need help making a decision

[banana]

Need some advise. We currently have an oil boiler with hotwater baseboard heat. The boiler is 32 years old and the oil tank is original with the house 45 years old. The boiler also supplies us with our domestic hotwater. We were told that we should consider replacing the tank soon, bottom of the tank is a bit moist, but not leaking. Cost of replacing the tank approximately $1,300.

3 years ago when the price of oil went through the roof we put a pellet stove on the main floor of our house (its a ranch) and it heats the whole living area nicely.

Should we replace the oil tank? We know its just a matter of time before we will need to replace the boiler as well. Is this a wise idea, since we only use the oil for hotwater and as a backup if the pellet stove isnt working? We dont have the money to replace either the oil tank or the boiler so we would have to finance it. Gas is not an option in our area. Is there another type of boiler that would be less expensive to replace the oil so we can use the baseboard heat if needed? We can easily convert our hotwater to electric for a few hundred dollars.

Do they make electric boilers and are the efficient? The only other option we can think of is propane gas, but we were told by some friends that if you dont use a certain amount a year the price per gallon is super high. We also have central air and wonder if getting a heat pump would be less expensive.

If anyone's hubby works in this field can you please ask him his advice?

Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated!

[Siebrie]

My sister has an electric boiler, with a timer, which works perfectly. It will heat 30 gallons at a time, and then continue heating water as it runs through.

Have you insulated the ranch properly?

[Josephhgoins]

Not sure of all your specific details, but if you are only using the oil for back up heat and heating your hot water, I would definately check into switching to just an electric hot water heater. Make sure to check what you are paying per KWH and then shop hot water heaters using that to help figure your costs. Also, make sure to turn it to the lowest setting that will work for you (will take some trial and error) and keep it insulated.

The baseboard heaters are the most inefficient for sure, but if you arn't going to use them unless it is an emergency then the costs shouldn't be that big a deal.

With that said, how reliable is the electricity where you are at? Where I am from the power would routinely go off for a few hours, overnight or a few days at a time. So, relying on electricty for heat was foolish, no matter the costs.

[banana]

The electricity is reliable, we have been here since 2002 and never lost power. We will look into an electric water heater, but what would you do for backup heat in case the pellet stove goes down? Does anyone here have an electric boiler that heats hotwater baseboards?