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[DaveWertz]

Away from my OWB I have been debating for months about switching over to natural gas or keeping my oil boiler for backup. A ruff estimate my oil boiler is about 40yrs old. Its a Anderson boiler so its a descent boiler. Now I can switch the burner unit over so it can burn natural gas which would be cheap but on the other hand I have a half a tank of 8yr old oil in the basement. The gas supplier UGI said even if I dont use the natural gas I could still have a bill but it wont be much. Basically to keep the pilot light on. Why would I need a pilot light on if it may be yrs if I even have to use it? Sounds stupid to me... Im not sure how long oil is good for but I was told to just have the boiler cleaned by a good boiler guy and burn the oil anyhow or mayber dilute it with fresh oil or maybe diesel/kero... I have natural gas lines all around my house and a natural gas powerplant in the process of being built as we speak so there is no shortage of gas around me. I also see people selling oil fired boilers and getting heat pumps. Now I assume they dont have duct work because, well they are selling a boiler. I thought you needed air ducts to have a heat pump? I havent looked to much into those...

[slimjim]

Dave, here are a couple of things to ponder, first the gas company owns the equipment that delivers the gas ( the pipes ) and that is the only supplier you will be able to use, you can't shop around for a better price, next you have a 40 year old oil boiler that is horrible for efficiency in the boiler and perhaps not so bad with the burner, the gas company wants to change the burner, ARE YOU NUTS? Don't even let them into your house, they are ripping you off, if you truly think you need to upgrade then get a new boiler, oil or gas but keep in mind that with oil you can at least shop around for the best pricing. Oil is about 140,000 BTU's per gallon and propane is about 100,000, natural gas ,I don't know. Your old boiler is probably in the low 70% overall efficiency and that will not change simply by changing the burner itself, Run what you brung until you can afford to replace the whole boiler with a high efficiency boiler, I tell my customers that oil is good for about 5 years and then it starts to get bad, use it up while you are making a decision.

[ITO]

 There are many good points for natural gas backup, minimal (almost zero) interruption in service and stability in pricing compared to oil or propane and it doesn't ever go bad. You say you don't use the indoor burner, do you burn all year round or have electric DHW? It would be a huge upgrade to replace with a condensing gas boiler over your 40 year old oil burner, if I did that I would go with a water tank or boiler-mate for DHW at the same time and get off electric if that's what you are using. Here's a couple suggestions to look at:
http://www.pexsupply.com/High-Efficiency-Gas-Boilers-1735000 (I like the Peerless)
http://www.htproducts.com/superstor-ultra-waterheater.html
http://www.pexsupply.com/Amtrol-BoilerMate-Indirect-Water-Heaters-12570000
 None of these options are exactly cheap in the short haul, the most dollar conscious choice in the moment of course is to stay with what you have, if you do you will want to start using up that old oil or when you need the unit as a backup it won't perform.

[juddspaintballs]

I'd be hooked to natural gas in a heartbeat if it were available.  Gas burning stoves work so much better than electric, gas dryers do as well.  You could then also have a natural gas backup generator too.  Having natural gas as a backup boiler is an excellent idea in my book.  Like SlimJim said, however, you should probably replace the whole unit and not just the burner so you're actually running efficiently.  As for the oil in your tank...drain some out into a glass jar and see how it looks.  It should be red but clear enough to see through without visible particles floating in it.  If it's more black than red then it's likely you've grown algae over the years from water absorption into the fuel and it's probably no good for burning in your boiler.

[tomscarpt]

How about burning the oil in a diesel engine if its going bad instead of the furnace. Get a new load of oil or just the minimum they will deliver.I had gas in my last home.Now we got oil and electric dhw and electric dryer. When we were selling our house and the gas was turned off we still got a bill from the gas company each month for a service charge to just have the gas so even shut off we still got a bill. Was less than 5 bucks but for what???  Gas was a lot cheaper to run everything than electric (not counting heat we had a wood stove)

[uncle Dave]

We have natural gas for cooking and drying clothes, Our indoor boiler is gas also. We pay the minimum most of the time its like $14.00. I consider that to be rather inexpensive for what we get, hot food and dry clothes. Change the fuel filter on your diesel truck and run the old oil 50/50 till its gone. you might add a little 2cycle oil with it, your fuel pump will be grinnin.

[mlappin]

Two of the best things we ever did on the farm, Get the fuel oil burner out of the basement and switched everything on the farm to nat gas.

Our service provider offers a plan to buy gas from other providers, is somewhat of a joke though as while their electric is higher compared to others, they have hands down the cheapest nat gas around.

So much can be done with nat gas. Backup generator like has already been pointed out. My wife will geld the first person that tries to take her gas stove away.

Another huge plus is you can't run out when it's piped directly to your house.

Most utility's also offer a budget plan. You pay the average every month of your utility bill then at the end of the year your average monthly payment is either adjusted down if you overpaid for total used for the year or adjusted up if you underpaid.

[RSI]

If you have nat gas available it is usually the cheapest way to go.
I would start by checking what they charge per therm and how much to get it installed. (a therm is 100,000 btu)

Your old fuel oil boiler is probably not much better than 60% efficient. Even if it is 70% you will use a gallon of fuel oil in it for every therm in a newer gas boiler. If you pay $1 per therm that is about 1/4 the cost of the oil.

[slimjim]

Guys I'm not saying that natural gas is a bad deal' the bad deal is when a salesman wants to simply change the burner on a very inefficient boiler, you have to look at the two separately, the burner is not the pig, the boiler is!

[DaveWertz]

The situation Im in now doesnt allow me to buy a new boiler for a couple grand. If I could find one at a descent price then maybe. I think what he was getting at was to be able and use my existing boiler that the only thing I would need to do is change out my burner. Thats what I got from it?

[willieG]

not sure about prices where you are but where i live it wouldnt matter if the boiler was a pig on fuel or not...natural gas here is less than half the cost for the same amount of btu

[slimjim]

OK, I spoke my mind, if you choose to be held hostage by the man then that's your choice. Good luck!

[ITO]

 Easy slim, I assumed we are talking about a backup system here, it's hard to argue against natural gas as a reliable alternative. For us with our work schedules a backup plan is a must and I can't get natural here so stuck with propane, we need something for summer DHW, dryer, range. Electric or oil offer no advantages from the "man" than gas. IMHO.

[slimjim]

I'm simply not a gas guy, Dave already has the complete setup for oil and obviously uses very little of it, I simply don't like to see somebody talked into something that makes no sense, why would you pay for a new burner in an old boiler, pay to get rid of the tank and old oil, service call for hookup and still not know what the price will be 2 years from now that you will HAVE TO PAY, if the system all went to crap at least a guy can make his own fuel oil.

[ITO]

 Yeah I agree with that as far as not putting a new burner in a 40 year old boiler, if he doesn't have any $ for an upgrade he may as well stick with the old setup but will most likely have to use up the old oil (someway) and buy some fresh stuff soon.