Time to replace the Oil Furnace

[Scuba_Dave]

Well I knew this day would come when we bought the house
The furnace is now 20 years old, just tuned up
There is a part broken, they patched it with cement
Efficiency is down, needs to be replaced

Looking at close to $5k for a new one installed
If we went thru 3 tanks of oil a year it would pay back fairly quickly
But with the insulation & new windows we only use 1 tank of oil a year
We have already saved the cost of the windows in 4 years
So we may "save" 80 gallons a year once we open up the sunroom & great room. I guess at $3 a gallon that equals $240 a year
Not something you ever break even on
It will take 20 years before we save the cost of the furnace in oil at todays prices

But no choice.......
At least we can wait until Spring/Summer & it's not an emergency
I trust or Oil guy, he's been very good to us

Any suggestions?

[TheBimbo]

wow- I feel your pain we could stand to get a new one, hubby keeps it going though... We've been leaning toward a wood burner to help also, but that's just something that would have to happen in the spring time... our basement is pretty short and would have to be dug out so that it can be installed correctly...


Good luck though!!!


Christy

[Scuba_Dave]

I wonder if Pete could recommend a Heat pump for me

[tdog44632]

Get a ThermoKing if your getting a new oil furnace. I haven't regretted it.

[JokerGirl]

Our house had a huge oil furnace in the basement when we first started working on the place. Unfortunately, here in Indiana, finding someone to come work on an Oil furnace is almost impossible and they are pretty much considered obsolete around here.

Due to it's age, and the cost of maintenance/oil/etc... we tore it out and put in two heat pumps for the house. According to the old owner of the house, not including the cost of oil, it cost them around $1300/month in winter to heat the place with that big old furnace. Now, with the heat pumps, I think the worst our electric bill has been was $800 and that includes everything else we run (metal halides etc...)

Honestly, I think it might be more cost effective if you did away with the old oil furnace and went electric (plus you get a tax write off when you install all energy saving equipment, insulate etc..)

I forgot to add that the huge power bill was during -15 degree weather that we had last year which obviously the heat pumps do not function at temps that cold.

[Scuba_Dave]

We actually only go thru about 1 tank of oil a year
The Heat pump idea was a joke
Another person on here installed a Heat pump & his electric bill went up by an extreme amount
We don't need AC, don't need humdity in the winter, adn I don;t want to worry about thawing out the heat pump - I know its supposed to be automated

We also have forced hot water
No way I want to got to duct work. No attic to run them in, nearly impossible to get to the 2nd floor with a lot of work
I also love the hot water radiators VS forced hot air at my last house

I've done a ton of insulating & replaced all the windows
We are saving about 550g of oil a year VS the 1st year we moved in - so we save between $1300-1600 a year

Also, from what I have read a heat pump requires a secondary heating system for when it gets cold. I'd rather just have one heating system, not electric at present

[Sk8r]

Sigh. That is so bad.

Potbellied stove on a ceramic tile base? Those can be real cozy.

[JokerGirl]

Originally posted by Scuba_Dave


Also, from what I have read a heat pump requires a secondary heating system for when it gets cold. I'd rather just have one heating system, not electric at present

Actually our heat pumps have been wonderful. The only reason we have two is because of the size of the house.

As for the secondary heating system, the heat pump should come with a heat pack that is installed with it. This heat pack is your auxillary heat when it's below 20 out, and that is what kicks your bill up, but not so much that it's outrageously expensive.

Either way, it's been cheaper than our old oil furnace, but a lot of it probably has to do with the size of our house more than anything on top of it's prior lack of insulation.

[Scuba_Dave]

Originally posted by Sk8r
Sigh. That is so bad.

Potbellied stove on a ceramic tile base? Those can be real cozy.

Yeah, I have a Soapstone stove that will go in the great room
I had it at my last house, I could heat the 900 sq ft house to 90 if I wanted to. And I did by accident once (86)

Plus the fireplace is in the middle of the house & has a built in heating system. Radiant floor heat is in the bathroom, more going in the new steam shower/bathroom upstairs & partially in the Master Bedroom. Sunroom will have radiant floor heat, as will part of the Great Room
Future plan is to install a large solar panel system on the new roof to power the electric radiant heat

[Altpers0na]

natural gas furnace?

we had a fuel oil (kerosene) boiler when we lived in VA, we used 300 - 500 gallons a year, it was our hot water and heat...

we were so happy when we got a water heater and a heat pump...

[Misled]

If you're already heating water for the radiant floor heat, just install a fan/coil unit and hook it up to the boiler.

[Scuba_Dave]

Radiant floor is electric
Not enough room to put down water, it would raise the floor too much. I could do it, but the plan is to put a solar array in which will make the heat "free"

[Scuba_Dave]

I'd love to convert to Bio-fuel & make my own

[Misled]

Originally posted by Scuba_Dave
I'd love to convert to Bio-fuel & make my own

Soooooooooooo not touching that!!!!

[Scuba_Dave]

From oil you sicko
Not the Griss stuff

One Ski area already converted their groomers to fry oil

[TheBimbo]

Originally posted by Scuba_Dave
From oil you sicko
Not the Griss stuff

One Ski area already converted their groomers to fry oil

you and the hubby could sit and talk for ever I swear it... he is wanting to learn about solar panels for some lighting needs and he's always wondering how to use the oil from the fire hall for something or another ...


Christy...

[Agu]

Replace it with a natural gas boiler..........

[ThaNgBOm321]

oil furnace are crazy... get a natural gas replacement.. so smell no soot ( sp?) no call to refill.. they are just plain better... as for heatpumps... i hate them... if only you knew how many my service tech/teacher seen...

there are still a bit of people that know how to service oil furnaces out there.. but they are "dieing" out... they are old news... whats really hard to find is a steam readiant heating tech.. ( simular to regular hydronic heating but use steam in the pipe and how boiling water, also old new and outdated but they work very well.. it only takes a little bit more energy to go from boiling water into steam... and steam has a LOT more heat output... )

YzGyz

[Scuba_Dave]

Not even sure we have gas on the street
I'm going to contact them & find out

We've had a few houses blow up around here due to gas leaks, construction. Has made me a little leary lately of gas

Plus the high increases in gas prices the past few years

It would allow me to switch back to a gas fired hot water heater
That would free up more electric for Christmas lights

[drauka99]

Originally posted by Scuba_Dave

That would free up more electric for Christmas lights

got to keep priorities straight

[pnosko]

Originally posted by Scuba_Dave
I'd love to convert to Bio-fuel & make my own

I'm all electric, and have given thought to replacing my water heater with a waste oil heater.

http://kingbuilt.com/

[pnosko]

Originally posted by Scuba_Dave
Not even sure we have gas on the street
I'm going to contact them & find out

The people two houses over have gas (150-200 ft). The gas company here wants $7K to run the line, and then they would require me to convert *completely* to gas-- heating, cooking, dryer AND fireplace. I refuse.

[Scuba_Dave]

That's what I am afraid of
If that's what they want it's out of the question
If they want ANY $$ to connect me, unless very reasonable - it's out. I don't use enough Oil to make paying to convert worth the $$

My water heater is only 2 years old, 12 year warranty & its a high effeciency. Wife wants a Gas stove, but that isn't happening until kitchen remodel. Dryer is also only 4 years old
Fireplace is wood, that's NOT changing in the foreseeable future

[jpfelix]

if i were buying a new furnace i'd replace my gas forced air with an electric w/ gas back up. the electric keeps costs down while temps are moderate, the gas warms things up when it's cold out.

i did the math last year and it would have cut my bill in half during the cooler months. so it would pay for itself in about 6-7 years.

[Agu]

But if you get natural gas you can install a generator to keep those Christmas lights on while the neighbors are out. That alone should tilt the scales to natural gas. Might even keep your reef tank from crashing.