If you are heating a workshop, shed or outbuilding, I suppose oil is ok. Storage is messy and underground tanks are a nightmare as far as the EPA is concerned. We had oil in our house growing up and water contamination in outdoor tanks was always a problem and caused many cold moments.

With new electronic ignition controls, LP and NG are much safer than they used to be. As long as the line installation is done properly, they are very safe. In the old days, the Honeywell pilot light systems were responsible for many fires and deaths, but when your name is Honeywell, and it's the Cold War era, you can get away with a LOT.

Converting between the 2 gases is quite simple....different operating pressures and orifice sizes are about all that needs changed.

thanks. do you know anything about gas ranges originally fitted for NG being less effective in heating when converted to LP? Im trying to figure out what type of range to purchase.

We moved into an all-electric home nearly 14 years ago and the only thing I was adamant about was finding a way to get to cook on a gas stove. Many phone calls later I realized that propane was going to be the easiest and least expensive way to accomplish my goal (quotes for digging the trench for the gas line were between $5-10K - we are about 130 yards from the street).

The local propane company was extremely helpful - all I needed to buy was a converter for the gas line on the stove (they're about $100) and they sent out one of their technicians to hook us up. He was surprised that he was only running one line for cooking - said they could add water heater, gas fireplace, etc.

Fast forward 10 years and we replaced the water heater with a tankless and had them hook that up to the propane tank. It was the first time the dealer had had a propane installation, so we had EVERY technician from Rinnai and the propane company in our house for a couple of days - great learning experience for all of them, I suppose.

If you are used to watching your oil usage, you won't find propane much different. As far as safety, I don't spend a lot of time worrying about it - the tank is outside of our garage.

We are currently getting ready for a major gut and addition and the only issue I've had so far is that not every range is available for propane conversion.