Oil Heat (Page 2): Built back better, maybe it’s time to shut down another pipeline, just saying…..

Sirsnapalot Loc: Hammond, Louisiana

Built back better, maybe it’s time to shut down another pipeline, just saying…..

sb Loc: Florida's East Coast

When I lived in rural Maine the oil truck would come every three to four weeks and leave 250 gallons of oil or so - at that time it would cost a little over $400. I cannot imagine paying $1200 every 3-4 weeks! And it wasn't a really big house.

Indi Loc: L. I., NY, Palm Beach Cty when it's cold.

We have gas heating here. If you’re going to switch over to gas do it soon. I heard that in a few years gas stoves will no longer be sold.
On the other hand, converting to anything other than what you have may cost as much, or nearly as much, as installing solar panels. Plus, with solar panels there are government incentives to help defray the the cost and you can sell the excess back to the power company albeit at the cost rate. That way you can heat with electricity.

Morry Loc: Palm Springs, CA

jerryc41 wrote:

After heating with a wood stove for forty-eight ye... (show quote)

Have you considered solar as an energy source? I realize that where you live doesn't have as much sunshine as we do here in the desert where I live . . . but I have read that many in Germany are using solar successfully and I'm guessing they don't have much more or less sunshine than you do in the Catskills.

flip1948 Loc: Hamden, CT

therwol wrote:

Perhaps things have gotten better, but I once lived in a house with a heat pump, and it didn't work well when the temperature was below freezing, and the defrost cycle could not keep up with the ice forming on the coils on the unit outside. Like I said, things may have improved with those things.

If you have a well for water a ground water heat pump is more efficient than an air-to-air heat pump.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

fourlocks wrote:

I burn 4 cords of wood per year (at $240 per cord) to offset my electric baseboard heating costs.

One of the local wood guys said that oil will cost $10/gal. I guess that's his justification for doubling the price of firewood. The price of wood is totally arbitrary; the price of oil isn't.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Morry wrote:

Have you considered solar as an energy source? I realize that where you live doesn't have as much sunshine as we do here in the desert where I live . . . but I have read that many in Germany are using solar successfully and I'm guessing they don't have much more or less sunshine than you do in the Catskills.

My roof faces south, but considering the cost, I wouldn't live long enough to break even.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Indi wrote:

We have gas heating here. If you’re going to switch over to gas do it soon. I heard that in a few years gas stoves will no longer be sold.
On the other hand, converting to anything other than what you have may cost as much, or nearly as much, as installing solar panels. Plus, with solar panels there are government incentives to help defray the the cost and you can sell the excess back to the power company albeit at the cost rate. That way you can heat with electricity.

I'd have to use tanks of propane, and that's very expensive, not considering the cost of a new furnace.

sippyjug104 Loc: Missouri

There was a time that I could burn all of the junk mail we would get to help heat our home. We get the same amount of junk mail, however, it comes in our emails now so it is useless.

fetzler Loc: North West PA

jerryc41 wrote:

After heating with a wood stove for forty-eight ye... (show quote)

Over the years, I have had many types of heat in various climates- Heat pumps, natural gas, oil and wood pellet stoves and wood stoves. The latter two as a supplement.

Because you live in a cold location heat pumps are out. Oil sucks as you are at the mercy of politics. I would guess that fuel oil is about $5-$6 a gallon now. My old house in CT could use 200 gallons a month during the cold winter months. I know have natural gas here in PA where the winter bills are about $150/mo. When I had oil heat I used a pellet stove to supply about 50% of the heat. The advantage of pellets is that little ash is produced. The stove can be run continiously for about two weeks befor cleaning is necessssary. 3 tons of pellets produce about a 5 gal bucket of ash. My wood stove here in PA would need cleaning several times a day. I usually only use wood on very cold and windy days. Incidently, propane is usually as bad as oil.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

sippyjug104 wrote:

There was a time that I could burn all of the junk mail we would get to help heat our home. We get the same amount of junk mail, however, it comes in our emails now so it is useless.

I accumulate paper trash and burn it in the woodstove. It beats paying $6.00 a bag to bring it to the dump.

BebuLamar

jerryc41 wrote:

After heating with a wood stove for forty-eight ye... (show quote)

I think you should upgrade to solar.

DirtFarmer Loc: Escaped from the NYC area, back to MA

I have oil heat. It does take maintenance (cleaning the furnace, replacing the oil and air filters). In my previous house I had natural gas. It was MUCH more convenient. Less maintenance and no delivery trucks. Fortunately that house was on a road with a gas line.

Where I live now the house density is too low to make it economically feasible to install natural gas in the roads. Propane is available but I haven't bothered with the expense of changing over. We keep the house cool in the winter and warm in the summer so our cost is not that bad (although it took a hit last month).

fetzler Loc: North West PA

BebuLamar wrote:

I think you should upgrade to solar.

You do realize that where Jerry lives it is dark and cloudy in winter where Jerry lives. Furthermore the solar panels will be covered by snow. Jerry may also have a lot of trees near his house. Solar will be close to useless.

therwol Loc: USA

BebuLamar wrote:

I think you should upgrade to solar.

Solar in California will be a waste of money if PG&E gets its way and reduces what they pay homeowners for solar generated electricity and actually charge a monthly fee for solar users. This is happening in other states as well. It already takes years to pay back the $10-20k the investment costs. Also, new construction in California has to have solar on it, which jacks up the price of already overpriced homes. I'm lucky that I put solar on my home before all of this nonsense. The rates they will pay existing customers will be phased out over a long time, long enough to pay back my investment.

https://www.capradio.org/articles/2022/01/10/how-a-recent-proposal-to-slash-solar-incentives-has-its-supporters-and-california-utilities-butting-heads/