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Rick Harrison, a technician for Downeast Energy, tunes a furnace at the home of Diana Bell in Scarborough. An annual tuneup can save up to 10 percent on a fuel bill.

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Upgrading oil equipment

Many Mainers who heat with oil are ignoring one of the most cost-effective ways to save money this winter – the annual tuneup.

A tuneup is one of several basic but often overlooked strategies, including system upgrades and switches to different kinds of heating equipment, that can save homeowners money.

Every furnace and boiler should be tuned by a certified technician before the heating season, oil dealers say. The work costs up to $200 but can shave as much as 10 percent off an annual fuel bill, according to the National Oilheat Research Alliance, an industry trade group. Even with just a 5 percent savings, a tuneup will easily pay for itself this winter, at today's oil prices.

Add to that the safety assurance of having your heating system inspected, as well as the benefits of preventive maintenance.

"We get a lot of night calls after hours, and 80 percent of them could have been avoided with a tuneup," said Rob Wilkes, general manager at Downeast Energy in Lisbon Falls. "That tells me a lot of people aren't doing them."

A tuneup is the most basic step homeowners can take now to cut oil and kerosene bills this winter. For many people, installing devices that make systems operate more efficiently can be a good move.

Replacing an older boiler with a new one also can make economic sense. And more people are choosing to shut off their central heating systems and rely on high-efficiency, direct-vent space heaters.

These options are worth considering this summer in Maine, which has an older housing stock warmed by aging heating systems. No one keeps track, but Wilkes and others in the industry say 15- to 20-year-old boilers are common.

Leonard Estabrook's situation is typical.

He had a 30-year-old boiler, which was no longer reliable. The outdated design heated water for showers and dishes through a coil in the boiler. That kept the burner firing all summer, and the boiler never quite produced enough hot water in his Yarmouth home. By the time the weather warmed last month, he had burned 1,043 gallons.

Estabrook spent $6,750 this spring on an Italian-made boiler and burner rated at 87 percent efficiency. Domestic hot water is stored in a well-insulated 41-gallon tank. The new system is expected to cut fuel consumption by 30 percent. Estabrook's investment will be recovered in five years, according to Downeast Energy, based on oil prices earlier this spring.

"I think we're going to save a bundle," he said. "Oil was a dollar cheaper when it was installed."

Technicians also can add a storage tank to a tankless boiler. The job runs roughly $2,400 but can cut fuel consumption by 5 percent to 10 percent a year, Wilkes said.

"This is normally the place you can find the biggest improvement," he said.

Technicans can take an additional step and add an outdoor temperature control, which modulates the boiler's output on warmer days when maximum heat is unnecessary.

Almost any system can be improved by adding a programmable thermostat, which automatically lowers room temperatures when occupants are asleep or away. A smart thermostat can pay for itself within a year.

With heating oil prices well above $4 a gallon, many homeowners are switching to wood heat. But there's another option for people who want the convenience of petroleum – direct-vent space heaters. Units made by Monitor, for example, can heat a small home using only 500 gallons or so of kerosene. They cost roughly $3,000 installed.

Nelson & Small Inc. of Portland, the region's exclusive importer of the Monitor heater, has sold 50,000 of the units in Maine. They became popular in the 1980s, to replace expensive electric heat.

"It's ironic," said Peter LaRose, the company's senior vice president. "People have a heating system again that they can't afford. This time, it's oil."

One downside of direct-vent space heaters is that the fuel they...