I've got a Beach House that uses an oil furnace as heat and a heat pump system for AC. I'm burning oil year round and want to save money. I asked my service man if I could just shut it off and he said that if I did that, the seals would start leaking upon restart. Is this true and what's the cost difference between normal cleaning and replacement of seals and burning 550 gallons of oil during 3 seasons a year just to keep the pipes warm.:confused:

What beach is this on? How cold does it get? Why can you not just use the heatpump for heat and do away with the oil?

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Originally Posted by Joshdta

what beach is this on? how cold does it get? why can you not just use the heatpump for heat and do away with the oil?

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The house is in Va Beach. It was built in the sixties and is used as a beach house and guest house. The heat pump system doesn't have the heat strips in it and is used only for AC. The oil furnace is basically used to keep the house at 55 degrees during the winter and a heating specialist insists this setup is the most economical. He said using the electricity for running the heat pump for heat would cost much more than oil. He also says that turning the furnace off during the spring, summer, and fall will cause the seals on the furnace to leak. That's why I'm asking the question, which costs more, oil used year round or seals replaced once a year. Thanks for your interest.

Well I see no problem with turning it off in the summer. It does not run any ways so shutting it down will not hurt it. Second I am here in wv and we have been taking out oil furnaces and putting in heatpumps because of the cost of fuel. I see no way that electric can cost more the fuel oil.

I totally disagree with your "heating specialists".. heat pumps are more economical. My heat pump handles all the heating and cooling flawlessly, at temperatures from 10 to 100 degrees. Find another specialist.