Does Natural Gas Add Value to a Home? What Buyers and Sellers Should Know

Does Natural Gas Increase Home Value? The Short Answer

In most of the Philadelphia area, natural gas heat makes a home easier to sell and more appealing to buyers, but there’s no fixed amount it adds to the price. What gas brings is appeal: lower heating bills, no oil deliveries, no oil tank to worry about, and the gas range and dryer many buyers expect. What oil can take away is just as real: an aging oil burner, a buried tank that has to be tested or removed, or a house that’s the only oil-heated home on a street where everyone else has gas.

Appraisers value a home by comparing it to similar recent sales nearby, so the effect of gas heat depends on what’s normal in your neighborhood:

• Gas helps most in Philadelphia and the older inner suburbs, where gas mains run down almost every street and most buyers expect gas heat.
• It matters less in parts of Bucks, Chester, and upper Montgomery County where there’s no gas main, because nearby homes heat with oil, propane, or heat pumps too.
• The condition of the heating system matters as much as the fuel. A newer, well-kept oil boiler can sell better than a neglected 30-year-old gas furnace.

If you’re thinking about converting before you sell, or after you buy, our guide to switching to natural gas covers the process and what a conversion involves.

Why Buyers Prefer Natural Gas Heat

Lower, More Predictable Heating Bills

Buyers increasingly ask for a year of utility bills, and heating cost is one of the first things they compare. The U.S. Energy Information Administration’s October 2026 winter fuels outlook expects the average oil-heated household to spend about 21 percent more this winter than last, while Northeast households heating with natural gas are expected to spend about 14 percent less. Gas rates are set by the utility and adjusted on a regular schedule under state oversight, while oil prices move with the market and can jump in the middle of a cold snap. For a side-by-side look at running costs, see whether switching to natural gas saves money.

No Deliveries and No Running Out

With gas, fuel arrives through a pipe from PGW in Philadelphia or PECO in most of the suburbs. There’s no tank to watch, no delivery to schedule, and no cold morning after the tank runs dry. Buyers who have never owned an oil-heated home often see deliveries as a hassle they’d rather not take on.

Gas Appliances Buyers Want

Once gas is in the house, it can also fuel a range, a clothes dryer, a fast-recovery or tankless water heater, a fireplace insert, and an outdoor grill. A gas range in particular is high on many buyers’ wish lists, and it’s hard to offer one in an oil-heated home without gas service.

Newer, More Efficient Equipment

High-efficiency condensing gas furnaces and boilers turn 95 percent or more of their fuel into heat, while most oil furnaces and boilers run in the low to high 80s. A newer gas system with a transferable warranty tells a buyer there’s no big heating expense coming. An old oil burner near the end of its life usually gets priced into the offer.

How Oil Heat Can Hold Back a Sale

Buried Oil Tanks

A buried oil tank is the biggest concern. Buyers, home inspectors, lenders, and insurers often treat one as a red flag, and it’s common for a buyer to ask for a tank sweep or soil test, or for the tank to be removed or properly abandoned before closing. A leaking tank can lead to an expensive cleanup, so many buyers walk away rather than take the risk. An aboveground tank in the basement raises fewer questions, but its age and condition still get noticed at inspection.

Older Oil Burners and Boilers

Oil equipment needs annual cleaning to keep soot from building up, and a home inspector will note an old burner, a sooty chimney, rust, or weeping fittings. Each item becomes something to negotiate. If the system is near the end of its life, buyers will often subtract the full cost of a replacement from their offer.

A Smaller Pool of Buyers

Some buyers, especially those moving from areas where everyone has gas, filter out oil-heated homes entirely. Fewer interested buyers can mean a longer time on the market and less leverage for the seller, even when the house is otherwise a good fit.

Natural Gas vs. Oil Heat at a Glance

Should You Convert to Natural Gas Before Selling?

It depends on your street, your current system, and your timeline. Converting usually makes sense when:

• There’s a gas main on your street, and most nearby homes heat with gas
• Your oil burner or boiler is old enough that buyers will price in a replacement anyway
• You have a buried oil tank that will need attention before closing either way
• You’re listing in a few months, not a few weeks, because new gas service from the utility can take weeks to schedule

A credit or a written estimate may make more sense when:

• Your oil system is fairly new and well maintained
• There’s no gas main nearby, so a conversion would mean a long and costly service extension
• You’re listing soon and can’t wait for the utility

A written conversion estimate from a licensed contractor is useful either way. It answers the buyer’s first question, “what would it take to switch to gas?”, and keeps a guess from turning into a big price cut. The gas line installation, the new furnace or boiler, and the permits can usually be finished in one project once the utility sets the meter.

Buying a Home With Oil Heat? What to Check

• The tank: where it is, how old it is, and whether it’s buried. Ask for a tank sweep or soil test on any buried tank before you finalize your offer.
• The burner and boiler or furnace: their age and service records. Annual cleaning receipts are a good sign.
• Gas availability: whether there’s a gas main on the street. PGW serves Philadelphia, and PECO serves most of the suburbs.
• A conversion estimate: if you plan to switch to gas, get a written estimate during your inspection period so you can negotiate with real numbers.

A heating inspection before you buy tells you how much life the system has left, whatever fuel it uses.

Natural Gas for Rental and Investment Properties

For landlords, gas heat with its own meter for each unit lets tenants pay for their own heat, and there are no oil deliveries to manage between tenants. An oil tank that runs dry in a rental is an emergency no-heat call. In Philadelphia, landlords are required to keep the heat on through the heating season, as our guide to no heat in the house explains. When an investment property’s oil system is near the end of its life, converting to gas during a renovation or between tenants is usually the easiest time to do it.

Benefits of Natural Gas Heating

• Lower running cost than oil in most Philadelphia-area homes
• No deliveries, no tank, and no running out of fuel
• High efficiency with condensing furnaces and boilers
• Cleaner burning than heating oil, with fewer emissions of many pollutants, according to the EIA
• One fuel for more appliances, including the range, dryer, water heater, and fireplace
• Stronger buyer appeal when it’s time to sell

Get a Gas Conversion Estimate in Philadelphia and the Suburbs

EMCO Tech converts homes from oil and electric heat to natural gas across Philadelphia, Montgomery, Bucks, Chester, and Delaware counties. That includes checking gas availability at your street, coordinating with PGW or PECO, running the gas line, and installing a right-sized gas furnace or gas boiler with permits and inspections. Whether you’re getting ready to sell, just bought, or want lower bills, you get a written estimate before any work starts. Call 215-366-1001 or book online.

Post Updated: October 2026