I am new to this website but enjoyed reading the responses. After returning home last night, my home was cold. the thermastat keeps cutting off. I live in Bergen county, new jersey. I have oil heat, and it also heats the hot water. I pay gas and electric separately. Basically, I seek differents opinions of whether or not I should convert to gas heat. I don't think electric is an option, but appreciate the discussions concerning electric vs gas. oil heat cost in my home have reached $460.00 at the last re-fill - 200gal tank, and my monthly PSEG $200. That is also $700 for heating and lights for the month. I have been forced to re-evaluate my heating , and am in the market for new windows also. any advise welcome.

Hi Peri,
$200 sounds high for just lights and appliances. But new windows sounds like part of a good comprehensive approach for your heating/cooling. Maybe you can analyze the rest of the house the same way - new appliances in some cases, compact fluorescent bulbs or timers and dimmers where you need incandescent or halogen lights.

I haven't tried this, but your electric company has an online analysis: http://njcleanenergy.com/home_analysis.html that might help.

Hope you can save some money up there.

Good windows and doors are a great investment to save energy, as is proper insulation. If your windows are old, you will notice a difference right away with a new thermal type window. Oil heat is still the best value per dollar, but you need to keepthe heat in the house, or any kind of heat will be costly.

There are things you can do tomorrow to start saving money with your existing system. By Using a Honeywell programmable setback thermostat that lowers the temperature 10 degrees while you sleep/at work you can save 10% on your heating bill, NOW.

Honeywell Chronotherm

The oil vs gas debate can be complicated as there are many factors you want to consider. It is true that you get more BTU’s from oil than gas but where I live(VT) I can get Natural gas that is significantly cheaper to run gas over oil. You can follow Energy prices here.

I’m biased in that in the long term I believe that we will spend less for Natural Gas as we simply have a lot more if it close to us(US & CAN) than oil. There is some good information on our gas reserves..

The biggest ways you can save money have little to do with oil vs gas but the details of you home and heating system:

1. Make sure you home is well insulated and free of leaks. The easiest way to save 20% on your fuel bill is to add insulation in the attic. If you have less than R-22, you could probably benefit by adding more. Most homes in New England should have between R-38 and R-49 attic insulation. If your attic and walls are insulated, an uninsulated basement can account for one third of your heating bill, whether you heat your basement or not. Your above ground basement walls have the same insulating value as a double-paned window.
2. If you are staying in your home a while put in the highest efficiency boiler that you can(ideally Energy Star Rated). Low Mass boilers are the way to go.

My view is that at this point Oil vs Gas is a personal opinion as good arguments can be made both ways today. In the long term Gas is going to be cheaper to buy and cheaper to run. 80% of North America has access to Natural Gas which means that the more innovative and efficient products will be offered to Gas customers first by manufacturers as the market is larger.

Just look at Europe. The Europeans, who every day face energy costs 2-3 times higher than the US, have developed significantly more efficient equipment. Almost all of it being for Natural Gas(as they use it more). US trade folks are still selling equipment in the mid 60% range when in England or Italy if you buy a new boiler it 89+% efficient.