Home Heating Oil...Help!

[seashoreCM]

If your furnace is hot air instead of hot water you could close off some rooms of the house, blocking the heat vents and return vents in those rooms. Be sure that there are return vents still open in the rooms you are still using.

Home handyman hints: http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/home.htm

 

[MoniqueU]

I just want to know why these companies gouge you in places where you have to have heat or air? Hear in CA the gas rates are very reasonable. I have had some months in the summer where I got a 13 dollar gas bill. Last summer I got a 1070 electric bill. I am currently following tips on the BB about keeping your house at a constant temp rather then turning on and off the air as it gets hot or cools down. If I see a spike in the electric bill because of that the budget board is going to hear about it. We keep our thermostats at 78.
I mostly hear people from the NE complain about their heating oil bills but rarely about electric. I wonder if natural gas would lessen your bills.

 

[NHWX]

I mostly hear people from the NE complain about their heating oil bills but rarely about electric. I wonder if natural gas would lessen your bills.

For people who have PSNH, our power rates are very high. We have high power usage because we run a home based business but 1,244 KWH last month set us back $179. The PUC just approved a nearly 7% increase, good for six months. That number is pretty steady all year; in the winter we might go as high as $208.

We have tried to keep our electric bill down as much as possible but there's not a lot more we can do.

We have propane here in the boonies. Our last delivery in June was 4.449/gallon. We only use it for the dryer and stove. I did look into switching delivery services but it was going to end up costing us more in the end, despite cheaper per gallon prices. For starters, this other company wanted us to pay a yearly tank rental fee!

NHWX

 

[zachsmomie]

I don't know if this will help anyone or not but it was on my heating oil provider's website.

http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/ocs/liheap/

 

[Lisa06468]

I mostly hear people from the NE complain about their heating oil bills but rarely about electric. I wonder if natural gas would lessen your bills.

Im in the NE and I complain about home heating oil, gas for my car and electricity!!!!!!!!!!!!! It has all skyrocketed to what Im afraid is the point of no return. Friends of ours have natural gas, and in the scheme of things, it all evens out as far as price goes.

 

[Zephyr]

I'm in New Hampshire and have a cape also. I was thinking about doing the budget plan, I called last Monday and the price was $4.89 a gallon. I used 662 gallons last year, so I would be paying $270+ a month. Prebuy was $4.799 a gallon. And if you want downside protection, then that is extra too (seems like it's not worth it unless the price of oil goes down at least .40 a gallon)

My house that is only 4 years old, so it's very well insulated and I already have Becket Heat Manager installed (manufacturer guarantees you'll save 10-20% on fuel usage). Last year I kept it at 60 degrees when at work, and at night 63 degrees (upstairs only) between the time I get home from work and bedtime I would keep it at 68 degrees. This year I'm going to try putting it at 55 degrees when I am at work.

I'm thinking about closing off the upstairs during the winter (as we have 1 bedroom downstairs we could use). I've installed some curtain rods in the stairwell going upstairs and I'll get some heavy curtains to keep the warm air from rising up the stairwell.

 

[PatsMom]

If you think heating oil is scary, check out K-1. My brothers are responsible for heating our old camp which we kept when I built my house. The heat there is a combination of a furnace which will burn kerosene (has to be becasue the tank is outdoors and regular heating oil would get too thick) and wood. In prior years, we've turned the furnace on to 60 degrees a few hours before they were arriving to warm the place up a little. Kerosene is already over $5 a gallon. Electric heaters are out of the question. PSNH is high but the NH Electric Coop is even higher and has been for years. When most of your electricity is coming from oil generating plans, your electric prices will go up when oil goes up.

 

[estherhead]

I've heard the outside boilers (if we're talking about the same kind) are super noisy, so if you live anywhere near neighbors you'd better check that out. Someone put one in around here & put it near his property line. His neighbor contacted the local police & they made them take it out for too much noise! It made the local papers.

Also, my opinion for all of you who are facing such raises in prices to contact your local HVAC dealer ASAP. You may be able to get a new, efficient system that costs you less per month than what your increase to the oil company is. I work for one & we sell almost everything you've been talking about (except the outside boilers.) Pellet stoves, wood stoves, heat pumps, etc. We've been saving people money hand over fist this year. Geothermal is another thing to look into. It's expensive to install, but sooooo cheap to run.

 

[mrstomrice]

I guess we just have to decide if we want to pay monthly or in a lump sum. My job isn't the same as last year and neither is my pay, so this isn't a good time for another monthly obligation. Geez, I never thought that gas and oil would get this bad this soon!

 

[KingTryton]

I've heard the outside boilers (if we're talking about the same kind) are super noisy, so if you live anywhere near neighbors you'd better check that out. Someone put one in around here & put it near his property line. His neighbor contacted the local police & they made them take it out for too much noise! It made the local papers.

I think that I found the picture of the offending outside boiler. I would have complained too if this is the one.