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Portland Homeowners-Convert To Natural Gas Furnace in 6 Steps

If you’re tired of high heating bills in the winter or sick of the smell from your oil furnace, you should think about converting to a natural gas furnace.  NW Natural is now offering incentives for converting from an oil or electric furnace to a high efficiency gas furnace.

Another plus is that a new furnace is not only more efficient, it’s more reliable and will offer a better quality of comfort as technology has improved so those cold spots around your house will finally disappear.

In a previous post we already covered reasons why you should convert so read “Why converting to a natural gas furnace is smart” to learn more about the energy efficiency and convenience of natural gas.

It’s easy to convert to a natural gas furnace

Step 1-Check if gas is available for your home

NW Natural makes it easy to see if natural gas is available for your home.  You can check yourself by going online to their gas availability page and putting in your address or you may call their customer service department at 800-927-6123.

Here at Midway Heating, we do a lot of oil-to-gas and electric-to-gas conversions so we would be happy to help you with this step and if gas is available, we can schedule an appointment for your free estimate.

 Step 2-Get estimates

You’ll need to talk with a heating contractor about your options for installing a gas furnace and NW Natural helps by giving you a list of Preferred Contractors.  Midway Heating Company is licensed, bonded, insured and have met all the quality assurance standards set forth by NW Natural to become a Preferred Contractor. 

Plus, we know what equipment qualifies for tax credits and rebates, which are explained at the end of the post.

Step 3-Order and Permits

You really don’t need to worry about these steps as Midway Heating will place the order for a gas line to your house.

NW Natural will obtain the permits for its gas service work and Midway Heating is responsible for acquiring any permits it needs for the equipment and the gas line inside your home.

Step 4-Service line installed

Once your order is processed, someone will come out to mark your street with the location of the gas main along with your water, phone, sewer and electrical lines in preparation for the installation of the gas line to your house.  Shortly after this, a NW Natural crew will install the service line from the street to your home and set the meter.

Step 5-Equipment install

Once this is done, Midway Heating will set up a time to install your new gas equipment in your house and connect the equipment to the gas meter.

 Step 6-Inspection

We’re nearing the end of the process!  Once your new equipment is installed, Midway Heating will have obtained the required permits and will perform pressure tests on your houseline.  If the line passes the test, an inspector will attach a “green tag.”  A green tag MUST be given before NW Natural can activate your meter and some areas may require a final inspection of your gas equipment.

Once you have your green tag, your meter will be activated and you’ll be enjoying the warmth and convenience of your new gas furnace.  As you can see, the steps are quite easy and Midway Heating pretty much does the work for you.

Why choose a NW Natural Preferred Contractor?

As a NW Natural Preferred Contractor, Midway Heating has done countless conversions and knows the exact steps to follow for a proper AND stress-free installation of your new gas furnace.

Incentives for new customers

NW Natural wants to reward homeowners for converting to gas equipment so they, along with the Oregon Dept. of Energy and NW Natural Preferred Contractors, are now offering incentives for installing high efficiency gas furnaces.

To learn more, visit the page for new customers on the NW Natural website.

There are some restrictions, such as your furnace must be your primary heating source (not back-up heat for a heat pump system) and it’s only available to homeowners of existing homes (not renters or new construction).

Midway Heating Company offers free estimates of new installations so contact us  to schedule an appointment to hear your options for converting to natural gas furnace.