On Tue, 26 Oct 2004 23:58:06 GMT, someone wrote:

I've met with a couple of contractors already and I must say I'm still
not at all sure whether I want to go gas or oil.

You can almost forget about trying to figure out which fuel is
cheaper. They are tied to each other in the market, people buy btus,
there are many industrial and utility users who can burn either so if
one gets lower they switch until it evens up again, and/or single fuel
users will go to the other, again until it evens out. Any significant
difference will likely be merely temporary. If anything gas may have
a more efficient distribution system - nobody needs to drive out to
your house in a truck.

Gas, the utility charges what they charge, which is either a good
thing or a bad thing. However you can often buy a supplier contract
if you like to get into that stuff (in my area, we do that for our
commercial properties) and play that market.

Oil, there are plenty of different companies, they charge what they
charge, you can try toi time that too, I don't with my residence, I
like the company and just go with them. As a result I bargain more
for my gas than my oil!

Oil, a leak can be very VERY costly to clean up. There are situations
where this is your responsibility.

Gas, a leak may blow up your house and kill you. This is rare but
does indeed happen. However, most leaks are minor and just blow away
and don't need any cleanup.

My opinion, you already have gas in the house, so worst of both worlds
- chance of both blowing up and expensive spill, too. So get rid of
the oil and eliminate that peril. You are apparently already
comfortable with having the gas in the house, just go with it. It
MIGHT even be a LITTLE cheaper, and whether you find utility pricing
better or worse in concept than negotiating your own is up to you.

There is no wrong answer. (Years ago, there was.)

-v.