Converting from Oil to Natural Gas

[blondterror]

I am switching from an old boiler/burner to a new high efficiency condensing boiler for my forced hot water system.

Trying to decide on whether to use the National Grid incentive deal with a Burnham Alpine Boiler and a Superstor Hot water unit or going with a more expensive boiler and HW unit from Lochinvar. Lochinvar is also a US made boiler that up until a few yrs ago only made industrial boilers.

Anyone have any experience with either the Burnham Alpine gas fired boiler or the Lochinvar boilers.

Another benefit for me will be the removal of the oil tank and the smaller size of the new boilers versus the 1970s era oil fired burner I have now. This will make my woodshop have a better layout for my floor mounted power tools and more room to move around lumber to my table saw and jointer.

I am hoping to see a 25-35% reduction in my heating bill which will allow me to see a payback in about 4 yrs.

[PRBuzz]

I'll be interested in replies also. Our subdivision doesn't have a gas main (built back in the early '50's) however if enough people sign up the gas company will eat the costs of running the main into the area as it is located only 1 block, couple 100 yards away. I re-did my 1950's oil furnace about 10 yrs ago when removing a 1000 gal inground oil tank. Would have at least like the option to switch from oil to gas back then.....but I think the economics for gas are even better now.

[Grapenuts]

I switched over my mothers before last winter hit...she liked it "HOT" being old an on med's....she burn up $400. in oil in 3 weeks..now with the gas its just a hair over a $100. for the same time period,I'd say savings big time.....she had hot water basebrd..didn't change that, only switched over boiler an got a new gas fired hot water tank.We got everything form the gas co. but the install...they wanted 5200.00 for the change over,I said no thank you and got my own guy for the job 3000.00.

[O.D. Mike]

Chris,
A trained heating professional should analyze your heating fuel use, calculate your heat load with this information and Manual J calculations, evaluate the remainder of your hydronic system (distribution manifold, distribution system, heat emitters) to ensure the unit's efficiency is optimized and create a plan for the installers. Many installers use rules of thumb and other installations to base their decision-making; a true hit or miss approach. When you're spending thousands of dollars, do you want to leave your system's installation and operation up to chance?

The Lochinvar boiler has had great reviews, though the buyer should beware: 1) trained heating professionals should install it; 2) high efficiency boiler require trained heating professionals to commission the boilers to ensure proper outdoor temp settings, gas pressure, gas-to-air ratios, etc.; 3) Regular maintenance should be performed to ensure that their European components (gas valves, boiler controls, heat exchangers, etc.) are maintained. Make sure that the installer is fully-trained in condensing, high efficiency boilers, because if he is not, there is a good chance that issues will surface later on ... when you think about the amount of money you're investing, it's not a great idea to try to "save" money in short term when you can lose much more later on. I've heard too many stories about high efficiency boiler installs going wrong in the future because of uneducated installers. The added cost of trained professionals include the training, combustion analyzers, pressure manometers and other equipment/time to commission the boiler. Experienced professionals have learned that they need to do it in order to have a happy customer.

Superstor is a well-respected indirect water heater, though some experienced professionals are careful about installing them near the ocean. For some reason the inherent salt in the environment has been pegged at giving the stainless steel tanks issues, so ask your installer if they would recommend a glass-lined tank. This should not be an issue in Lexington or Brockton.

[blondterror]

Mike-

Central Heating and Cooling (Woburn) measured the house... footprint, room sizes, window sizes, insulation, and hot water demand... they speced out the right size Lochinvar boiler... they actually mount the zone pumps, and Boiler/expansion tank etc on a board that is attached to the outside wall of the basement.... the pictures of their installs are great... they have been using these boilers for several years.... BUT their quote is substantially higher than Kirkland & Shaw (Burlington) who says Burnham Alpine High efficiency burners are just as well made & efficient and cost a lot less. Plus the Alpine is sold at cost by natl Grid and installed by your local heating contractor... the Lochinvar is not available at cost thru natl grid.

[HighTide]

We converted about 4 years ago and I believe it's paid for itself already. Went from paying @ $500/ mo. from October to May to My gas bill peaking at $300 in February. I took advantage of the Natl Grid deal $500 for boiler and $500 for the excavation. Good thing too because they had to dig across the street and onto the sidewalk to get to the main.

[O.D. Mike]

Chris,
Be sure to ask the contractor to price a 1/2' line out to the back deck for your gas grill. No more "Honey, I think we ran out of propane again".

[TheSpecialist]

Originally Posted by O.D. Mike

Chris,
Be sure to ask the contractor to price a 1/2' line out to the back deck for your gas grill. No more "Honey, I think we ran out of propane again".

+1

[5/0]

Both of these boilers (MFG)are very reputable and would highly recommend either one.
National grid can give you a great deal because of two things,one they buy in Hugh bulk,and secondly they are under the impression that you will buy there PM/maintenance plan.
One question for you,if they install it will you also be offered a "Green rebate" from the Government?

If I'm not mistaken Burnham was bought out from RBI,RBI is a MFG plant out in Western MA.I was there last May for advanced Hydronics and I swear I over heard that they bought out Burnham which is in PA.Burnham has the oldest & largest Foundry in the Country for boilers.
RBI was founded in the early-mid 1900's.Lochinvar is just a sub division/modle like Chevy to GM.Lochinvar has a bunch of new boilers that modulate from 75K-6million BTU's there are several smaller one's that work in modulate in increments of 75K-200,000 BTU's which would be perfect for the house that has plans to expand over the years,any way I would recommend spending the extra cash for a out side temp bulb this will save on heating cost,I can explan more but don't want keep typing,shot story is this will help you pay off that conversion alot sooner.

what percentage are you looking at?


You will be happy with the conversion,and will see a big change in cost effectiveness.


Bob

[Fly Rod]

Can't beat natual gas for heat cost. And no cleaning the gas boiler, oil fired boilers cost approximately $150.00 bucks a year for cleaning or more. All i have to do with my gas boiler is put a couple of drops of oil once or twice a year and I leave the 3 in1 on the super storer next to the boiler for a reminder.

Since these new boilers do not throw off heat you may want to add some heat to the basement. One way is if you have forced hot water you can add a length or two of the fin tube to any long length of copper tubing heating tube in the basement, may avoid frozen water pipes in the basement. You are not using anymore gas.