Gas and Oil Home Heating Furnaces - Oil Furnace safety?

Hello, I am new to the site and I was wondering if anyone could help me with some questions. We are in the process of buying a home built in 1953. It has an oil furnace(The brand is a Singer) We had the house inspected 2 days ago and the inspector couldnt tell the age. He said its not the original(but it's obviously old). Everytime we've been in the house it seems to be well heated and there isnt any strange odors, which is comforting. An elderly woman previously lived there and the house is being sold to settle an estate. Since I have no prior experience with oil heating I am curious about it. The inspector couldn't inspect the furnace completely because it was too deep and there was soot inside. We plan to get it cleaned and serviced. We plan on replacing it within the next 2 years but at this very moment money is an issue. I guess I just would like some advice from someone who knows a little about oil furnaces. Are they safe? Can I make it through the winter before replacing it and not pull my hair out from worrying too much? Any comments or suggestions are welcome. Thank you!

oil is by far the safest fuel. It also has the most heat output per dollar than other fuels. 140,000 btu's per gallon. by comparison propane only has 90,000 btu's per gallon. The risk of exposure to CO is far lower for oil than natural gas or propane or wood heat. In the rare case of an oil burner malfunction, it usually creates smoke before it creates CO This serves as a warning signal. also a sharp raw oil smell is created when CO is present.
Mike
CO= carbon monoxide

As utumike said oil heat is quite safe. Oil in liquid form is difficult to get to burn. You can drop a lit match in a pan of heating oil & the match will go out.
When you have the furnace cleaned & serviced, the servicer should inspect the heat exchanger for signs of holes or cracks and check all safety controls. Upon completion of his/her work he/she should also do a complete combustion analysis consisting of: Smoke number, draft, CO2, CO, & stack temperature. A copy of this analysis should be left with you.
I would put a stipulation in the sales contract about the heater. If the servicer finds a defect, you should not have to pay for the new furnace. Also make sure the tank is inspected.

utumike - fuel oil the most heat output per dollar? Really? On output?, compared to natural gas on output, when comparing to therms (100,000 btu's) per current prices for natural gas and oil? Around here, the natural gas is about $1.31 a gallon when someone just paid $3.09 for fuel oil (but I also heard someone else say thay paid $2.79, so you can figure even the low figure).

Grady - if fuel oil will make a match go out, then why did the heating man I talk to the other day say that when he threw in a lit paper into a fuel oil soaked furnace, it went "WA...WOOOOf", and blew the stack off the back of the unit? And, I was with a trained- in- oil- heating systems- repairs landlord, who also did the same thing and the fire grew inside till it roared and he got a real worried look on his face, (caused from all the fuel oil inside the furnace due to tenant hitting the reset button one too many times.)

I'm not trying to scare the lady. That isn't my intent. But I think this needs to be clarified. I have heard about putting out cigarettes in gasoline also, but we all know what gas can do, also.

ecman1- #2 fuel oil needs 637 degree's to ignite it. gas needs only a spark. as far as gas even coming close to oil in heat output it's not even close like i said. First off they don't sell natural gas by the gallon. They sell it by the therm. 1 therm is 100,000 btu's there are 100 cubic ft. of gas in a therm. 1 cubic foot has 1000 btu's. the market price of gas around here (Portland Maine) is $1.38 per therm, then they charge you $.52 for delevery plus $14 a month service charge. what that boils down to not including the service charge is $1.90 per therm to, compair that to oil In portland I just saw $1.82 a gallon. The cost for oil per 100,000 btu's would be $1.32 based on 140,000 btu's per gallon. propane at $2.00 per gallon $2.19 per 100,000 btu's based on 90,000 btu's per gallon. and $1.90 for natural gas per 100,000 btu's. check out warmair.net
Mike

Utkmike, and Grady pretty much says it all.

Oil is the best heat to have.. Lot of heat!

Just make sure you get someone that KNOWS oil and give your system a good check up. Like grady says, get testing done.

If I would to get a new system. i'd go Oil.

utumike - it must be a regional supply and demand thing then. Around here, the numbers seem to favor NG.

I don't get you guys though, so pulling for oil. I really don't. I have yet to go to a sooted up NG house, or furnaces all oily, chimneys sooted up due to malfunctions in the past. Routine type maintenance required (like nozzles, etc.), where with gas the furnaces practically run themselves for years. Nothing to even lubricate.

Do they have 96 % oil furnaces? (Curious - not being sarcastic).

I have been to several condos lately with high efficiency natural gas heat that are putting out 140 degrees at the register. Ahhhhhhhh.

And aren't you likely to smell oil down by the tank? With NG, no odor, no tank to deal with, filter, lines, water in botom of tank/tank bottom holes..

YOU mentioned a delivery (distribution) charge for NG? Yes, we have such charges but when you add up ALL the therm charges that are broken down, our total is $1.31 right now -which is spiked up from the 80 cents it was this summer!! And I was only paying up to 80 cents per therm as of the winters a couple winters ago! Oil at that time was like $1.50.

Oil is still pretty common out in the NE part of the states.. There are still some going here in the Midwest.

There is a 90% oil out there.. but not many.. They for sure need to be tuned every year to burn clean.. If I recalled you will find them oversea in germany, the use a much cleaner fuel, so it's not an issue for them.

I don't want to get into an oil/gas debate but yes I have been sooted up by a NG furnace. Oil is a far safer fuel because of the limited quantity, high igniton temperature & the fact you usually will have odors associated with a poorly operating oil fired appliance long before toxic levels of CO are reached. Oil does require more maintenance but EVERY manufacturer of every heating applicance (oil or gas) specifies in their owners manual to have the appliance serviced professionally every year. With oil there is also the independence factor. Once my tank is filled, I don't care what happens up the street. My fuel is not going to be shut down because of a break in the main. I also am not at the mercy of a utility. If I don't like the color my oil company chose to paint their trucks, I can pick up the phone & have a new supplier tomorrow. Can't do that with NG. You're stuck with the only game in town.

ecman1
They do have condencing oil units that get 96%. Not to many here in the states. europe is whare you'll find the latest stuff. 95% of homes and businesses are heated with oil there. Tests of modern burners by Brookhaven national laboratory show that new oil burners produce much less smoke and soot than the older equipment. Smoke and soot are nothing more than unburned carbon. It's created by outdated burner designs and incorect burner service adjustment. average soot emissions from properly adjusted modern burners are now less than .003 pounds per 7 gallons of oil, which works out to about 6 ounces of soot per year. this is approximately equal to natural gas or propane.
Carefull adjustment and regular maintenance of gas equipment is nessesary to avoid yellow flames, flashbacks, floating flames, etc. that can result in elevated carbon monoxide. Gas heaters have a much higher percentage of water vapor in the exhust gasses than oil which contributes to vent pipe corrosion, so get your heater serviced yearly with gas or oil.
As far as smell, The tanks are sealed and vented to the outside only. I've never smelled oil around a tank. They use to tip the tank away from the outflow side which caused water and sludge, but codes now mandate you tip the tank towards the outfall and the tapings must be in the bottom of the tank. Any water in the tank will just go to the burner and pass through now.
Mike

Truce?........ :)

Ok ............ :)

You got it. Good to see a group who can agree to disagree. On some boards this discussion would degrade to a knock down drag out fight. :wmann3:

utumike - it must be a regional supply and demand thing then. Around here, the numbers seem to favor NG.

I don't get you guys though, so pulling for oil. I really don't. I have yet to go to a sooted up NG house, or furnaces all oily, chimneys sooted up due to malfunctions in the past. Routine type maintenance required (like nozzles, etc.), where with gas the furnaces practically run themselves for years. Nothing to even lubricate.

Do they have 96 % oil furnaces? (Curious - not being sarcastic).

I have been to several condos lately with high efficiency natural gas heat that are putting out 140 degrees at the register. Ahhhhhhhh.

And aren't you likely to smell oil down by the tank? With NG, no odor, no tank to deal with, filter, lines, water in botom of tank/tank bottom holes..

YOU mentioned a delivery (distribution) charge for NG? Yes, we have such charges but when you add up ALL the therm charges that are broken down, our total is $1.31 right now -which is spiked up from the 80 cents it was this summer!! And I was only paying up to 80 cents per therm as of the winters a couple winters ago! Oil at that time was like $1.50.

Why all the gas units that won't run, I had a oil furnace for 45 yrs, stopped once. Seems like gas has so many safety features it's wonder they run at all.

Sorry, when I posted i didn't know there was a truce.

Fair enough, for the new high efficiency ones. Yes, if it's not flame sensor to clean, it is a hot surface ignitor that burned up, or the college kids shoveled snow in front of the ventor pipe outside (seriously), or the ventor fan blade fell off due to acidic condensate water corrosion, or there is short cycling going on due to some weird problem of various sorts, or the ignition control board went out...something.

Now that the truce is in effect, How did you make out with the house? did you get the info you needed? and did you get the unit serviced yet? We all like feed back
Mike :)

Thank you for all the replies. I didnt know people took their heating systems so seriously, haha. But the debate was very informational. I think we are going to keep the oil furnace through this winter and this summer install either a new oil furnace or switch it out. That decision will be made after winter is over and we get a real one on one idea of how great this furnace is it is. Thank you again for your comments. It is very much appreciated.

If you do change out to a new furnace, and stay with oil, I'd suggest the Thermo Pride.. They are the REAL oil furnace.. These will outlast most new oil furnace made out there.

check out biasi too. low mass, easy to service.
Mike

Jay speaks wisely. These things are built like a tank. One of, if not THE first to offer a lifetime heat exchanger warranty. Others offer one but their quality just can't compare with Thermo-Pride. If I had forced hot air heat in my house, I'd have a Thermo-Pride, no two ways about it. They also have the only (as far as I know) 2 stage oil fired furnace on the market.

Mike: Basi makes furnaces? I thought just boilers.