heating oil hits a record average of $4.35 on Long Island

[raybonz]

I think wood might have an advantage there because it's not as tightly indexed to the price of oil (maybe because of all the work involved )

I put in a 40 gallon electric water heater a few months ago. I think/hope I'm saving money over oil.

How has this affected your electric bill?

Ray

 

[velvetfoot]

Too early to tell. I've also taken to using electric heaters upstairs for short periods instead of cranking up the oil boiler. I had a thread on it a while ago when I was thinking about it. I got a 40 gallon GE unit from Lowes for pretty cheap. It's been working fine, and it's totally silent.

 

[hockeypuck]

Heading there myself. With addition of my pellet stove down to just dhw for oil. 30 gallons per month during the winter (cold basement with tankless coil). Payback will take for ever but i am going to do it just to have the satisfaction of telling the oil man to shove off. I am an electrician, so will do it myself.

 

[hockeypuck]

I have been considering the GE hybrid electric heater as I can get $750.00 back from Nstar but it has to be installed by a professional plumber.. I would plumb it to still go through the furnace so if the furnace was on it would preheat the water(a bypass would be good for power outage too) plus a small generator could run the furnace for hot water in a power outage but not an electric hot water tank.. Electric rates are high here so it's hard to determine if this really save me much if anything..

Good Luck,'
Ray

By my quick calculations, at .18 pkwh i will save about 5 gallons woth of btu's per month...like i said pay back will be never but factor in the 150 per year to clean the boiler...not bad.

 

[raybonz]

By my quick calculations, at .18 pkwh i will save about 5 gallons woth of btu's per month...like i said pay back will be never but factor in the 150 per year to clean the boiler...not bad.

I am a licensed electrician too and will wire the tank if I get one and I think the GE hybrid will save $$ during the summer and cool off the cellar too so the payback would tend to happen in the warm weather when it operates in heat pump mode plus with the $750.00 Nstar rebate the tank would set me back $250.00 but I would have to have it plumbed in by a plumber to get the rebate.. I don't think the plumber would be too expensive and the total cost would be less than just buying the tank itself.. Definitely something worth thinking about..

Ray

 

[Bioburner]

Those of you without plumber unions may do as I did and do almost all the work and have the plumber come in and do final hookup and inspection. Plumbing is not that hard on low preasure fresh water systems. I did some pro services trade.

 

[Seasoned Oak]

Too early to tell. I've also taken to using electric heaters upstairs for short periods instead of cranking up the oil boiler. I had a thread on it a while ago when I was thinking about it. I got a 40 gallon GE unit from Lowes for pretty cheap. It's been working fine, and it's totally silent.

I use a 30 Gal in summer only for 6 people.Never ran out of hot water. Also my electric use barely budges from winter use. Must be the WH only uses about what the heating boiler motor and fan ,plus circulating pumps are NOT using while shut down in summer.

 

[raybonz]

Those of you without plumber unions may do as I did and do almost all the work and have the plumber come in and do final hookup and inspection. Plumbing is not that hard on low preasure fresh water systems. I did some pro services trade.

I could do the plumbing standing on my head but the rebate stipulates it must be installed professionally.. Has nothing to do with unions..

Ray

 

[Bioburner]

I could do the plumbing standing on my head but the rebate stipulates it must be installed professionally.. Has nothing to do with unions..

Ray

the plumber is doing the final install and signing off. Just not curb to switch. My furnace install was the same thing. He installed the regulator and did a leak test, and burner check. Half hour and he signed off the required paper work. Everybody is scared of something being installed wrong. Good luck

 

[raybonz]

the plumber is doing the final install and signing off. Just not curb to switch. My furnace install was the same thing. He installed the regulator and did a leak test, and burner check. Half hour and he signed off the required paper work. Everybody is scared of something being installed wrong. Good luck

I never understood that it is OK for Joe Homeowner to do wiring but not plumbing.. It is much more dangerous to do bad wiring and very few really understand that incorrect wiring can be very dangerous to life and property!

Ray

 

[moey]

I am a licensed electrician too and will wire the tank if I get one and I think the GE hybrid will save $$ during the summer and cool off the cellar too so the payback would tend to happen in the warm weather when it operates in heat pump mode plus with the $750.00 Nstar rebate the tank would set me back $250.00 but I would have to have it plumbed in by a plumber to get the rebate.. I don't think the plumber would be too expensive and the total cost would be less than just buying the tank itself.. Definitely something worth thinking about..

Ray

You may want to consider the noise coming from the hybrid units. That was my turnoff with them that and my basement is cold as balls in the winter.

 

[raybonz]

You may want to consider the noise coming from the hybrid units. That was my turnoff with them that and my basement is cold as balls in the winter.

I figure the unit would be in electric heater only mode in winter and I agree it will get even colder down cellar with no furnace running.. Might be a bad idea to let the cellar get too cold in winter.. Good point!

Ray

 

[moey]

I never understood that it is OK for Joe Homeowner to do wiring but not plumbing.. It is much more dangerous to do bad wiring and very few really understand that incorrect wiring can be very dangerous to life and property!

Ray

I think this has more to do with a town employing a inspector more then anything. In Maine it varies by town if your town has a electrical inspector you often need a permit if they dont well have at it. For new homes you just need a master electrician to sign off on it not a inspector.

 

[raybonz]

I think this has more to do with a town employing a inspector more then anything. In Maine it varies by town if your town has a electrical inspector you often need a permit if they dont well have at it. For new homes you just need a master electrician to sign off on it not a inspector.

I live in a small town and we have all the inspectors.. The homeowner plumbing law is statewide but you are allowed to do your own wiring which is a bad idea from things I have seen... Makes no sense to me at all!

Ray

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

I live in a small town and we have all the inspectors.. The homeowner plumbing law is statewide but you are allowed to do your own wiring which is a bad idea from things I have seen... Makes no sense to me at all!

Ray

But what frosts my hind quarters is that I've seen a lot of bad things walk right on past those inspectors.

 

[raybonz]

But what frosts my hind quarters is that I've seen a lot of bad things walk right on past those inspectors.

I agree these inspectors are there to protect the consumer and also protect us from ourselves if you know what I mean..

Ray

 

[Bioburner]

I walked into buying a home after seeing the wiring had been inspected within the year. I moved in and plugged in a UPS and it started to scream. No grounds. I pulled the outlets and all the new wiring had the ground wires cut. The same with the main panel. Come on, an extra minute or two to connect a ground wire? I boosted the insurance. Three years later the house burned. Point of origin pointed to either rags or lighting clamp failure.

 

[raybonz]

I walked into buying a home after seeing the wiring had been inspected within the year. I moved in and plugged in a UPS and it started to scream. No grounds. I pulled the outlets and all the new wiring had the ground wires cut. The same with the main panel. Come on, an extra minute or two to connect a ground wire? I boosted the insurance. Three years later the house burned. Point of origin pointed to either rags or lighting clamp failure.

That wiring has Joe Homeowner written all over it! I would lose my license for performing shoddy/illegal work like that! Most homeowners do not pull permits so things like this happen often..

Ray

 

[maple1]

Heading there myself. With addition of my pellet stove down to just dhw for oil. 30 gallons per month during the winter (cold basement with tankless coil). Payback will take for ever but i am going to do it just to have the satisfaction of telling the oil man to shove off. I am an electrician, so will do it myself.

30 gallons of oil at (say) $4 is 120/month heating DHW with oil. We've got a family of 5, three of them teenagers - I put in a new 80 gallon electric tank this fall, and my bill went up $30/month max (at 0.16/kwh). That's a $90/month savings in fuel cost. Everyones situation will vary, so the numbers will move a bit, but I don't think payback will be forever - heating just DHW with oil is a losing proposition. I think I used around 150 gallons of oil total for heating DHW in the non-heating season months (heat it with wood in the heating season).

Plus getting rid of the oil tank & all its potential liabilities & periodic replacements & space it takes up are a huge bonus.

 

[raybonz]

I will not get rid of the oil tank/furnace it is still used when on vacation etc.. I don't think my insurance company would a wood only heated home on its' policy either..

Ray

 

[hockeypuck]

30 gallons of oil at (say) $4 is 120/month heating DHW with oil. We've got a family of 5, three of them teenagers - I put in a new 80 gallon electric tank this fall, and my bill went up $30/month max (at 0.16/kwh). That's a $90/month savings in fuel cost. Everyones situation will vary, so the numbers will move a bit, but I don't think payback will be forever - heating just DHW with oil is a losing proposition. I think I used around 150 gallons of oil total for heating DHW in the non-heating season months (heat it with wood in the heating season).

Plus getting rid of the oil tank & all its potential liabilities & periodic replacements & space it takes up are a huge bonus.

I average about 22 to 25 gallons. 30 in winter due to heat loss in the basement.

 

[maple1]

OK - if you're still wanting the oil for backup heat, that's another issue & takes the getting-rid-of-the-oil-tank bonuses out of the equation.

In my case, I put in a $400 electric boiler for backup heat (it's only been used one day this winter).

I haven't made a break-up call to my oil company yet - I think I'll just wait & see if they notice I'm gone.

 

[maple1]

I average about 22 to 25 gallons. 30 in winter due to heat loss in the basement.

OK - so maybe $1000/year on oil. I think you'd see $500/year in fuel savings - again, just estimating.

I'm just talking from my experience - when evaluating making my system changes the past year or so, I came to the conclusion that I had seriously underestimated how much money we were wasting in the past 18 years in heating our DHW in the non-heating season with oil. Huge stand-by losses.

I think if I was heating DHW with oil year round, I'd put in a heat pump water heater. Bonus dehumidification & some a/c in the summer would be hard to ignore. A Geyser can be added to any existing hot water heater - that's still in the back of my mind for the future.

 

[hockeypuck]

OK - so maybe $1000/year on oil. I think you'd see $500/year in fuel savings - again, just estimating.

I'm just talking from my experience - when evaluating making my system changes the past year or so, I came to the conclusion that I had seriously underestimated how much money we were wasting in the past 18 years in heating our DHW in the non-heating season with oil. Huge stand-by losses.

I think if I was heating DHW with oil year round, I'd put in a heat pump water heater. Bonus dehumidification & some a/c in the summer would be hard to ignore. A Geyser can be added to any existing hot water heater - that's still in the back of my mind for the future.

I run a dehumidier constantly.....what is this heat pump you talk about ...said in capt. Kirk accent.

 

[maple1]

There's been a ton of talk about them on here in the past.

Just search 'geyser' or google it [or 'heat pump water heater'] - that's an add-on heat pump water heater. I think they run around $1200 or so. There are standalone water heaters too - heat pump & tank all one unit. There are some guys on here (maybe the Green Room) that have retired their dehumidifier - that would depend on how much humidity your dealing with though.