Hey guys,

So this was my first winter as a landlord and I hate that this house has oil as it is way more expensive and requires you to allow entry for the oil companies. Do you think that it would be worth it to switch entirely to gas at some point? Also, I can not put in a Smart thermostat since it does not have a Y cable. Any ideas on what I can do to save money both with the oil and maybe a hack to get in a smart thermostat?

Thanks,

@Andy Mejia have you had the furnace serviced? Oil burners need to be tuned and serviced every other year and can become horribly inefficient if the burners get out of whack.

Oil will always be more expensive/inefficient than gas, but usually only 10-15%.

Whether it’s worth $3-6K to upgrade to a new gas furnace, you’ll have to guess at the math.

How old is you current oil furnace?

@Mike McCarthy

It’s only about 2 years old. The previous owner got it changed before I bought it.

Originally posted by @Andy Mejia :

Hey guys,

So this was my first winter as a landlord and I hate that this house has oil as it is way more expensive and requires you to allow entry for the oil companies. Do you think that it would be worth it to switch entirely to gas at some point? Also, I can not put in a Smart thermostat since it does not have a Y cable. Any ideas on what I can do to save money both with the oil and maybe a hack to get in a smart thermostat?

Thanks,

What does "way more expensive" mean in actual numbers?

It’s only about 2 years old. The previous owner got it changed before I bought it.

Oh! Then it really shouldn’t be that much more expensive. Depending on who you ask, oil could actually be cheaper. 
Have you looked at the insulation in the house? What are you comparing to in terms of costs?

I doubt it would be financially viable to replace a two-year-old furnace. You'll have to share some numbers.

You can add the thermostat. It's the c wire you don't have. There are a few ways to hack it. Youtube....

@Andy Mejia . Why does the oil company need to enter your home? There should be a fill valve on the outside of the house.

Is the home located on a natural gas line? Do your neighbors have natural gas? If not, changing to gas is not an option.

Most people go from oil to propane. You will need to change all of your appliances and any other mechanicals running off of oil.

@Andy Mejia

In my area where gas is available in the street, the gas company will bring to the house for free. I would look into converting the Beckett burner to a gas fired burner. I’ve done this twice so far. The last house went from about $400/month in oil to $150 gas.