We just filled the furnace for the Winter, have you yet?

[Jillpie]

Another Long Islander here - I just got my new contract and budget booklet yesterday. I'm budgeted at $257 per month.

I got the tank topped off last week - hadn't had it filled since April, I think. In the winter, they usually top it off every 6 weeks. Like the PP, I prefer to have a budgeted payment each month rather than paying with each delivery.

- Laura

Do you pay that amount each month all year long? Ouch. I'm not understanding the frequent fillups that everyone is talking about. We fill it once now, and it's empty about early April. What temperature are you keeping your house, just curious?

 

[A_Princess'_Daddy]

Yikes, threads like this make me really not miss living in New England. I remember when oil jumped to $1.79 per gallon a few years before we moved to the Midwest, and I thought that was insane. I worry about those who will literally have to choose between food and heat this winter!

 

[DMickey28]

I'm in s. nh and just got 150 gallons for $560ish. In the dead of winter I can barely make it five weeks before needing it. Our house is set around 65 downstairs and 63 upstairs. I am going to get a couple of space heaters this year for our our playroom because that is the coldest room and the one we use the most.

 

[ohiomom28]

Having an oil or propane furnace would be a deal breaker if I were house hunting. It's too expensive. I have had electric heat pump and gas, I will take those

 

[ORMom2Four]

Yup, I bit the proverbial bullet here in New England. It has to be done and didn't want to put it off any longer. One fill up usually does it for us, we try and keep the thermostat about 63 ish the whole season. Paid 3.39 a gallon and paid 632.00 for a fill up, eek! But it's done and that feels good. Sooo, have you started to prepare for Winter yet?

That's not too bad. Our furnace and water heater use natural gas. During the months of Nov-April we average a $350-400 bill monthly. We also have an electric bill that runs $250-300 a month during those months too (the upper level is electric heat only).

 

[mackeysmom]

Do you pay that amount each month all year long? Ouch. I'm not understanding the frequent fillups that everyone is talking about. We fill it once now, and it's empty about early April. What temperature are you keeping your house, just curious?

Yep - I pay that amount each month all year long. I prefer to have a fixed payment for 12 months, rather than pay approx. $400-500 every six weeks or so during the colder months. It just makes it easier to budget.

Every September I get a new budget amount for the next 12 months based on the previous 12 month's usage. (Last year's monthly budget was $283 a month, so the new budget of $257 reflects the warmer winter we had.)

When I'm home, I keep the house at around 69 degrees. I knock it down when I'm sleeping and when I'm at work. The oil also heats my hot water, so even in the warmer months when I don't use heat, my furnace still kicks on and off.

 

[JessicaR]

Yup, I bit the proverbial bullet here in New England. It has to be done and didn't want to put it off any longer. One fill up usually does it for us, we try and keep the thermostat about 63 ish the whole season. Paid 3.39 a gallon and paid 632.00 for a fill up, eek! But it's done and that feels good. Sooo, have you started to prepare for Winter yet?

Oh I would be thrilled if one fill up did it for us! I'm at 1/2 a tank right now. Won't have to fill it till end of September middle October but once we start using the heat it will be a monthly fill till March. UGH!

 

[CdnCarrie]

We have natural gas. No filling of anything here.

 

[minnieandmickey]

Well one of the few great things here in CA is that we don't have to do that. One of the bad, our gas prices make up for it

 

[blueiis99]

Holy crap- I am on Long Island and have automatic delivery and I pay 250 a month, actually I was paying 250 a month until this month and just got new contract and its now 159.00 a month! I pay for 12 months but I would rather do it that way than pay each delivery. I have 2 bedrooms upstairs and we never even go up there so I shut off the heat up there and keep the door closed to the main floor. The basement rec room has electric heat but we haven't had that on in years- its usually warm enough down there to hang out and play air hockey/ ping pong/ carts or whatever...

if i paid over 12 months like you it would be about $300.00. I wish i had the option of shutting the upstairs..n
but those bedrooms are in use. (actually since heat rises those rooms are the cheapest to heat. I live on the water, and get that god awful wind blowing off of it (the price you pay i guess for having a nice view...lol) I'm hoping that the new insulation will help a great deal....we'll see (keeping fingers crossed.)
I prefer to pay the lump sum when its due. I hate having a bill all year round, it may be easier to budge, but i like having the summer months off )

 

[CTMomof2]

We have a 500 gallon propane tank and it costs us over $1,000 to fill it. In the coldest part of the Winter, we're lucky if that lasts us 5 weeks. Add the electric bill on top of that, which in Jan/Feb averaged about $450, this house kills us in the cold season. I am partly to blame, because I keep the thermostat at 70 during the day, but still, it stinks. The entire Western exposure of our house is glass and we have ridiculously high ceilings and the house is just under 4,000 square feet. You'd think we would've known what we were getting into, but when we came to the showing, it was just so darn pretty.

 

[Tink-aholic]

We have a 500 gallon propane tank and it costs us over $1,000 to fill it. In the coldest part of the Winter, we're lucky if that lasts us 5 weeks. Add the electric bill on top of that, which in Jan/Feb averaged about $450, this house kills us in the cold season. I am partly to blame, because I keep the thermostat at 70 during the day, but still, it stinks. The entire Western exposure of our house is glass and we have ridiculously high ceilings and the house is just under 4,000 square feet. You'd think we would've known what we were getting into, but when we came to the showing, it was just so darn pretty.

70 during the day? Wow, I would be wearing shorts! I have propane and I can't justify even setting my thermostat to 63 because it costs so much. With the size of your house, you could probably save $500 per month if you set it lower and put on a sweater (this IS the Budget Board, after all!).

 

[sasywtch]

Actually, I just hope we have Fall this year.....you know, that season between Summer and Winter where you don't run the air conditoner or the heater?
Just checking the budget, I figure another 6 weeks of running the a/c before we get a break on the electric bill. We haven't had a "normal" fall in about 10 years it seems, or Spring for that matter. Normal meaning we shut off the AC in mid October, and can wait until the first week of December to turn on the heat.....

I've only lived two places in my life:

Sacramento-hot to cool. I never equated fall (since we don't really have the 4 seasons here) to when you didn't have to have ac or the heat on. Love it.

Oklahoma-humid hot to freezing. I learned my lesson about propane tanks in OK. We had some left and silly me, always having a gas line into the house had no idea just exactly where that arrow needed to be. It was snowing and I woke up to icicles inside my windows LOL
I had to pay a $50 emergency delivery fee because of course, it was a Sunday, a fee for priming the tank since it was empty and the fee to put some in. I learned after that. We were lucky as we lived in a small town where everyone knew we bought the old house that was redone, so we never had to give an address and they billed us (left it in the mailbox even if we were home) and we could pay monthly. They had a rule that you couldn't get more if the last tank wasn't paid off but they did anyway because they knew you'd eventually pay it off.

I much prefer the lines inside the house with the pay monthly as I am horrible about saving and get chills handing out a huge chunk all at once.

 

[CTMomof2]

70 during the day? Wow, I would be wearing shorts! I have propane and I can't justify even setting my thermostat to 63 because it costs so much. With the size of your house, you could probably save $500 per month if you set it lower and put on a sweater (this IS the Budget Board, after all!).

Yes, I know, but it is just the one thing I can't compromise on. I refuse to be cold in my own house. Now before you think I'm completely insane, I'm justified (well, sort of). When we were first married, way back when, we lived with my in-laws and they were remodeling their house (an old pub in England, dating back to the late 1600's) and there was no heat in the house. I was so cold and miserable for months in the damp English weather. It is now stuck in my brain that I will never, ever be cold in a house again. LOL So there, blame my mother in law.

 

[lynxstch]

70 during the day? Wow, I would be wearing shorts! I have propane and I can't justify even setting my thermostat to 63 because it costs so much. With the size of your house, you could probably save $500 per month if you set it lower and put on a sweater (this IS the Budget Board, after all!).

This isn't the budget board, its the community board...lol

 

[ohiomom28]

This isn't the budget board, its the community board...lol

I read that earlier and I had to check it out and see how the heck I got on the budget board!

 

[manning]

You fill up a furnace with heating oil, and it's getting more and more expensive each year.

I would be more inclined to fill the tanks and burn the oil in the furnace. I know, the devil came out in me.

Do you have natural gas in your area? NG prices are at record lows now. If cost affective maybe should look into conversion.

 

[Tink-aholic]

This isn't the budget board, its the community board...lol

My apologies...I post more often there and forgot where I was!

 

[scrapquitler]

Yup, I bit the proverbial bullet here in New England. It has to be done and didn't want to put it off any longer. One fill up usually does it for us, we try and keep the thermostat about 63 ish the whole season. Paid 3.39 a gallon and paid 632.00 for a fill up, eek! But it's done and that feels good. Sooo, have you started to prepare for Winter yet?

We had propane delivered in early May. Our tank was filled up then (well, to 80%, that's as far as they fill it), and it cost about $500. We'll start using the heat in early Novemeber, and every 6-7 weeks the propane company will fill it back up to 80% and bill us at the current price. Normal winters cost us about $1400 for heat, maintaining the temeprature at 55 during the day and 65 at night.

 

[runsandjumps]

We just had our room heaters serviced and melted toys placed through the slots removed. Yikes! Had over two cords delivered for almost $400 which is a good deal in this area. I don't think we will need the heat or the wood for another 6 weeks.