Light empty tank might float up out of the
ground, during wet weather? Years ago, I
think I remember hearing of empty inground
swimming pool rising up a bit.

..
Christopher A. Young
Learn about Jesus
www.lds.org
..

On 9/26/2013 6:49 PM, willshak wrote:
wrote:
Good point, that is one other factor. And if it's an
old tank or likely old, then it's one more MAJOR factor
to consider in the decision to switch fuels. Meaning
that even aside from switching to gas to save energy
costs, an old oil tank is a problem even if you don't
convert and continue using the old system. If it's in
the basement and it starts to leak, I would think it would usually
happen with a small leak that you'd
probably smell, see, etc. before it gets really bad.
But maybe they can suddenly spring bigger leaks too?

If it's underground, it can be leaking and you'd never
know it until the ground is contaminated big time. And
then it becomes a very expensive problem. I don't know
what the best practice recommendations are, but if it
were me, I'd be concerned about any tank that is 20+ years
old for sure. And I'd be checking with neighbors on
any experiences they've had with similar tanks. The
age of the tank might be the thing that is the driving
issue that makes converting to gas the best course of action.

Filling the tank with concrete wouldn't be my first choice.
It creates another potential problem, ie that if you ever
need to excavate that area for something, eg running some
pipe, septic system, house addition, etc you now have a
huge concrete mass. Sand or gravel sounds like a much
better and cheaper alternative, which is what I've seen
used here in NJ.

Reading further on this topic. Filling the tank with expanding foam will
be much lighter than concrete.

On Fri, 27 Sep 2013 08:24:42 -0400, Stormin Mormon
wrote:

Light empty tank might float up out of the
ground, during wet weather? Years ago, I
think I remember hearing of empty inground
swimming pool rising up a bit.

A cow-orker had a pool do that. He emptied it to scrub rust stains
(hair pins) off the bottom. He didn't get finished until late at
night and didn't want ground water backing up unto it so closed the
drain. In the morning the whole boat was 4' out of the ground. He
forgot about the tide. Oops.

On Wednesday, September 25, 2013 11:43:17 AM UTC-4, ChloeP wrote:
I recently moved into an older property, from early 1950s, and we've got

an oil burning boiler that's at least 20 years old if not older.

I want to replace it with something more efficient but don't know

whether to go for gas or electric.

I presume electric is more efficient but more expensive, I'm not sure it

evens out in the end.

Also I need recommendations for contractors in the Houston area. I've

searched online and found these guys 'Houston Plumber | Air Conditioner

| Heating Services | Aramendia' (http://www.aramendiahouston.com)

but being new to the area I'd like some actual recommendations before I

start ringing around.


In houston I'd keep using it until it really needed replacing. You just don't have all that much of a heating season. At that point I'd go with a heat pump.