Heating oil prices today!

[Dan Murphy]

We have a 250 gallon tank. Right now it would be $1500 to fill!

And about how long, winter months, would 250 last?

 

[MICKIMINI]

I can tell you in the coldest part of the winter here in NH we use about 3 gallons a day. Doing the math, at $8/gallon and 90 gallons it would cost
$720 for January AND that is an average, not a severely cold winter when it can be another 10-20%. Electric is about $160 in the coldest months in addition to oil. We're not considered low income by any means, but yes, that will ding my budget! People will not be able to afford those bills...or be able to eat. Crazy and sad and stupid!

 

[DCLMP]

I just checked the oil prices because we also use it for hot water. Luckily, we filled up when prices started rising. But I nearly fell out of my chair when I saw it is $6.09 a gallon here. Some local places are even higher and one place was $6.50 a gallon. What are people going to do? Is it possible it will drop in the fall or do you think it will go higher. I know it is diesel and that is outrageous, but I just wasn’t expecting to see that.

Dumb question I live in the south, but do you have to go somewhere to buy heating oil? We have natural gas.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Dumb question I live in the south, but do you have to go somewhere to buy heating oil? We have natural gas.

It is delivered in oil trucks. It gets into the house via a hose.

 

[DCLMP]

It is delivered in oil trucks. It gets into the house via a hose.

View attachment 668778

I've never lived anywhere cold. Learn something new every day. We turn our heater on for maybe an hour in the mornings in the Winter. We have some gas appliances and a water heater, but everything is natural gas. My highest gas bill of the year is usually around 100 dollars. My AC bill on the other hand runs around 400 in the Summer. We get our energy from a nuclear power plant so that helps.

 

[HeatherC]

And about how long, winter months, would 250 last?

And about how long, winter months, would 250 last?

On average about two months or so. Heat usually goes on in October through most of April most years. If we have a colder than average winter we usually order 100 gallons every couple weeks to insure we don’t run out.

We have lived in this house for 22 years and “most” of those years we have paid about $2 a gallon, maybe 2.50 max. The last time gas was $4 a gallon several years ago, it was obviously more, but we have never ever seen heating oil prices this high. It has gone up over three times what we usually have paid for the last 20 plus years. Very scary for people who cannot pay that. Something needs to change.

 

[dvcgirl67]

Well, from what I understand, heating oil and diesel fuel are pretty close to the same thing. We have an aviation expert on this board, who understands a lot about jet fuel....and he's been talking a lot about how prices are going to continue to climb. There's also a jet fuel shortage right now. Maybe he'll see this thread and jump in. In Europe, they rely on diesel much more than we do here....just for cars that use it, and new Russia sanction deadlines kick in on May 15th that are going to squeeze supplies further there....and affect prices here. It's a global market.

If it were me...I'd probably bite the bullet and make sure my tank was full going into the summer months, so that I knew I had a tank to start off with in the fall, and then just hope prices fall this summer. We had an oil tank when we moved to our NJ home 15 years ago, but switched over to natural gas just because we didn't want to bother with deliveries....etc, and we had the option. In my little town there are still a fair amount of people who use oil, and I would imagine this latest supply shock may be the straw that breaks the camel's back...and that they'll switch.

 

[DCLMP]

I can tell you in the coldest part of the winter here in NH we use about 3 gallons a day. Doing the math, at $8/gallon and 90 gallons it would cost
$720 for January AND that is an average, not a severely cold winter when it can be another 10-20%. Electric is about $160 in the coldest months in addition to oil. We're not considered low income by any means, but yes, that will ding my budget! People will not be able to afford those bills...or be able to eat. Crazy and sad and stupid!

That is very sad. I'll remember that when I want to complain about my AC bill this Summer. I live in the desert so people would literally die without power. There are very few places you can live where you are not dependent on either. I lived by the beach in California for a very short time of my life and didn't have an AC or a heater. That was nice, but I can't afford that these days.
Next Winter this is going to be a real big issue for a lot of people, unfortunately.

 

[MICKIMINI]

Our tank is 90% full and we can get into early December. The problem is many people pay for the entire year in May at a reasonable price - last year 2.99 gallon which is still in the tank. No company wants to risk it this year.

Prices go up dramatically with the first cold snap and now there is nothing we can do about it. We have to pay the posted price no matter the price when delivered. The other fear is you can't shop around IMO as you risk a shortage and no one will fill your tank unless you are under contract. Our tank holds 275 gallons so if it were dry and $8 a gallon it would be $2200 due immediately. That is the fear that it seems, no one understands (looking at you DC)!

 

[MICKIMINI]

That is very sad. I'll remember that when I want to complain about my AC bill this Summer. I live in the desert so people would literally die without power. There are very few places you can live where you are not dependent on either. I lived by the beach in California for a very short time of my life and didn't have an AC or a heater. That was nice, but I can't afford that these days.
Next Winter this is going to be a real big issue for a lot of people, unfortunately.

Thanks for understanding. I hope people living in nice climates will realize what northerners face this winter. There are people in NH that won't be able to afford fuel or food and there is little people can do other than be aware. We are going over the cliff one at a time...the more $$ you have the longer you can grasp the edge. When your house freezes, all your pipes burst and when it thaws, everything is ruined, so it is not just a matter of being cold. We had a 9 day outage during an ice storm and were able to survive with a wood stove and generator, but many people didn't have back ups. This winter could be a disaster.

Edit: Natural gas is not an option for rural NH. We don't have public transportation either. Solar is 50K to put on your roof. Not many options other than fossil fuels for the foreseeable future...maybe we put up a barn and buy a horse and buggy. We can all burn wood and pollute the air more than efficient furnaces.

 

[DCLMP]

Thanks for understanding. I hope people living in nice climates will realize what northerners face this winter. There are people in NH that won't be able to afford fuel or food and there is little people can do other than be aware. We are going over the cliff one at a time...the more $$ you have the longer you can grasp the edge. When your house freezes, all your pipes burst and when it thaws, everything is ruined, so it is not just a matter of being cold. We had a 9 day outage during an ice storm and were able to survive with a wood stove and generator, but many people didn't have back ups. This winter could be a disaster.

Edit: Natural gas is not an option for rural NH. We don't have public transportation either. Solar is 50K to put on your roof. No many options other than fossil fuels for the foreseeable future...maybe we put up a barn and buy a horse and buggy. We can all burn wood and pollute the air more than efficient furnaces.

I'm sure it will get more media coverage when Fall gets here and we get closer to the election. I don't know if anything will change before Winter sets in though. We thought about solar at one time, but it's really expensive, and it's not that green if green is your thing. Manufacturing and disposing of the panels is the opposite. I assume natural gas is going up too which will also affect people about everywhere.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

We have gas, too. We had a solar eval, but they require putting a new roof on, first, so that adds to the cost.

I am really worried about all these increased costs, especially for those with lower or fixed incomes. It’s going to be a huge problem next winter. We still have to heat the house somewhat and it’s almost June.

 

[jo-jo]

And about how long, winter months, would 250 last?

We use about 500 gallons during heating season and about 100 gallons during the warmer months cause we still need it for hot water.

So at these rates $3600 for oil.

 

[The Mayor]

We had a Mitsubishi AC/Heat Pump system installed in our house in March when oil hit over $5.00 a gallon. We have municipal electric in my town so my electric bill averages around $60-$75 a month. Much cheaper than oil. Since March, and we’ve had a below average cold spring here, we‘ve use less than 1/4 of a tank of oil for March, April and so far in May. All used to heat the hot water. Very pleased with our decision.

 

[DCLMP]

We use about 500 gallons during heating season and about 100 gallons during the warmer months cause we still need it for hot water.

So at these rates $3600 for oil.

Well, at least you understand the gravity of the situation in advance. Some people just live in denial. I hope you can figure out a solution before Winter gets here.

 

[EilonwyWanderer]

Yeah we have a 250 gallon tank for an oil boiler that does steam radiators and it gets topped up every so often and...it's bad. We basically resigned ourselves to only turning on the heat when we were absolutely freezing and otherwise bundling up under sweaters and blankets. But we still need hot water sooooooo.

The system is only a couple of years old and we've only been in the house 2 years so we just can't afford replacing everything. I'd LOVE a greener solution but until I win the lottery...

 

[Southernmiss]

Oil companies record record profits.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/economy/2022/05/07/oil-company-record-profits-2022/9686761002/

 

[mrodgers]

And about how long, winter months, would 250 last?

I'm at 370 gallons used this past winter. I'm single male who doesn't like it warm in my home and frequently works long hours. The home is a 1976 mobile with single pane windows (a lot of them), leaky door, and horribly inefficient HVAC system. Furnace usually set at 64 and set to go to 66 at 3pm as that is my official shift at work, until 11 pm when I head to bed and it drops to 64 again. Weekends it's usually 64 because I'm usually not home.

 

[DCLMP]

Oil companies record record profits.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/economy/2022/05/07/oil-company-record-profits-2022/9686761002/

They are not the ones that caused the shortage.

 

[leebee]

We have a 270 gallon oil tank. Here is what I have spent on heating oil for the past year (Mar 2021-Mar 2022):

Mar 25, 2021 Bought 100 gal $2.339/gal $233.90
June 16, 2021 Bought 100 gal $2.529/gal $252.90
Nov 30 2021 Bought 150gal $2.879/gal $431.85
Jan 4 2022 Bought 150gal $2.89/gal $433.35
Jan 27, 2022 Bought 180 gal $3.299/gal $593.82
Mar 3,2022 Bought 150gal $3.699/gal $554.85

That's 830 gallons for the year, but we keep our house at 58F in the winter. We also use oil to heat the water. We live in an old house with pretty crappy insulation (and no way to add more into the walls due to walls being horsehair plaster and lathe) outside of Bangor, ME. The tank is almost empty right now, but we aren't buying more oil. We have needed a new furnace for about 10 years and are in the process of converting to gas. It's only been an option here for about the past two years. Almost everything is oil as this is New England, with its rocky soil. It was more affordable to convert to gas than it is to get a new oil furnace (which would involve changing the oil tank, relining the chimney, and moving the chimney clear out, all to meet code). It was funny to see the comment about diesel being about the same as home heating oil; we are down to about 12 gallons of oil and we AREN'T buying more before the conversion in early June. DH has a 5 gallon gas can and will top up the tank with diesel. Between the price of oil and the delivery charge for ordering under 100 gallons, we figure we'll just make do.

To add insult to injury, our electricity has just jumped WAY up. We were averaging $93-$102 a month, but since January it's been more like $170 a month. Yup, almost double, it's not us... the utility company has had a "price adjustment."