I live in CT (my username - duh!!).
We currently use heating oil. Our street does not have gas line yet.
Today, the gas utility company left a flyer saying they are going to expand gas service in our street, and offered to hook up our house for free if we convert our heating and hot water to gas now.
We even have a Heat Loan program that will lend me the money to do the conversion for 10 years @0.99%APR (
https://www.ctheatloan.com/), and give me a $750 rebate on a new boiler. At that APR, it is a no-brainer that I will take the loan instead of taking it from our emergency fund or (god forbid) sell etfs in my brokerage account.
Question 1 : Should We convert?We have a relatively low heating bill, and very high cooling bill since we like to keep the temperature pretty low (67F or even lower sometimes).
Last year we spent ~$1500 on heating oil @$2.78/gallon. I got the same fixed price for this year (July 2019 - June 2020). I ran the calculator in the gas utility website, it tells me that I will save approximately $300/year in fuel cost!!
We also spend $300 on a oil boiler service contract to clean and inspect the boiler every year - this should be unnecessary with the gas boiler since it burns clean.
I also have some non-financial motivations to convert. The oil tank is ugly, it takes up a lot of space, and some guests always comment of "oil smell" in our basement (although we have probably gotten used to it by now and don't get it).
The gas boiler should be much smaller. No big, ugly 40yo oil tank that is likely to leak any times now. No ungainly chimney sticking right through the middle of the house either since the wall-hung gas boilers typically vent right through the garage wall. I could open up all those spaces and make them useful!! I have a small house, so all these spaces would be very welcome and will likely add value to my home.
Question 2 : Exactly which equipment should I buy? How to pick a contractor?What kind of equipment should I get? Any websites that can help me do the research? I have a Heating Oil boiler. I'm hoping I will get a Gas boiler and re-use the same water lines.
Since I have central A/C - I *could* convert to forced air if I wanted to. I prefer hot-water heat however (it is less dry) and would like to keep that unless there is a big reason to do otherwise.
One of our neighbors is a plumber. It is likely he will give me the best price/quality since he will do his house, and a few of other neighbors houses as well - and might wing some extra savings/rebates for purchasing equipment in bulk. I'd still like to do some research around. Trust but verify!!
Rebates! Rebates!!There is a $750 rebate in CT for Gas Boilers. I'll obviously chase this.
What is a "Boiler Circulator Pump"? There seems to be an extra $25 rebate on that. Should I install this?
Any other rebates, tax savings or anything else I am not considering?