CLEAN-OIL RULES, P.2

Notice I ask can the burner burn gas, not does it. Because if you are lucky, your burner has the ability to burn gas even if it has never done so. How can you tell? You might be able to tell from the model number — the letter "G" in the model number is usually a dead giveaway — but so many of these burners’ nameplates have been painted over or removed that it’s better to just pay a visit to the boiler room and take a look at the burner itself.

Why is this important? Because if your burner already is gas-capable, there’s a strong likelihood you will not need a new burner, which will save you tens of thousands of dollars. If your burner is not gas-capable, you must install a new burner if you decide to convert to gas or dual-fuel operation.

Weighing the Options

If your building wishes to switch to "firm gas," Con Edison has frequently indicated a willingness to extend a new gas line to any building now burning heavy oil. To my knowledge, Con Edison has not made a similar offer regarding "interruptible gas." This should not be surprising — anyone who switches to firm gas is unlikely ever to switch back to oil, whereas interruptible customers can switch to oil and sometimes do, even when Con Ed doesn't require it.

You may have read that gas is now much less expensive than oil, or that it is projected to be less expensive than oil for years to come. It is true that, at the moment, most gas is less expensive than most oil (depending on whose data you use, you can make an argument either way). Will it always be that way? It’s hard for me to believe that it will be — there's not much historical precedent for it, and prices have rarely moved in a predictable way.

If You Are Considering a New Boiler

Not often mentioned in the whole "dirty oil" debate is that the issue becomes moot if your boiler is not big enough to burn No. 4 or No. 6 oil. Since a large fraction of the boilers in New York City are quite oversized, many buildings could sidestep a lot of the decision-making by installing a smaller boiler than the one they currently have.

Tom Sahagian is a project manger at Power Concepts, an energy-consulting firm.

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