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- Oil to heat pump
Oil furnace to heat pump: the conversion, explained.
What's involved in taking an older Everett house — or a small commercial building — off oil heat, which parts we do, which need another trade, and what to decide before anything is removed.
Four questions decide the plan.
- How much heat?
- A heat-loss check of the house, not the size of the old furnace — oil furnaces were often oversized.
- Can the ducts carry it?
- Heat pumps move more air at lower temperatures. Small or leaky ducts need attention first.
- Is the electrical service enough?
- A heat pump and its backup heat need capacity. If the panel needs upgrading, that's a licensed electrician's job.
- What happens to the tank?
- Removal or decommissioning is specialist work, and its timing should be planned alongside the conversion.
It takes more than one trade.
We plan the conversion and do the heating and cooling work. Three things usually need someone else, and we'll say so before you commit:
- The oil tank — removal or decommissioning by a tank specialist.
- The electrical panel — any upgrade by a licensed electrician.
- The chimney — if a water heater or anything else still vents into it once the furnace has gone, it needs checking.
What changes in the house.
The oil furnace in the basement is replaced by a heat pump air handler, usually in the same spot and on the same ducts. Outside, a heat pump unit goes on a stand beside the house. The oil deliveries stop.
You also get cooling — the same system runs in reverse in summer, which many older Everett houses have never had.
Backup heat — electric strips in the air handler — covers the coldest days. How it's set in the thermostat matters, and we set it up at handover.
Older commercial buildings still on oil.
Some older storefronts, halls and small commercial buildings around Everett still heat with oil. The same questions apply — heat loss, ducts or distribution, electrical service, and the tank — with scheduling around opening hours and, often, a staged conversion.
We'll write up the options, in order, with prices for our part and a clear list of what other trades will need to price.
No savings figures, no rebate amounts
What you'll save by leaving oil depends on oil prices, electricity rates, your house and how you run it — all of which change. Utility and state programmes change too. We'll point you to the current ones rather than quote numbers that may be out of date.
Ready to leave oil behind?
An assessment, a written plan, and a clear list of who does what.