Converting from Oil to Natural Gas in CT

[Corgi]

My husband and I are looking to convert our heating sytem from oil to natural gas. We live in CT and Southern CT Gas will bring the line from the street directly to our house, they said it will take about a day with a backhoe to install a 2 feet deep and 2 feet wide trench and install the line and meter. Our home is roughly 1300 square feet of living space and a 975 square foot basement (unfurnished and not heated). In the summer we open up our seasoned porched which adds an additional 120 square feet of space (but not heated). Only 2 of us live in the house, with occasional sleep overs in on the weekends. So my question is, one licensed HVAC heating plummer said he wants to install a 130,000 BTU Burnham furnance 84% energy efficient and a 40,000 BTU gas water heater and new chimney liner. Because our basement is open space he doesn't believe we need a "fan in the can", only if the town inspector requires it.

I was wondering with all your experiences if any of you think this sounds correct, I thought 130,000 BTU is rather large for such a small house. And would you recommend a Burnhnam or a Weil Mclain gas furnance?

Thanks everyone...Corgi

[beenthere]

Sounds a little big.
You should get some other estimates, and have a heat loos done. That way you know what size boiler you need.

You might want to get some estimates on modulating condensing boilers, and an indirect water heater.
Cost more up front, but saves on the gas bill.
A mod/con boiler, will vent directly outside side with PVC pipe, and you won't have to have your chimney lined.

Do you have cast iron rads, or copper tube baseboard.

[Corgi]

hi beenthere,

We don't have cast iron radiators, but big baseboards with cooper tubes, I think. And I remember my husband saying something about baseboard water heat? Plus our house is a 1956 1 level ranch, hope that answers your question.

What is a heat loose?

And thanks for taking the time to help me....Corgi

[beenthere]

LOL.. That was suppose to be heat "loss", but my fingers don't always cooperate.

A heat loss, calc, tells how much heat the house losses in the winter. And then the boiler is sized to that. So then you would know if you need a 130,000, or 80,000, or what ever size boiler.

A mod/con boiler doesn't save you as much on copper baseboard as it does on cast iron rads. But it does save more then just a new conventional boiler would.

[t527ed]

sounds waay to big.

agree with beenthere, look into high efficiency boiler with inderect tank.

you will have high efficiency water heating and never be able to run it out of hot water.

[gasoilair]

Corgi, it sounds like he's talking about a Burnham Independence single pass cast iron boiler. (84%eff) Unless your house is built like a gazebo with no walls, then 130K in 1300sf is way oversized. It sounds like he did a "rule of thumb" heat load. (100Btu p/sf X 1300sf=130,000Btu) definitely not the right way to do this.

With the huge rate hike were going to be getting, you'll want to aim towards a 'Condensing' gas boiler. Look for names like Burnham Alpine, Peerless Pinnacle, Buderus, etc. Any one of these and an indirect water tank will set you straight.

[ct_hvac_tech]

you might want to look into having all your baseboard ripped out all together, and go with forced air heat. This way, you can add central A/C to the job very easily while the job is going on.

Do you live in new london county? If so, let me know and the company I work for might be able to help.

[Corgi]

cthvactech, we live in fairfield county, way off from new london but thanks for the advice.

Gents, you've all given me a lot of info thanks so much....
Corgi...and yes we have a pembrook welsh corgi named Sam...

[mlstark]

Hi Corgi,

You could go mod-con that also makes domestic hot water, either with a combo system or with an indirect.