Oil fired water heaters heat water exactly the same way as traditional natural gas, and propane water heaters by a law of physics called convection. The most important difference is that oil fired water heaters use oil as their fuel source.
Oil fired water heaters are more expensive that natural gas water heaters.
The tank alone is over $700, you will also need a new oil burner that goes for about $300- $400, T&P valve, copper piping. Also If the current exhaust piping is bad and needs to be replaced as it is needed in most cases you are looking at another 100 bucks for piping. Oil filters at the main oil tank it’s self should be replace at this time also to better protect your new investment.
What size oil fired water heater do I need? -Oil fired water heaters heats water extremely fast. (twice as fast than natural gas heaters & electric water heaters) The speed of which water is heated is called “recovery rating”. 30 gallon oil fired water heaters can produce roughly 110 gallons of hot water in the “first hour”. (The water heating industry goes by the measurement “1st hour rating” to measure this speed for all kinds of water heaters.) If you have a family of 4 people or less most likely a 30 gallon oil fried water heater will meet, and exceed your demands. If you have a family of 5 or larger, or 3-4 with a whirl pool tub you use regularly you may want to go with a 50 gallon oil fired water heaters. 50 gallon oil fired water heaters create huge amounts of hot water, more than 200 gallons an hour, so you will basically never run out of hot water. A 50 gallon oil fired water heater takes up a lot of space, uses a lot of oil, thus are very expensive to run. If you have a very large family, or run a business out of your home which uses hot water, you could need a 50 gallon model, however most homes will be fine with 30 gallon oil fired water heater. Most oil fired water heating companies only offer 30 & 50 gallon tank sizes.
The cost of labor is hard to determine without seeing the old oil fired water heater. The tank itself is very heavy and at least two plumbers are needed to handle the tank properly without damaging it. Sometimes removing the old tank will take more than two people if the tank is located in a basement and must be pulled up stairs as the old tank can be extremely heavy. Installing a new oil fired water heater is nothing like installing a traditional water heater. Other than the water lines everything is pretty much different. Installing the new oil burner can be a pain, and also needs some fine tuning to get it operating at it’s most efficient level, and there is an emergency cut off switch & other electrical connections that need to made. The exhust pipe almost always needs to be replaced, then the air needs to be bled out of the oil line, (without making a huge mess), not to mention the new tank weights about 500 hundred pounds. Installing new oil fried water heaters should be left to expert plumbers only.
The job it’s self takes 2 plumbers about 3 hours, but in reality it takes twice that for us. 1st meeting the client, looking at the oil water heater, agreeing on a price & writing up the paper work, then picking up the heater, removing the old tank & installing the new one, settling up on the bill, then going to the dump to get rid of the old tank. You have a lunch break in there some where.
How much does a new oil fired water heater cost to have installed? All together installing a new oil fired water heater could take 2 guys nearly a full day, so labor for installing a new oil fired water heater is around 700. Where as installing a new gas or electric water heaters is done with only 1, maybe 2 plumbers and takes less than one third the time, which is why regular water heaters cost much less.
Saving money on oil fired water heaters: Illegal unlicensed un-insured fellas that call themselves plumbers, (but in reality are painters and what not) obviously will charge less to put these water heaters in if you let them, and may do a good job. But if theirs a problem in the future will they come back? If the tank is in some way defective will they install the next one for free? Will you lose sleep at night knowing “the friend of a friend/ or nephew” could have mistaking installed a bomb in your basement?
You have nothing to worry about when we are on the job. So if you want a stress free process and quality job done correctly the first time by licensed & insured plumbers. That uses the best parts, test & fine tune the burner to get the highest efficiency out put, clean up the job site like we were never there, and put everything including a warranty in writing give us a call.
*Every body is hell bent on saving money these days, and we realise this, money’s tight for our families as well, but their is no such thing as a cheep oil fired water heater, and they take plumbing talent to install correctly. Our normal prices are extremely competitive, but please be aware the total cost for a oil fired water heaters starts around $1,900.
If that’s to expensive for you budget, we can install a top quality electric water heater instead for about 800 bucks, but you will have less hot water, and your electric bill will likely double. (It’s a case of pay now, or pay later)
If you hate the idea of putting another oil fried water heater in your basement, but are stuck with oil/ have no natural gas service. we can install a propane tankless water heater instead. You would need to have a propane tank installed but some propane companies are now offering No start up cost services when opening a new account. Start up costs are going to be more than a oil fired water heater, but you would at that point save money on you energy bill. Your basement will be a lot cleaner, the air quality will be better, and the tank is small and is mounted on the wall, so it’s space saving as well. (Their is no such thing as an oil fired Tankless/wall mounted/instantaneous water heater yet)
(If you made it this far, and still stressing about your leaking oil fired water heater by now it’s obviously we know our business, so if you live in Connecticut just give us a call and relax already!)
Here a picture of a oil fired water heater just about to be replaced.
Specifically from the front, with the camera pointed downward towards the burner.
Best Regards-
We provide top quality plumbing information about services, free estimates, installations and repairs on all Rheem, Ruud, Bradford white, State, and A.O. Smith electric, gas, propane, Bock, Thermaflow/Everhot oil fired hot water heaters, Navien, Rheem, Noritz, and Takagi tankless water heaters, Ruud, Bock, and lochinvar oil fired water heaters, SuperStor storage tanks, Peerless, Laars, and Crown tankless coils, and repairs on all hot water heater throughout the state of Connecticut including Bridgeport, CT- Bristol, CT- Cheshire, CT- Danbury,CT- Derby,CT- East Hartford,CT- East Haven,CT- Enfield,CT- Fairfield,CT- Hamden,CT- Hartford,CT- Meriden,CT- Orange,CT- Middletown,CT- Milford,CT- New Britain,CT- New Haven,CT- New London,CT- Norwalk,CT- East Norwalk,CT- Norwich,CT- Putnam,CT- Shelton,CT- Southington,CT- Stamford,CT- Stratford,CT- Southport,CT- Torrington,CT- Wallingford,CT- Watertown,CT- West Hartford,CT- West Haven,CT- Westport,CT- Wethersfield,CT- Willimantic,CT- all shore areas, and surrounding Connecticut areas.
