I've not used heating oil living in the balmy south, but our previous rural home used propane for heat. I found it very expensive since the furnace also used electricity. We were spending approximately $300 monthly for propane alone.

A dollars per BTU calculation, oil vs propane, should answer your question. Ask your supplier for that information using the current prices.

A big advantage of replacing old equipment is that the newer stuff is likely much more efficient and will use less fuel. Depending on age, an older boiler (I assume it to be) may be somewhere in the mid-60s% efficient, where a new one will be in the 80s% or more. Also, old installs are notorious for using over-sized (in an output sense) equipment. It's not unusual for a new install to be able to do the job with much lower output capacity and thus be a better fit with the needs of the structure. Think of putting an engine needed to haul the weight of a semi-trailer into a VW Bug. A properly sized piece of equipment will also use much less fuel.

Choose your HVAC contractor carefully, it does matter. Good luck

My daughter had hot water baseboard heat with an oil fired boiler. When the boiler needed extensive repairs they had a forced air propane furnace and ductwork installed. They were also able to add air conditioning. It was expensive but their house is much more comfortable.

Just had the annual furnace inspection (oil burner) and cleaning yesterday and the technician commented that oil was still the most efficient heating source. And his company services all type of heating equipment so he has no particular axe to grind :-)

We also have propane but that is to power the generator when necessary and for the gas fireplaces. A big tank but it sure doesn't last long!!

Natural gas is considered the cheapest around here, for those for whom it's available, furnace oil next and propane later, it often being more expensive.

Corn-fired stoves and furnaces are often less expensive in this area, but require service usually more often than once daily.

ole joyful

We went from propane to natural gas. Before we were here the house ran on oil. The conversion was pretty easy and it has been MUCH cheaper. Propane we tried to purchase ahead of time at its 'low' price point. Calculating use due to winter's predicted wrath was a pain. There are no down sides to natural gas is what we know.

May not be the same now but switching from one type of fuel to another used to take an adapter. Never had heating oil only propane and natural gas.

Thanks, everyone. No natural gas option here. If I switch I'll need a whole new furnace--but if I don't switch I'll still need a whole new furnace. Propane furnaces are apparently more efficient than oil, but oil has its advantages too.

My present oil burner was installed in 2002. It hasn't had a lot of heavy use because over the years I used a woodstove often. But I'm told moisture is what kills oil burners, and my dungeon of a basement is damp. If I need to replace the furnace I want to do it in warm weather to eliminate the risk of it failing in the bitter cold of winter. I'll have to price new models and installs for both oil and propane, and see what those numbers look like.

alisande, for your well being and that of the house, try to get a dehumidifier installed in the basement.

Is your heating a forced air furnace or a boiler to heat water for radiators?

You can be sure that propane is not more "efficient" than oil and it's more expensive to use too.

"and the technician commented that oil was still the most efficient heating source."

I'm not sure what he's referring to.

A gallon of fuel oil has 140K BTUs and costs something more than $2.75. A therm (100BTUs) of natural gas in most areas costs something less than $1.50. Do the math, a BTU from natural gas is cheaper, even considering differences in efficiency of the equipment. Natural gas is also cleaner burning and more environmentally friendly. And gas is more convenient, no need to reorder or play the price change lottery about timing and source of purchases.

When made newly available, residents in an area don't cling to their oil burners and avoid a swtich to natural gas, other than to delay the cost of new equipment. It's the opposite.

Thanks, Elmer. I actually bought a large dehumidifier with an internal pump so we could discharge the water automatically. It was supposed to go in the basement, but I discovered it was cracked in the back. So it's going back to the store. They don't have another in stock, so I'll look around for a replacement.

I have a forced air furnace. Everything I've read says propane units are more efficient than oil, like this quote from This Old House:

With few exceptions, oil furnaces max out at 87 percent efficiency, whereas propane units can achieve efficiencies of up to 98 percent, equal to the best natural gas systems. That cuts oil’s Btu-per-dollar advantage in half, to just 14 percent. Also, propane furnaces generally don’t cost as much to buy as oil-fired ones with the same output. Advantage: propane.

I understand but read the words again. It says that even if comparing an oil furnace to the MOST EFFICIENT propane furnace, oil is still 14% cheaper to use as a heat source. That's a big difference. The uber high efficiency gas furnaces (whether nat gas or propane) are quite a bit more expensive to buy and have installed than those with lower efficiency.

As I think you know, I'm just a fellow homeowner. I watch This Old House from time to time but I find a lot of things they do puzzling. I like the guy Richard who covers plumbing and heating but he's really just a plumber who dabbles in HVAC stuff. I've seen a lot of things he's done and talked about that even for me have been head scratchers. Look at other sources, including getting advice from your best local HVAC contractors. HVAC contractors are not created equally.

Thanks--I appreciate the input. Lots to think about. I also need a new roof. Oy.

Of the three fuels we have had in the last 16 years, kerosene mixture (hot water baseboards in small Cape Cod), propane (forced hot air), and now natural gas in large double wide mobile home, it was the propane that nearly sent us to the poorhouse. At the time, winter of 2014/2015, it was $5:00 per gallon. Fall to Spring was $3,000. Bitter cold winter in upstate NY and we kept heat in the 60s with Sox and sweaters. Natural gas was finally installed in spring of 2015, for which I am eternally grateful.

i was one of those who didn’t know that not everywhere is fortunate enough to have access to natural gas until I lived on a farm in my early twenties. Then it was propane and/ or fuel oil and a wood stove.