Last year we blew it and pre bought at $3.69 a gallon…and watched the prices plummet all winter.
This year, we bought at $2.69, hoping that was a good decision!
What are the costs of heating oil where you are…and are there prebuy offers and what prices?
Natural gas here, you must be in the Northeast?
I’ve never wanted to bet on what the price would do since I have a knack for getting those things wrong.
Last fall we switched to gas and put a big addition on the house and spent way, way less than ever before on heating. So we are happy campers. No idea if we’d have spent less on oil if we’d stuck with it, but not as much less I don’t think.
No option for natural gas. It’s heating oil, propane, or electric.
Isn’t heating oil #2 basically diesel #2 without the taxes for on-road use, so its price basically varies with that of diesel #2?
Right UCBA, but what I’m wondering is what others are seeing for prices of heating oil, and especially for prebuy programs.
Wouldn’t the prices on prebuy programs basically track those on the futures markets, plus markup for retailing/delivery costs and such?
I don’t know but I spend less than $20 per month for gas. Not sure what that includes. Not sure if people in California heat by gas or that is just cooking gas.
It is common in California for houses to be connected to piped natural gas. This piped natural gas is commonly used for heating the air inside the house and heating the hot water. It may also be used for stoves and clothes dryers.
thumper1 ~ today it is $2.34/gallon in northern NJ. I had to refill our tank in Feb. and could have gotten it for that price. But there was too much snow on the ground at that point (long very hilly, narrow, twisty uphill driveway with no room to push all the snow we had, making the driveway even narrower), so we had to wait for it to melt. It was another month before we could get the oil truck up there and by then, the price had risen to $2.54. Not bad considering previous prices of oil, but still higher than it had been. We actually ran out of oil two days before the delivery.
I haven’t prebought in a while now. I was always able to get it cheaper for a one time delivery in August than if I prebought it. We usually go through less than a tank a year. This year was unusual. But to prebuy at $2.69 seems like a good gamble. I haven’t seen any prebuy options yet from companies around here.
I think the lowest it got in Michigan over the past year was 2.21 so I think buying at 2.69 is a decent price to lock in for the year. I don’t have heating oil but a couple of friends do so they were just discussing it the other day since prices seem to be on the rise. I am thankful for natural gas…my highest heating bill including electricity has been just under $400. My friends with propane complain the most and say just their heating bills in the winter months run from $900 to $1200 a month. Ouch!
I haven’t gotten the price for the next heating season yet. Should be coming in the mail soon. I was talking to my cousin the other day (owns a heating fuel company in Ct) and he thinks the price of oil is going to stay low for awhile.
The NYSERDA avg heating oil ppg in NY State in April was $3.00. The best lock-in plans don’t penalize you if oil prices plummet after you lock-in a rate. Not many suppliers offer this type of plan unless you live in large metropolitan areas. I paid $3.01 in March.
I live in NY and I paid $2.94 on 3/10. My monthly payment (11 month budget plan) dropped from $275 to $215 in February. I can’t remember the ppg it was guaranteed never to go above but it was something well into the $3’s - like $3.89, iirc.
If you pre-pay your oil, like Thumper is doing, the cost per gallon stays the same no matter if the ppg goes lower or higher.
From post #7: “Not sure if people in California heat by gas or that is just cooking gas.”
We don’t heat. Really, we haven’t used our heater for over a year.
Used to prebuy years ago, but the companies we dealt with stopped that option. This past winter I have paid:$3.60 in Oct, $2.70 in Feb and $3.40 in March. We have a service contract with the same company and I do not shop around for prices.
Post #14, it’s could be really cold here sometimes. My husband like it nice and comfy. But I checked last month gas bill was $12 include cooking.
Wouldn’t natural gas be an improvement in terms of efficiency, cost and carbon footprint?
JustOneDad…you have to have natural gas LINES to your house to be able to use natural gas.
We live in a very rural area. We don’t have natural gas lines.
Heat pumps are even better. They use electricity.