Oil-to-gas heating conversion in Gibbstown, NJ

Step one: is there gas on the street?

Everything depends on a gas main running past the house. In Gibbstown and the rest of Greenwich Township, natural gas comes from South Jersey Gas, according to the state's utility territory maps. The utility decides whether a service line can be run to the house, where the meter goes, and how long that takes. Until it says yes, no heating equipment should be ordered.

If there is no main, the realistic choices are a new oil boiler or furnace, propane, or a heat pump.

Step two: the heating equipment

Replace the boiler or furnace. The most common path. A new gas boiler or furnace is sized to the house, not to the old oil unit. A condensing model vents through plastic pipe out a wall.

Fit a gas burner to the existing boiler. Some cast-iron oil boilers in good condition can take a conversion burner. It is a smaller job, but it keeps an older boiler and its efficiency. A technician can say whether the boiler is a candidate.

Ask the contractor to compare both on the same visit.

Step three: the chimney

Oil and gas exhaust behave differently in a masonry chimney. A gas appliance that still vents into the chimney usually needs a liner sized for it, and a water heater left on the chimney alone may need one too. A condensing appliance avoids the chimney entirely. This is often the part of the quote people do not expect.

Step four: the oil tank

A conversion leaves an oil tank that is no longer needed. The state's construction code guidance treats a fuel oil to natural gas conversion as a case where the tank must be properly removed or abandoned, and that requires its own demolition permit from the construction office. Work on underground heating oil tanks is limited to firms certified by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. Ask early who handles the tank and whether it is above or below ground.

Permits and the township

Replacing a boiler or furnace with one of like capacity counts as minor work under the state construction code: the construction office is notified before work begins, and a permit application follows within five business days. A fuel change usually involves gas piping and venting changes as well, so expect more than one permit. In Gibbstown the office is the Greenwich Township Construction Code Office, 420 Washington Street.

Utility programs

South Jersey Gas runs an HVAC rebate program for qualifying high-efficiency gas furnaces and boilers installed through participating contractors, and Atlantic City Electric runs one for heat pumps. Terms and eligibility change; ask the contractor whether the proposed equipment qualifies and check the utility's own page.

What to say when you call

• Oil boiler or oil furnace, and roughly how old
• Whether South Jersey Gas has confirmed service to the house
• Where the oil tank is: basement, outdoors, or buried
• Whether a water heater shares the chimney
• The address and ZIP code