Although gas cooking was a major motivation to add natural gas to the house, getting rid of the original (1924) oil burning furnace was a major plus.  During our pre-purchase inspection, the oil furnace was serviced and found to be operating at 78% efficiency.  But when the temperatures dropped a bit and we actually wanted to use the furnace, it didn’t work.  While we could have repaired it and topped off our large, underground oil tank to the tune of several hundred dollars, we instead decided to expedite the installation of the gas furnace.

We hired Blue Flame Comfort to install the natural gas plumbing throughout the house, and to install the furnace and gas hot water heater.  It took them about 2 days, and they did a nice job.  The furnace is a fully modulating York Affinity series, which is claimed to be nearly 98% efficient.  So far it’s been working great, and it’s very quiet.

The hot water heater works great too, although we’ve noticed it takes a bit longer for the hot water to reach the faucets now due to the extra plumbing required to move the hot water heater near the furnace (for easier venting).

We also had Blue Flame run gas plumbing to the fireplace, laundry area, and back yard deck in case we decide to add a gas fireplace insert, gas dryer, and/or convert our BBQ grill to gas.