Oil vs Propane furnace

[nhraracer90]

Hello! I have a 2800 sqft pole building. I was thinking about getting either an oil furnace or a propane furnace. What are the pros and cons of each? I have only used an oil furnace in the past. By oil I mean a heating oil/kero/diesel fuel furnace, not an waste oil furnace.

Thanks

 

[99LeCouch]

Propane: next to no anual maintenance necessary, just change the filter every few months. Can get a very efficient one. Do need to buy your own tank for the best deals on propane.

Oil: sounds like you know the drill with an oil furnace.

I'd personally go propane. But, if there are other oil heated buildings on your lot, it might be more convenient to have one truck dropping off fuel instead of two different trucks.

 

[chaosracing]

There are alot of factors to consider. Do you have access to natural gas or do you have to use propane? You get more BTU out of a gallon of fuel oil, but propane is cheaper and you can get furnaces that are 98% efficient vs 85% efficient for fuel oil. You can use PVC for most gas furnaces to vent and supply air to furnace, with fuel oil you must use insulated steel. How air tight is your building and how well insulated is it?

If it were mine, I would go gas for a few simple reasons. I already have a 1000 gal propane tank on site, so adding another tank would not be a big deal (smaller one though) I can just use a radiant type heater instead of a forced air, or something like a Hot Dawg style with less space used up.

I used to have fuel oil in our house but switched over to a propane combi unit years ago. No regrets.

 

[isb cornbinder]

My friend had a small fleet of dump trucks and construction equipment. He used to pay to have the waste oil picked up and taken away. I suggested that he add the waste oil to his heating oil tank. He insisted on having a test by by-passing the main tank and fueling the furnace from a 5 gallon can.
Nothing changed. The furnace started and ran as it always had.
I, and a few others donated waste oil to his heating supply. In a short time my friend had more waste oil than he could store and he added a second 1000 liter tank.
I recomended changing the fuel filter once a month instead of once a year.
This is not for everyone, but it worked for us. Check your local heating oil burn laws.

 

[nhraracer90]

There are alot of factors to consider. Do you have access to natural gas or do you have to use propane? You get more BTU out of a gallon of fuel oil, but propane is cheaper and you can get furnaces that are 98% efficient vs 85% efficient for fuel oil. You can use PVC for most gas furnaces to vent and supply air to furnace, with fuel oil you must use insulated steel. How air tight is your building and how well insulated is it?

If it were mine, I would go gas for a few simple reasons. I already have a 1000 gal propane tank on site, so adding another tank would not be a big deal (smaller one though) I can just use a radiant type heater instead of a forced air, or something like a Hot Dawg style with less space used up.

I used to have fuel oil in our house but switched over to a propane combi unit years ago. No regrets.

I don’t have natural gas where I live. I used to have an oil furnace in my old shop but nothing in my new one yet. So I will need to get a tank either way. This won’t be for full time use. I’m only in there evenings and weekends.


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[greenskeeper]

I’d bet you can get an oil furnace for free from someone switching to gas

 

[Bretny]

Forced hot air furnaces can had real low cost on the used market. For what heating fuel to use i would figure out the cost per BTU.

For me the best value was wood.

 

[isb cornbinder]

Your comfort level in the shop will cost less to heat if you install ceiling fans. The fans will keep the air circulating and prevent stratification, as in hot air up and cooler air down.
Craigslist is a good inexpensive source for ceiling fans, in this area. I bought two ceiling fans. One was free and the other was $10.

 

[Bopbop]

I would say go with propane. The fuel oil furnaces do not have the efficiencies that the new propane / natural gas furnaces do. also just for reference with 1 cubic foot per hour of natural gas you get about 1000 btu/hr. For propane 1 cubic foot per hour (CFH) you get about 2600 btu/hr.

 

[couch67]

after analyzing the **** out of it with efficiencies, pricing trends, etc I switched from oil to propane in my home. I ended up doing better than expected with less than half of the heating costs over the last 4 years.

 

[Miss the Pontiacs]

The only way I would look at oil for fuel is if I could get large volumes of used oil. I change my own oil but that would be a drop in the bucket. But if you had a source and some filtration system it likely will would be more than viable.

 

[LS6 Tommy]

My friend had a small fleet of dump trucks and construction equipment. He used to pay to have the waste oil picked up and taken away. I suggested that he add the waste oil to his heating oil tank. He insisted on having a test by by-passing the main tank and fueling the furnace from a 5 gallon can.
Nothing changed. The furnace started and ran as it always had.
I, and a few others donated waste oil to his heating supply. In a short time my friend had more waste oil than he could store and he added a second 1000 liter tank.
I recomended changing the fuel filter once a month instead of once a year.
This is not for everyone, but it worked for us. Check your local heating oil burn laws.

That would never fly around here. If you got caught you'd be screwed. If he's now running 100% motor oil I'm surprised it even lights.

Tommy

 

[bugnut]

If looking to the future and natural gas comes online for you and your area, the best bet is propane looking to easily and cheaply convert, fuel oil not so much.

 

[BD1]

Contact local propane and oil suppliers for their input.
Oil may be popular by you but natural gas and propane gets my vote.
Maybe check with insurance provider if rates are different.


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[yeldogt]

You need to check fuel prices .. that's a good size building fuel use will depend on insulation.

In my case I need to maintain a reasonable temp to enjoy my space .... some people can work in the cold .. all these things come into play.

The last time I did oil was when I replaced a boiler -- it was a big house and with oil's hot flame it was a better match for the use. For most people .. propane is the way to go.

There are simple calculators online you can use to compare different fuels --- don't forget to add the service tot he oil burner in the cost

 

[nhraracer90]

How big of a propane tank should I get? Say a 100k or 120k btu furnace. I’d only be in there weekends and some evenings.

Roughly how much propane does one burn an hour? I know they have different efficiency


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[75gmck25]

If its for infrequent use you might just look at installing a couple of ceiling-mount infrared heaters to cover your work areas. They will heat up quickly and provide relative comfort, and if ceiling mounted they will not be in the way. Spend the rest of your money on upgrading attic insulation and weather sealing the doors and other penetrations.

Bruce

 

[Mike in Ohio]

I have fuel oil for my house, going propane in shop.(last house was propane). Neither is cheap for a whole house. House furnace is only 3 or 4 years old, not going to replace a basically new furnace.

I have found that it is much harder to find competent techs to work on oil furnaces, and they do take more maintenance.

 

[Mike in Ohio]

That would never fly around here. If you got caught you'd be screwed. If he's now running 100% motor oil I'm surprised it even lights.

Tommy

Might be a state by state issue.

Company I used to work did the same thing, had about 25 or 30 trucks. burned all the used oil for heat in the shop. The furnaces are specifically designed to burn used motor oil, they seemed ridiculously expensive to me, but over time the free fuel, plus the savings in not having to dispose of the used oil pays for it.

 

[LS6 Tommy]

Might be a state by state issue.

Company I used to work did the same thing, had about 25 or 30 trucks. burned all the used oil for heat in the shop. The furnaces are specifically designed to burn used motor oil, they seemed ridiculously expensive to me, but over time the free fuel, plus the savings in not having to dispose of the used oil pays for it.

The federal laws to get a waste oil burner design approved are very strict, the local ones usually worse. The setup isb cornbinder is referring to is a regular heating oil burner running on waste oil. It's also 100% illegal. I guarantee it.

Tommy

 

[greenskeeper]

The setup isb cornbinder is referring to is a regular heating oil burner running on waste oil. It's also 100% illegal. I guarantee it.

Tommy

...only because they can't tax it

 

[LS6 Tommy]

...only because they can't tax it

I'm sure that is part of it, but it's mostly for safety and environmental reasons.

Tommy