Q: For you N/E People
 

With all the whining we hear about fuel and diesel costs, we got to thinking about the people who heat their homes with oil. Just how many gallons per hour (or day, or week) do you need to burn to keep your homes at a livable temperature? And is heating oil approximately the same cost as diesel?
Odd time to think about this, I'm sitting out here in a heat wave and running the A/C about 18 hours a day...

I heat strictly with wood! thinking about installing a combo wood/pellet burner though. would be great for running an extra heater in pole barn for the winter.

They said up in Maine that the average heating bill will be going from 2500 last year to 4500 this year. That is going to put a hurting on a lot of people for sure. Used to cost me 200 bucks to fill up my tank now it is almost a grand!!! Not much you can do but work a little harder and hope to make enough to cover the increase... They already said that the natural gas companies are looking for a big increase as well.

Our hot water is heated with oil, so we can't get out of using it for the summer. The minimum order is 100 gallons and we just forked out $450 for the minimum. I think we spent over 3K last winter and that was keeping the house at 63*.

I spent under $3000 last winter to heat about 4000sf which is pretty cheap as I'm natural gas. WOuld have been 5-6,000 if I was oil and even more this year.

I am HVAC contractor and we are offering Geothermal heating and cooling I've got about 30 quotes out right now and 27 sales calls lined up this month already.
The people I am meeting with are fed up with oil prices, the "lock-in" price is $4.90 for this winter. Why spend 3-5K and be uncomfortable when you can spend 1-2k and get heat,A/C and hot water and be comfortable? Don't get me wrong the cost to get in is about double the cost of a conventional system but the payback is there.
There are so many options with super high efficiency equipment now that the payback on replacements is getting shorter and shorter. Watch the price of oil today..Iran shot off a few rockets and Israel is "gravely concerned"

For Dec, Jan, Feb, Mar, we spent about $450-500 per month for a $2700 sq/ft well insulated home with new windows, 2x4 construction with 2x6 in the main living area (kit, dinette, great room combo). This year it's going to be approximately $750 per month for an average to lighter than average winter. If it's a cold one it could be around a grand per month. It's approximately 150 gallons per month, more if it's cold.

Here is the problem for many people, if you're in a business that's affected by this economy most people are working less. I'm in remodeling and it's affecting me now, this winter when discretionary income is being gobbled up by fuel for home heating and gas for the car, it leaves less for other spending. This winter could be rough for me. Corvette is gone, boat is gone, old truck that broke down often is gone, credit cards are paid off, vacation is cancelled, we're hunkering down to weather this storm.

Geothermal is the way to go. My parents had it installed about 15 years ago, aside from changing the occasional filter they never have to touch it. The monthly electric bill to run the thing is pennies on the dollar. im sure they have came even farther with the technology since then.

No idea.

Kids & Wife need a warm place to stay and I do not control price of whatever my home uses.

The only thing I can help is earning to provide so that is all I worry about.

My house is all oil heat and my hot water heater is oil fired.... Last winter I locked in at $3.19 a gallon.... We took had 3 deliveries all winter and my house is set at 69 when we are home and 63 when we are at work... I think we spent almost $2000 for the year....

My neighbor got fuel a month ago and paid $4.99 a gallon :eek: I'm going to dread this winter!!!