paid $550 for a tank of oil and it lasted less than 2 months. No more oil deliveries and i'm on balanced billing of $84 a month with the gas company.
Good strategy. Natural gas prices continue to fall through the floor, and I expect to see my piece of the savings pie kicked back to me in my bill statement ( I hope anyways). They say we have over a hundred year supply already in NG, as long as the anti-frackers dont get it shut down. There could really become severe bill differences (like there isnt already) between the heating oil and NG houses. I read you can get an NG pump installed into your house for your NG car for a few grand and then enjoy $1 a gallon equivalent gas.
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Old 01-19-2012, 12:15 PM   #52
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I think the people replying $2-3/day are talking about year round averages, not heating 35 degrees.

I have a 1970 vintage 2000sqft house I've been gradually improving the insulation on in MA. If it weren't for the wood stove and wood insert, I'd be paying ~$5-15/day mid December through mid March for gas. In mid May through mid Sept, when the rates are lower, the incoming water isn't numbingly cold, we grill outside a lot, and more outfits fit in the washer/dryer at once, its ~$1/day.
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Old 01-20-2012, 06:15 PM   #53
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Location: St. Louis, MO
House: 1,760 sq ft ranch, full basement.
Age: 52 years old (blown cellulose insulation in attic 2 years ago, but original wall insulation).
Heat source: Natural gas (along with water heater and my range)

I keep the thermostat on 68 in the winter. Missouri doesn't get as much harshly cold weather as the NE, but it's been somewhat average this winter so far.

For Dec 2010/Jan 2011/Feb 2011, I averaged 118.9 Therms/month, or $127.71/month (including water heater/gas range)

For Dec 2011, it was 100.3 Therms, or $109.72.
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Old 01-20-2012, 07:07 PM   #54
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I have a friend that has been using an Eden Pure heater for several years with no problems at all.
My FIL bought an Edenpure in 2010. I gave him a little bit of a hard time about it at the time. But I have to admit that it works very well. He has an oil furnace with an wood burning ancillary unit attached. Since at age 85 in 2010 he finally gave up splitting his own firewood, he began using the oil furnace full time. The edenpure keeps his den and kitchen hot. He was able to reduce his oil bill substantially. He ran it 24/7 so his electric bill went up about $1.40 per day. If I didn't live in Florida, I'd have one too.
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Old 01-20-2012, 07:57 PM   #55
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My FIL bought an Edenpure in 2010. I gave him a little bit of a hard time about it at the time. But I have to admit that it works very well. He has an oil furnace with an wood burning ancillary unit attached. Since at age 85 in 2010 he finally gave up splitting his own firewood, he began using the oil furnace full time. The edenpure keeps his den and kitchen hot. He was able to reduce his oil bill substantially. He ran it 24/7 so his electric bill went up about $1.40 per day. If I didn't live in Florida, I'd have one too.
If it only costs $1.40 more, that means its only actually running 9.3 hrs/day@ .15/kw-hr
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Old 01-21-2012, 06:00 AM   #56
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If it only costs $1.40 more, that means its only actually running 9.3 hrs/day@ .15/kw-hr
There must be savings in electricity used by the oil furnace too. IOW, the bill is that cost, but there is more than one factor at work.
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Old 01-21-2012, 11:06 AM   #57
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If it only costs $1.40 more, that means its only actually running 9.3 hrs/day@ .15/kw-hr
Assuming he paid .15/kw you would be right. He didn't. In NC he paid less than .11/Kw. I guess the other savings may have come from unplugging some freezers in his basement.
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Old 01-21-2012, 11:12 AM   #58
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It costs me nothing. Heck, I even have to turn my AC on in the winter (and I'm in the northeast/mid-Atlantic area).

It's all because my DW is so hot ...

(Thought I'd add some humor to the thread)...
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Old 01-21-2012, 12:52 PM   #59
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It costs me nothing. Heck, I even have to turn my AC on in the winter (and I'm in the northeast/mid-Atlantic area).

It's all because my DW is so hot ...
You mean hot flashes?
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Old 01-21-2012, 01:13 PM   #60
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We do not have NG, nor spend much at all for heating in the winter. But recently, saw that the price of NG is down to $3 per 1 million BTUs. As I cannot relate to that, I convert it for comparison with electric power costs, and that price is equivalent to 1 cent/KWh!

And with the mild winter, the consumption is down, and they run out of storage space for all that gas!
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