TOP 5 REASONS TO CONVERT FROM OIL TO GAS IN BOSTON, MA

Even though the summer is still in full swing, it’s a great time to think about converting your old oil-heat system to natural gas heating. Boston homeowners who switch now are positioning themselves to take advantage of the low cost of gas and avoid the ever-increasing costs associated with oil heat. If you’re still on the fence about switching, here are five great reasons to consider making the move right now.

1. Cost, cost, cost. The cost of heating oil has been on a steady rise for the past eight years. In 2004, homeowners using oil heat could expect to pay about $1.38 per gallon for fuel. Today, the average cost of a gallon of heating oil is about $3.70, nearly 2.7 times what it was eight years ago. Even when accounting for inflation, homeowners are still looking at more than a 230% increase in the cost of heating oil over the same time period. In contrast, the cost of natural gas is dropping, and residential prices are approaching those paid by homeowners in 2000. The supply of natural gas is plentiful, and prices are expected to remain low for the foreseeable future.

2. Availability. Natural gas is delivered to the homeowner on a demand basis. There are no storage tanks to fill and homeowners won’t experience outages. Utilities lock in the price of gas in long-term contracts, so there are no mid-season price hikes that affect the base cost of the commodity. This offers homeowners the luxury of predictability in terms of monthly and annual budgeting.

3. Flexibility. Natural gas can be used not only for heating, but also for a home’s cooking, water heating and clothes drying needs. Once the home is plumbed for natural gas, homeowners can replace less efficient electric water heaters, clothes dryers and stoves with gas appliances to reduce their overall utility costs. In addition, homeowners can choose from a number of different heating sources, including forced air furnaces, steam or hot-water boiler systems, and even natural gas fireplaces.

4. Safety. Natural gas is delivered to the homeowner via an underground supply pipe and is always available from the utility. There are no underground or basement storage tanks to maintain, no worries about leaks or spills, and there is little need for maintenance on the supply connection. Natural gas appliances are safe, fuel efficient and readily available.

5. Environmental friendliness. Natural gas burns clean, meaning that contributes significantly less carbon and pollutant by-products into the environment than other combustible fuels, like heating oil and other fossil fuels do. Comparable quantities of natural gas return 30% less carbon dioxide to the atmosphere than heating oil does and nearly 44% less carbon dioxide than coal does. It also releases significantly less particulate pollution and does not release any mercury into the atmosphere, like heating oil and coal do.

There is no time like the present to consider an oil-to-gas conversion. Converting your existing heating plant to natural gas is easy, and you’ll recover the cost of the conversion in less than two years.
If you would like more information about oil to gas conversion, or how it may benefit you, please contact us at Boston Standard Plumbing & Heating at (617) 362-0377 for more information.

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DIY Blog, DIY Heating, Water Heaters

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