I just went down the rabbit hole on his Wikipedia page. He also has a building named for him at URI

It is definitely a permit job. Others have said, I’ll second, contact RISE. We did this 4 years ago and we’re able to finance at 0%. We also got a rebate on our boiler. We are steam so the rebate was smaller, but we picked a boiler off their approved list so we got like $2,500 back. RISE also did a ton of insulation work on the new system. The switch all in cost us ~10k. We had our oil company do the install since they know boilers and steam really well.

The federal building on the opposite side of this plaza is named for him!

https://www.gsa.gov/historic-buildings/john-o-pastore-federal-building-providence-ri

Wow, I recognized Sen. John Pastore from the Mr. Rogers video. I did not know he was from RI.

The original is from the city archive's Flickr page which is a goldmine of old Providence photos.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/cityarchives/

I paid $10k three years ago for a new boiler, hot water tank and run gas line from house to appliances. Gas company ran line to house for free.

I second the other comments about looking into an air source heat pump instead of installing a whole new gas fired heating system—there are lots of incentives out there; however, nobody has mentioned a gas conversion burner. It is the perfect solution since it seems you’re just looking to switch fuel types.

11 years ago, we converted our steam boilers to natural gas. I bought these Wayne conversion burners from Johnstone Supply on Niantic Ave. and paid a heating contractor to install it. We pulled permits and the all in cost was about $1000/boiler. WAY CHEAPER than complete replacement!

I wouldn't do Pawtucket. I moved here from Somerville. I like the walkability of Providence. I don't have many issues with the buses in general. I would just do East Side or Armory area.

You may want to check other parts of the heating equation if you think your expenses are too high. Insulation, boiler maintenance, boiler size(may be able to downfire an oversized boiler).

If your boiler is at the end of its life it could be worth switching but if you just switch because "oil costs" you will take a very long time to break even and if you have insulation issues it may end up costing near the same in gas per month.

Just bear in mind that a lot of restaurants are closed on Monday and or Tuesday night, so once you chose a spot, call ahead to be sure they'll be open.

If you have steam radiators expect to pay $10k-$12k

Did they not reimburse Becuase you guys chose to keep the steam radiator? I’m in the same boat but wanting to get rid of everything from the old system

As a fellow West Ender, the Knight Memorial library is just a tiny bit further away than Olneyville, (.7 vs .9 miles for me) as is the one downtown (.7 vs 1.3 miles).

The Cranston Street library in Cranston is also close-ish (by the Aldi) (1.4 miles).

https://www.cranstonlibrary.org/locations/

https://www.communitylibrariespvd.org/locations/knight-memorial

natural gas in New England is the most fragile option available. if you prefer fuel security, oil and propane are infinitely more secure than gas. I haven’t done the back of envelope numbers from a BTU perspective this winter, but natural gas price is the highest it’s ever been in the northeast so the economies have worsened.

We did that this winter. We already had the gas line in the house, which made it a lot easier. We got around six quotes and ended up paying $9,800 for them to remove the old boiler and oil tank, put in the new boiler, and fit in all the pipes, etc. (The cost of the boiler was included). Since we have steam radiators RISE wouldn’t reimburse any of the cost, but it’s definitely been worth it!

Contact RISE. They will give you an assessment and point you towards a mechanical or HVAC contractor capable of doing the work. Oil to gas is currently 0% financing. Usually works out to about 180 a month depending on the size of your system.

Go with a friend for buy one get one free. It looks bad on a date.

Bring in an actual plumber and get a quote. Lots of variables to answer your question. And sounds like the pay off for your investment may be longer than you might expect

I should’ve mentioned below we have 3-zone hot water baseboard. $17k two years ago sounds about right!

We got ours financed at zero% through national grid at the time. With the move towards heat pumps you might be better off looking at that too. And the time it was 12k to do the two boilers and remove the oil tanks. But this was 10 years ago so $$ will be different.

17k for forced water, 10k for forced air, 13k for steam. Obviously there are a ton of other variables but that’s a rough idea. If you want to DM me a pic of your heating system I can give you a more fine tuned ball park

That's what inwas going to post. Great spot.

We’re in Barrington and did this a few years ago. We had oil but needed to replace the boiler, so converted to gas.

You’ll need to hire a plumber before you can submit your paperwork. (At least this is how it worked before RI Energy took over.) A big part of the cost is what boiler you choose. We went with Viessmann. Call around and see what different plumbers would charge you for the boiler and the inside work.

We had gas in the street so hooking us up and providing the meter was free; I think being free depends on your distance from the street. Funny enough, National Grid told us we didn’t have gas in the street; it was our neighbor who told us we did, because he paid to extend the line!

This is a fun idea

Are they cool? Take them to Freeplay!