Should You Convert Your Home to Natural Gas?

Choosing between heating oil and gas-powered equipment.

Homeowners can offer a laundry list of aggravating that can create a severe dent in a home budget. Discoloration on a ceiling may reveal water infiltration that requires a new roof. You might start your morning annoyed that your shower suddenly went cold, only to realize that you need to replace your water heater.

Then there are monthly expenses that always seem to go up. Over the last year and a half, many households we serve in Morris, Somerset, Union and Sussex counties have been contending with volatile prices on all energy sources. Quite a few have asked us whether converting their heating oil-powered equipment to natural gas is a good idea.

What does a natural gas conversion cost?

The average cost to convert a New Jersey home from heating oil to natural gas equipment can range from $6,000 to $13,000. This conversion involves replacing equipment, decommissioning oil storage tanks and connecting to a local natural gas utility. You can also expect a fair amount of disruption to your daily life. If your home needs a natural gas conversion, Dixon Energy can handle it. We do lots of these jobs throughout northern New Jersey. Our expert natural gas technicians can help you make the switch promptly and in a financially responsible manner.

Is switching from heating oil to natural gas a good idea?

While there are good reasons to convert a home to natural gas, we do not recommend homeowners do so as a cost-saving measure. As mentioned above, converting oil to natural gas can be prohibitively expensive. And there is no guarantee that switching home heating fuels will help you quickly defray these costs. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, New Jersey’s average residential natural gas rate increased nearly 30 percent between January 2022 and January 2023.

Heating oil has some significant advantages as a heating fuel:

• Heating oil combustion generates 40 percent more heat energy than burning the equivalent amount of natural gas.
• All heating oil is now ultra-low-sulfur, and more heating oil is incorporating renewable biodiesel. Heating oil blends containing 20 percent biodiesel have a better greenhouse gas performance than natural gas.
• Heating oil is safer than natural gas. It won’t explode in liquid form. If you were to drop a lit match in a bucket of heating oil, it would go out immediately!

Are there ways to lower energy costs with oil-fired equipment?

If you have oil-fired heating and hot water equipment, we recommend these steps as more effective ways to save money and stay comfortable.

1. Stay on top of your maintenance. Annual tune-ups can reduce your heating costs by up to 10 percent! Yearly maintenance is an affordable way to keep your furnace or boiler running efficiently and prevent breakdowns.
2. Invest in efficiency. Today’s high-efficiency oil-fired boilers and furnaces can lower fuel usage while improving your home’s comfort. Upgrading to high-efficiency HVAC systems — which is often less costly and disruptive than a natural gas conversion — can reduce your energy costs by 10 percent or more!
3. Enroll in EZ-Pay. With our free budget plan, we spread out your fuel expenses over the course of the year, cutting your winter bills virtually in half. Plus, we give you a fuel discount just for enrolling!

Get in touch with the Dixon Energy team today, and we can help you explore ways to lower your energy usage all year round.