Adnams

I still dont understand why people buy oil on spec only when they need it. We have always locked in on a budget plan in the summer and that rate is held for the contract period of 12 months. Its also includes all our service / parts and engineer call outs if the boiler (furnace) cocks up even if its at a weekend / night time. It means we know what our outgoings are and we dont have to worry about filling the tank if we're broke and we get automatic tank refills without having to ask for them. Granted we pay more over the summer but for the ease of the service and peadce of mind that doesnt bother me a tad.

meauxna

Maybe lazy thinking.. (on my part). The savings have been significant in the per gallon charge vs the full-service plan offered locally. We have never been offered a chance to lock in a rate at the summer time; the companies here offer a service where they come dip your tank periodically and make sure you stay topped up, but the per gallon price is higher and it does not include service (about $110/year now for a checkup and new nozzle).
I normally buy in the summer, but I monitor rates frequently.. summer isn't always lowest anymore!
Since I know it's coming, I just sock away some every month and pay it to myself instead of them monthly. Paying the lump sum hasn't really been an issue.
I'm open to ideas though!

Adnams

I must admit I dont even know what my per gallon rate is. I guess that is lazy. But I know its a lot lower than the rates people I know pay who seem to worry about it incessantly - the price of oil that is. I just like the ease of knowing where I am monthly and paying by direct debit and only having to worry about it once a year. With the company we use they estiamte your usage and then come around based on that and fill your tank to the full. Easy peasy

BritGuyTN

i did that in the basement

the problem is i think that we have 11 ft ceilings. old doors and single pane windows...

Starbucks66

$0 got the heat thrown into the price of the apartment....

The down side is it’s controlled by the old lady who owns the attached house.

The upside it rarely drops below 80, I’m missing the winter in my eco-climate there’s no need to even wear a sweater inside

Dan725

Electric bill drops nicely - this month was about $150; in the hottest months, it can be up to $250!

Adnams

heat rises. you need the insulation in the attic not basement. you could always brick yer windows up???

Starbucks66

The cold comes though the floor though, in my last place with wooden floors you could see into the basement though the gaps!

It was so cold you couldnt stand on the floor in socks.

meauxna

It might be worth finding out what your average per gallon rate has been. It's just one of those things that I started tracking when I first moved in here and has been easy to gauge.
145x12=1740 per year for you, slightly higher than I'm paying when you add my service calls in. You are also 'banking' a full tank during your off season, where I tend to let mine run down. This was good for me when we bought a flip nearby that had oil left in the tank. I paid about $50 bux to get it siphoned off and delivered to my own house.
If you'd rather not fuss with it, it looks like you're not getting that bad a deal.

I've also played around with the furnace off/on game during the day and at night (like my mother taught me!). We have an old gravity feed furnace and it doesn't seem to save me any money to let the house cool all the way off, so I leave it turned up all day and I use the same amount of oil per year. This is starting to sound too nerdy...

You can look at your local oil heat bureau.. they are always trying to retain customers or get new ones, so it doesn't matter if you're oil now or not... they will often offer a free energy audit of the house. I was surprised to find that I am not losing as much as I thought on the single panes. We have old aluminum frame storms still, but in the several different audits I've done, I am told we won't save much by replacing the old windows.
The old houses are often tougher than you think.. and they breathe.

another bloody yank

A bunch of time and excersise. We heat entirely with wood, and since we have 20 acres of oak woods I am able to cut and split enough standing and downed dead stuff during the summer/fall to last us through the winter.

And Pony, split and seasoned oak is 40 bucks a pickup load here, not sure if that's delivered or not. That comes out to about a third of a cord. I don't have to buy wood but my neighbors have a firewood business and that's what they get for it.

Adnams

What youre saying makes sense. I totally agree with not turning the heating totally off in the day otherwise youre heating from a cold start so to speak. Just like with ac but th other way around. I dont mind paying a wee bit more for my ease, well the OH paying a wee bit more and seeing as I do the bills..............

meauxna

lol, I swear, I'll let it drop.. you may be even getting an equivilant deal since I just see where you live, and you likely have much colder temps than we do!

There was never anything worse than coming home on a cold dark 6PM and waiting ages for the house to heat up again.. I much prefer the all day system, especially since it doesn't cost any extra!

Adnams

How long do you season it for though? I have bought fire wood in the states and its been as green as though it was felled the day before. Not best pleased as you can imagine

BritGuyTN

we used to have horrific drafts from the basement and the kitchen where its worst would be 15 degrees colder than the rest of the house

we only use the downstairs of the house and didn;t heat the upstairs so not sure insulating around the kneewall hould be that beneficial. we'll get round to it when we gut the upstairs

Adnams

we get really bad drafts from a dodgey old extension that was put in the back but its really only a mud room so we havent bothered doing anything with it. seeing as we're meant to be moving - but I've been saying that for two years - it has always seemed like good money after bad.