We use oil to heat our home.  Oil is used for heat only and our yearly costs are low.  Everything else in the house is electric, the hot water heater, the stove/oven, the clothes dryer, etc.  Using oil for heat is great and with the newer high efficiency burners the costs are comparative to our neighbors that use gas (propane, no NG in our area).  Their home is also gas for heating only with everything else being electric.  We have a neighbor across the street that uses gas for heat, hot water, cooking, dryer, etc.  The gas company is at their house monthly filling the tank.  When we compared costs recently their gas bill was way more than our oil bill.  When we added in electricity costs for a year, they had significant savings.  Knowing this, I would look for a house with gas in the future.

Natural gas all the way.

 

When I was a kid, back in the 40s, I can remember a commercial on billboards by the oil companies.  Gas had a slogan.  Go modern, go gas.  The oil companies took advantage of the wording and on billboards they had, "Go modern.  Go gas.  Go boom"  The billboards didn't last long.  The gas company sued the oil companies and a judge ordered the oil companies to remove those ads.

 

Here are the advantages to gas.  If you don't have it, you'll need an electric range and an electric clothes dryer.  Gas will save many dollars in the short or the long run.  And you may need an electric hot water heater as well, though you can incorporate hot water into the heating system.

 

Gas furnaces do not need an annual servicing to keep it clean and efficient.  No need to have a storage facility on your property like you do for oil.

On 4/19/2019 at 2:00 PM, redmexican5081 said:

We use oil to heat our home.  Oil is used for heat only and our yearly costs are low.  Everything else in the house is electric, the hot water heater, the stove/oven, the clothes dryer, etc.  Using oil for heat is great and with the newer high efficiency burners the costs are comparative to our neighbors that use gas (propane, no NG in our area).  Their home is also gas for heating only with everything else being electric.  We have a neighbor across the street that uses gas for heat, hot water, cooking, dryer, etc.  The gas company is at their house monthly filling the tank.  When we compared costs recently their gas bill was way more than our oil bill.  When we added in electricity costs for a year, they had significant savings.  Knowing this, I would look for a house with gas in the future.

What you are referring to is propane gas if they are using a tank. Propane is always a lot higher than natural gas.

When I bought my house, I had a late 60s oil boiler and no hot water tank - it literally heated the water in the pipes with no mixing valve and put it out my faucet around 150 degrees, so you could easily get a first degree burn by putting your hand under the hot water. When cleaned, it used 30 gallons a month just for hot water for the family, and when not cleaned (when I was converting to gas and trying to use the remaining oil anyway), that number jumped to 120 -- just for hot water alone. I spent a total of $6000 on oil that year and kept my heat at 60 until pipes started freezing. I will also add heating oil was over $4/gallon that year.

 

I have since converted to gas, and I kept my thermostat at least at 73 last winter primarily because my feet are extremely sensitive to cold as a result of chemo (even with three pairs of socks on) and I still spent under $2000 for the year on gas. My house is small, but plank so I can't really insulate it any more than it already is. I did not get a "high efficiency unit" but got a traditional unit that burns the gas and not the fumes and the efficiency is very close to most high efficiency units without having radiant flooring. My installer explained how the high efficiency units are fussy, often need to be cleaned like oil and they had a lot of known issues plus they cost more upfront then they'll likely ever save in their lifespan.

 

I'm not too worried about gas exploding. For what it's worth, modern natural gas in large amounts does not ignite like gasoline for your automobile does and while occasionally there are explosions, they are rather rare -- and it seems more often they are large commercial units, not newer residential units.  In a new and well maintained unit, I should be fine.

 

When I bought the house, I was expecting to switch to a gas stove as well, but as it turns out the electric stove that came with the house is actually very good and the oven is the best oven in any place I've ever lived. But generally gas stoves are usually much better for cooking.

The other benefit of gas is that if you loose power you can run your heat with a 2kw generator..if propane, you don't even need that

I work for a natural gas distribution company and I’ll say that even though some things have happened, natural gas is safe, cheap, and reliable. I would have a licensed hvac check all the appliances to make sure they work properly and are safe. If you buy a home and the gas service is off, the company should test your line to ensure there is no leak. Anytime you think there may be a leak company’s have guys on call 24/7 that are more than happy to come out and check(just don’t call at 2:00 am and tell the tech you’ve been smelling it since last week lol) if you have an option I’d go with gas. Also if power outages are an issue where you live you can have a generator installed fairly cheap. If you have any questions I’ll be happy to answer them if I can.