oil to gas

hi guys i am thinkin about switching my oil furnace to propane ihave hot water baseboard my oil furnace is 175000 btui was lookin at the pumps that bolt on to the furnace im not sure if this is a good idea

 

What pumps, and for what? I assume you have run the numbers; what is your expected economic payback? How much do you estimate the conversion cost?

Conversion to natural gas, if available, makes much sense. To propane, not as much.

 

carlin makes a unit that bolts on to the boiler not sure of payback the cost of the unit is 700 cant cost me no more than what it costs me now for a winter open to suggestions

 

No?

I just looked up the price of propane... about a dollar less per gallon than heating oil.

Sounds like a bargain?

Think again...

Heating oil is appx 139000 BTU per gallon.

Propane is appx 91000 BTU per gallon.

Since you are heating your home with BTUs, it makes sense to compare the two fuels by how many BTUs you can buy for a dollar.

Let's say oil is 3.75 / gallon and propane is 2.75 / gallon

139000 / 3.75 = appx 37000 BTU / $

91000 / 2.75 = appx 33000 BTU / $

With oil you are getting appx 6000 more BTU / $

Propane production is directly tied to Oil production, propane being a BY-PRODUCT of oil production, and the price will for the most part continue to track that of oil. Don't expect propane to become more economical in the future... it won't, it can't.

Switching to gas might make sense, but only if you are talking about NATURAL gas...

 

There is another small but significant economic penalty for propane compared to heating oil. The Btu content of fuels is quoted on the basis of the higher-heating-value (HHV), which includes the latent heat of the moisture in the flue gas. Except for 100% condensing combustion, the usable energy is the lower-heating-value (LHV).

For oil, the LHV is about 94% of HHV. For propane, it is about 92% of the HHV.