John wrote:

"Pete C." wrote:

Edwin Pawlowski wrote:

"Pete C." wrote in message
Anyone looking at the complete pictu

Oil *is* safer than gas.

Where can I fins statistics on this?

Good question. There is a government site that I can't recall at the
moment (CDC, HHHS, CPSC or something) that had a nice search able
database where you could generate reports on reported injuries and
deaths sorted all kinds of ways.


Oil *is* more reliable than gas (on site fuel).

Bull ****. I've run out of oil, I've NEVER run out of gas. When power goes
out, oil is useless but if you have a gas stove, you can use the burners to
cook. I've never experinenced a gas outage in 60 years.

I'm afraid it's your bull ****. I've never run out of oil and anyone
with half a brain knows to check the gauge on their tank from time to
time.

When the power goes out oil is quite useful since #2 fuel out runs a
diesel generator perfectly and can even be used in the pump camp stoves.

You're lucky to be in a reliable location, others are not so lucky. A
large number of people within 10mi of where I was living had to spend
several winter days in a shelter during a gas outage about 4 years ago.



Oil *is* more competitive than gas (multiple suppliers).

Sure, you have Exxon, BP, Shell. Wow, what a great selection.

There are a few others in the mix.

Do the local
dealers vary in price by more than a penny or two? Nope, they don't. One
huge cartel.

Yes, they do. I've regularly seen price differences that amount to 25%
of the oil price and this included during a record cold winter price
gouging season.



Oil does *not* have service charges when you aren't using it.

If you cook with gas, you use it all the time. Same with hot water. Not
much of an agrument there.

I know a number of people who only have gas for heat.



Oil equipment *does* on average have a much longer service life than gas
equipment.

Really? I've not seen any big difference. Gas burners are pretty much
maintenance free. Once in a while a thermocouple or valve will need
replacing, sort of like an oil burner that needs a new motor, pump or nozzle
at time. Mechanical things break. In all my years of gas service, I"ve
only had two, maybe three service calls, but with oil, I must have $125
service and cleaning every year.

I said service life, you are indicating service costs and you are also
wrong there as well.

On average oil equipment is built more ruggedly and has a longer service
life than gas equipment. There are of course some real low end and real
high end units in both lines, but the average oil units last longer.

As for service costs, both gas and oil equipment requires annual
inspections for safety, both are capable of operating multiple years
without requiring actual service. The service performed annually on oil
equipment is not really required, but the cost for the parts is so low
that it's cheap insurance to just replace them and it's often the case
that people only call for service every few years at which point those
items should be replaced anyway.


Do you happen to have ties to an oil dealer?

None whatsoever. I work for a bank, the only stock I have is United
Technologies and at the moment since my last move I use neither oil or
nat. gas.

I do have a dual-fuel range that uses propane for the cook top, but this
is fed from a regular 20# BBQ type tank which lasts 8 months or more
between changes and I have multiple vendors to choose from.

Be careful!! That tank and gas line and range could blow at any moment! Look
out!

I am careful. The tank is located where if it did explode it would be
fairly contained and is not located near any windows that could create
shrapnel. The range I just have to hope for the best.

Pete C.