The price of energy in the region where you live is the most dominant influence on total heating costs. For example: The installed cost of an electric heat system may look attractive, but when you calculate the annual operating cost of electric power in particular, you find the savings vanish.

The cost of Oilheat is consistently lower than comparable natural gas costs. In climate regions of the country where Oilheat is dominant, the cost to a homeowner for utility supplied natural gas can be as much as 40% more than Oilheat!

Energy analysts do not forsee that the price advantage for Oilheat will diminish any time soon. The best way to compare energy prices is to calculate the price per BTU, a unit of heating value, for each fuel. Take a look at the figures

• Heating Oil contains 138,690 BTU's per gallon.
   
• Natural Gas has 100,000 BTU's per therm. It takes 1.4 therms to equal the heat content of one gallon of heating oil.
   
• Kerosene has 131,890 BTU's per gallon; 1.05 gallons equals the heat content of one gallon of heating oil.
   
• Propane has 91,500 BTU's per gallon; 1.52 gallons equals the heat of one gallon of heating oil.
   
• Electricity has 3,413 BTU's per kilowatt hour (kwh); 40.6 kwh equals the heat content of a gallon of heating oil. Energy prices can vary widely across the country.

Your Oilheat dealer can provide you with the information to accurately compare energy prices in your area.

Heating oil prices are 2.5 to 5.5 times lower than electricity. Converting from electric to Oilheat can substantially reduce energy costs. Electric water heaters are very inefficient (about 29% AFUE). The potential savings for converting an electric water heater to an oil-fired unit range from $101 to $467 or more a year depending on your electric utility's rates. There are many old gas heaters operating at less than 70% efficiency.

In the majority of cases, converting to efficient Oilheat would provide a very good payback. Conversely, switching from Oilheat to gas does not offer an attractive payback. In most cases it can take longer to recover your investment than the life expectancy of the new gas heater. Data from the Consumer Energy Council of America Research Foundation showed that changing from oil to another fuel over the last twelve years did not make economic sense; the cost of conversion is highly unlikely to be recovered.