That is a loaded question as the price of propane residentially does not fluctuate but the price of oil fluctuates seasonally.
All summer oil is cheap, but you don’t need it then, when winter comes and demand rises so does the price making propane gas a better choice due to the price stability. Gas warm air furnaces run at 96% efficiency while oil-fired warm air furnaces struggle to run at 50 to 60% efficiency. Oil-fired boilers are worse, the majority of oil-fired boilers in use in Nova Scotia are used for domestic hot water which requires the oil boiler to stay at 180 degrees F 24/7/365 which means they do a great job of heating the inside of the chimney.
Most of the gas heating and water heating equipment is all on-demand, they will not come on unless there is a call for heat from a thermostat or someone opens a hot water faucet. To compound the issue oil appliances, require an oil tank that requires regular replacement, and most insurance companies charge a premium for having an oil tank on your property due to the environmental threat posed by an oil leak. Oil leaks are tragic and using propane eliminates the threat.
While we always recommend annual maintenance on our equipment, gas appliances require less maintenance than oil-fired equipment and generate 50% less greenhouse emissions than oil-fired equipment.