Jump to content

Natural Gas: Cost vs Return?

Rate this topic


passiton

Recommended Posts

I put an offer in on a house in a cute little town.  Town sewer (good) and water (yuck).   Lots of great features that caught our eye and we could be happy here. 

Nayural gas was run with the sewer lines  a few years ago.  The current owner chose not to connect.  I’m wondering if it would be worth running the line to replace the electric stove with gas and to hook in a whole house geny that’s wired to the panel.   The oil burner is five years old, so I wouldn’t be likely to touch that.  

Thoughts?  Any idea on the cost to run a line, including hook up?  We’re talking under 50 feet to the house, maybe 150 to the garage  that would house the generator. 

NOBODY here has a pass to blow out someone else's candle in order to make theirs shine brighter. TLDig[

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Bigger question is where is oil tank ( above or underground) and how old is it? Present owner might need to provide certification that it isn't leaking and your hoemowner's and mortgage co. might require that it be removed if underground

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Dual tanks in the basement.  If I did replace the boiler with a gas unti  I’d either leave the tanks or would have to cut them up to get them out.  

NOBODY here has a pass to blow out someone else's candle in order to make theirs shine brighter. TLDig[

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, passiton said:

Dual tanks in the basement.  If I did replace the boiler with a gas unti  I’d either leave the tanks or would have to cut them up to get them out.  

Also seal the pipe that fills the tanks with oil. One wrong oil delivery is a disaster.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

don't think that is something homeowner can do (cutting up tank) and if you leave them, remove fill pipe and permanently cap ( although, don't think that it is possible to 'leave them'  either).

Most newer boilers can be converted from oil to gas.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 mins ago, fluke07 said:

don't think that is something homeowner can do (cutting up tank) and if you leave them, remove fill pipe and permanently cap ( although, don't think that it is possible to 'leave them'  either).

Most newer boilers can be converted from oil to gas.

I’d pay someone to remove them.  The thought of messing around with something like that is not pleasant to me.  

I’ll check on the conversion, I wasn’t aware that could be done.  

 

 

NOBODY here has a pass to blow out someone else's candle in order to make theirs shine brighter. TLDig[

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Our last house was city water/city sewer / natural gas. The natural gas is nice. In some cases, if your a long standing customer, the utility might help on install.

Right now, we have gas about 600' down street but it doesn't look like it will be extended.

The best part about gas, besides cheaper, is your never ordering. They drive by to read meter and send you a bill.

I have seen some pretty big oil tanks walked thru a doorway.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks guys.   My offer for the house went in yesterday and I’m hoping they accept it.  It’s almost 20% below their askin price, but roofs need replacing and there are some other needed repairs that I cited.  I may call the town today to ask about the gas hookup.   The lines just went in, so I’m betting they have all the other info I need readily available.  

NOBODY here has a pass to blow out someone else's candle in order to make theirs shine brighter. TLDig[

Link to comment
Share on other sites

19 hours ago, chitala383 said:

Just off the top of my head, having an idea of what my company charges on average, it'll probably cost upwards of 5k.

That's what my gas company quoted me also, but i ended up not having to pay anything since they replaced everyone's gas lines for free on account of Sandy rebuilding.  I actually couldn't believe what they had to do.  They came with a giant trailer, another big truck, and a traffic director.  They jack hammered into the street to access the main trunk and then ran a new pipe underground to the side of my house and installed a new meter.  The new line ran to the meter and a licensed plumber was to connect the house to it.  It was a giant ordeal because they wanted to run the meter to the front of my house and i fought them to keep it on the side.

 

I think it's worth paying for if you plan to be in the house for at least 10 years.  It will also help with re-sale value of your home in  the future.  You could start with getting an estimate from a licensed plumber because running those lines through the basement or crawl could be very costly.  It's a tough call because of  the relatively new oil burner and if you choose not to convert that to natural gas you'll still be paying for that oil truck.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Usually the way it works if you want gas for cooking and other stuff they charge you to run the gas to your home. 

 

If your are converting your heating system from something else to nat gas they run the pipe for free. Like most businesses they are looking for consistent  reoccurring income. 

 

The prediction  right now for the next 3 years is fuel oil will cost you twice as much to heat a house as nat gas. If they have electric hot water currently you can count on that being $60 a month vs 25 with nat gas.  The payback becomes more apparent with each appliance you change to natural gas. 

 

If iyou can get the line run to the house (I don't think the gas co will run the line to the garage as if you wanna do the genny there it would entail athother meter and will end up costing over 10K in my estimation) and swap out the boiler and something to make domestic hot water and get ride of the tank plus pipe for the extra goodies like a stove and a dryer its going to be in the 15K range. 

 

Ask to see their oil bills, all of them. It can help when trying to decide how your money is best spent. 

 

Also  look at the gas co for conversion loans, no interest loans are available from the gas companies I work with. Other incentives to make the house more energy efficient as well. 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to register here in order to participate.

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now


×
×
  • Create New...