Home Fuel Oil is Insane Right Now in NYS

[WeyounDS9]

I was thinking that myself, and if I absolutely need to do it thats what they said they could do. They said they'd even go down to 75 for a delivery. Mid summer they said the prices will be reasonable again.

This supplier does not have a contract program. They do however, let you carry a balance throughout the season and they will still deliver with a balance. This has been a life saver since my wife left, the burden of debt has doubled for me.
They fill automatically, I've absolutely never worried about my oil levels except to check my approx. usage habit. They don't pester you for money either. Lady calls and asks, tells you to pay when you can but the sooner the better, super sweet and understanding.

But yeah, I'll be checking out other local companies today.. I do not think they'll let you carry a balance like my place does. Seriously, that carry has saved m

Sounds like they been treating you right over the years..

 

[RhondaHonda]

3,500 sq ft. **** right you can buy a lot of NG! His utility bills are like $100-$150/month. Saving $50-$100/month is going to take a LOOOOOOOOONG time to make up the $60k difference in cost.

35000 sqft or 3500 sqft? Either way 86k can get you a lot of natural gas at 94% efficiency. Geothermal HVAC may get you 5x the efficiency per energy use but usually gas price is 1/2 to 1/5 as cheap, so financially speaking it is not much saving using HVAC in energy cost.

Come to think of it, if you use well water to warm up your "geothermal heat pump" then dump the well water into the field next to the pump, is it considered geothermal? Can someone retrofit a HVAC to inside the garage and just pump well water into the evaporator to warm it up, then discharge the water into the ground away from the foundation or another old well? That should be much cheaper than those geothermal bores right?

http://www.geojerry.com/aboutopenloop.html

 

[RhondaHonda]

Why not an air source heat pump? Depending on location. The air source are getting more efficient each year, so they can be installed farther up north as years go by.

For my addition? We just put a 95 or 96% Carrier system in it. I’m not opposed to a heat pump but gas is cheap here and it seems all local contractors and builders spec NG heat for that reason. Plus we wanted gas range and water heat in the addition too. If you meant for the pool heater, it’s an 80% 400k BTU heater that gets used once or twice a year. We get lots of sun on the pool and don’t need much, if any heat assistance.

 

[HankHill]

Yes, it's called a dual fuel syst

Sounds like they been treating you right over the years..

They certainly did, new office manager (owners son), new policies.

 

[incognito_2u]

“The other neighbors and I are meeting about the subject after all of us call and get facts..”

Down here on LI, National Grid will waive their installation fees if you could get 3 more of your neighbors to commit to NG conversion. Maybe something to look into.

 

[HonorAndHonesty]

My tank is at one quarter of a tank, which will cost me $1512.00 to fill my tank. ***

How long does a full tank last?

 

[CDX825]

Geothermal works quite well. The upfront cost is what turns most people off to it. Used to be able to get a good tax break from it but I don't know if they still offer that. Its generally $20k to $30k to have it installed around here.

 

[HankHill]

They certainly did, new office manager (owners son), new policies.

BTW the office lady, whom I believe, since we talked for about 20 mins straight earlier, told me they make only about 20 cents per gallon after delivery cost and overhead.

I see many here buy as needed
A gamble. I have contracted before and got a mild soaking but feared the worst this year,

I fill that tank when I can, especially when the price bottoms out over the summer..

Funny/Ironic fact: I purchased the house from my father for a decent family price.. He had an addition added to the house and had a new furnace installed. He was not allowed to use his old 1100 gallon oil tank buried in the ground for the install. He was forced, for whatever reason, to install a 275 gallon tank in the basement of his addition. He told me why and it made stupid sense at the time, but I have forgotten why.

He used to fill it up once in the summer when cheap (relatively) and coast through almost the entire winter with the 1100 gallon tank. I still have the tank, its above ground now and is solid with no weak spots. The tank seems like made of .75" steel, and I seriously doubt it would ever leak at all. Pretty sure I'm going to get with my friends redneck father who has four above ground tanks at 700 gallons each, and see what I can rig up to use the tank again.

This thread has been great for me, I appreciate all the feedback, its pushed me to come up with my tangential thoughts about the issue.

 

[UG_Passat]

You need to switch to a greener form of heating, as oil heating is not liked by the politicians in the NYS government

 

[HankHill]

How long does a full tank last?

275 gallons will last for about one and a half months, that has been my experience this year.

Its a Buderus furnace with a Riello burner that uses a .8 gallon per hour nozzle. My house was built in 1927 and is brick construction. Two floor and basement, and is supposedly 2300 sq ft. I have a hard time believing that measurement though.. Insulation on brick walls is very minimal, if even present at all. It has water heat with radiator and baseboard exchangers. The snow melts off the roof way too quickly, comparative to others like my neighbors and other houses of newer construction. I know I have to re-insulate the attic drastically updating the R value from the original back in 1927.. its a work in progress.

 

[Zee09]

BTW the office lady, whom I believe, since we talked for about 20 mins straight earlier, told me they make only about 20 cents per gallon after delivery cost and overhead.

I fill that tank when I can, especially when the price bottoms out over the summer..

Funny/Ironic fact: I purchased the house from my father for a decent family price.. He had an addition added to the house and had a new furnace installed. He was not allowed to use his old 1100 gallon oil tank buried in the ground for the install. He was forced, for whatever reason, to install a 275 gallon tank in the basement of his addition. He told me why and it made stupid sense at the time, but I have forgotten why.

He used to fill it up once in the summer when cheap (relatively) and coast through almost the entire winter with the 1100 gallon tank. I still have the tank, its above ground now and is solid with no weak spots. The tank seems like made of .75" steel, and I seriously doubt it would ever leak at all. Pretty sure I'm going to get with my friends redneck father who has four above ground tanks at 700 gallons each, and see what I can rig up to use the tank again.

This thread has been great for me, I appreciate all the feedback, its pushed me to come up with my tangential thoughts about the issue.

I built a house in 1999 in Maryland and the code was the 275 tank had to be in the basement. I did a double tank. Back then heating oil was 84 cents a gallon and I was making good $$$ so it seemed cheap.

My parents 1952 house had their underground tank leak and the requirement was to be emptied and filled with gravel. New tank to the basement. So that was the way it was here.

 

[HankHill]

“The other neighbors and I are meeting about the subject after all of us call and get facts..”

Down here on LI, National Grid will waive their installation fees if you could get 3 more of your neighbors to commit to NG conversion. Maybe something to look into.

Thanks for the info, I'll be going door to door tomorrow night and take a poll of who will convert.. There is a brand new house across the street, about a $480k construction. I just realized they may have gas already and the line may be run by my property already!! Now I can't imagine someone building new construction of that value with oil heating. No propane tank visible in the yard and I've never seen an oil truck in their driveway... I am so happy I just realized this, I'm going over tomorrow before dark. No one knows them yet as they are private and keep to themselves. I should have stopped by much sooner to say hi and introduce my dogs. I am realizing I am actually a bad neighbor.

 

[hardcore302]

50 gallons was 250 today.

 

[Snagglefoot]

Can you just get say 100 gallons to get you through? Summer is just around the corner. I just paid $3.95 per gallon of propane. Had 50 gallons put in the tank which will get me through till the summer price break

There might not be a summer price break this year. Propane exports are going full speed. We”ll see.

 

[Rob_Roy]

Neighbor has geothermal with the heater exchange technology from install in early 1980's. She keeps her house at about 60* and always wears sweaters, etc.. I'll have to strike up a convo with her about it, but her ex husband had it installed and dealt with all the technology for the house.

I do know we have incredibly deep shale here, and I think her son said it was down at least 280ft. Know what? I'm gonna call a company for a price..

At the end of the day, I'd love to have a wood stove installed. I grew up with one and I have a chimney that just needs to be lined (its condemned from internal cracks in the brick liners, non structural) I've heard lining a chimney can be done for about $1.2k.

Wow, oil, gas, to geothermal, to wood. We've gone around the block here!!

Anybody have experience with, or own a geothermal system?

I know someone that built a new house a few years ago and installed a geothermal system. Two years later he was installing solar panels to offset the huge electric bill. He said the system works very well, but ROI is quite long. I think your $ would be much better spent on tightening the envelope of your house. Fix the big air leaks, and have your attic insulation brought up to the current recommendation.

Good call on the wood stove. Get one of the EPA approved ones, they burn very clean and use less wood. Even if you only use the wood stove when it is bitter cold or when there is a power outage you will be glad you have it.

 

[Snagglefoot]

Thanks for the info, I'll be going door to door tomorrow night and take a poll of who will convert.. There is a brand new house across the street, about a $480k construction. I just realized they may have gas already and the line may be run by my property already!! Now I can't imagine someone building new construction of that value with oil heating. No propane tank visible in the yard and I've never seen an oil truck in their driveway... I am so happy I just realized this, I'm going over tomorrow before dark. No one knows them yet as they are private and keep to themselves. I should have stopped by much sooner to say hi and introduce my dogs. I am realizing I am actually a bad neighbor.

Turn in your Hank Hill Badge. He’s a propane man.

 

[zzyzzx]

Why not an air source heat pump? Depending on location. The air source are getting more efficient each year, so they can be installed farther up north as years go by.

True, but what works around here isn't going to work good in Upstate NY (maybe Long Island).

 

[alarmguy]

50 gallons was 250 today.

YIKES!!!
South Shore of Nassau County Long Island. Born Raised and spent most my adult years there, had a great life up there, moved south, left behind lots of friends but glad we left them behind! *LOL*

 

[Snagglefoot]

The big oil haters should have filled up when the wholesale price of gasoline was 50 cents per gallon.

 

[Schandyman]

Called oil company today for an oil delivery, the price of home heating oil here is $5.49... Road diesel is ~$4.60, why is untaxed heating oil above the price of taxed road diesel? Is there any real reason we can think of?

My tank is at one quarter of a tank, which will cost me $1512.00 to fill my tank. ***

Absolutely disgusting the price of heating fuel. When I sold last July I believe I got a check for $3.13 a gallon. Not sure where you are in NY, but if your in Dutchess county check with Payless heating oil in Hyde park, NY I used to use them they were always lower than the competitors. Use the name Ralph haufman.

Can you run a number 6 heating oil? may be cheaper but definitely will need a nozzle and filter job.