I Got Fired by My Oil Company

We have a Yankee Pellet Stove (had this first) after three years we had a great offer to buy some land (so we did, lots of wood) had a Lopi Liberty put in, January 2009 was the last the oil truck has been up our driveway, we had the same call.

Burn more wood than pellets.


zap

Wow, fired by your oil company. You should call Obama and get 99 weeks of FREE oil!

not really fired, it seems, just put on a call basis....which is GREAT, but the only problem there is, make sure you check your oil periodically, or, on New Years eve, or Christmas Eve, or, the worst possible time, you will be out of oil.....which you wont find out till you take a shower, and will likely necessitate a service call to prime the burner, and maybe replace a sludge-filled filter. Oh, and evening rates are usually higher.

Lousyweather said:

not really fired, it seems, just put on a call basis....which is GREAT, but the only problem there is, make sure you check your oil periodically, or, on New Years eve, or Christmas Eve, or, the worst possible time, you will be out of oil.....which you wont find out till you take a shower, and will likely necessitate a service call to prime the burner, and maybe replace a sludge-filled filter. Oh, and evening rates are usually higher.

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Most of us here do our own Stove maintenance, I am sure that most could get an oil burner running also.
They just seem scary, they really are not!

Bill

Wow Congradulations I love to hear that! That what this is all about ..

I installed my Harman P61A right after Thanksgiving last year and am very pleased. My Colonial is just under 2000 sq ft and it heats it with ease. I too have $900 spent on 3 tons of pellets and I'm half way thru them. I went with Barefoot pellets and I'm very pleased. Unfortunately the Propane company had to deliver 300 gallons of propane the day before the pellet stove installation at $4.11 / gal. I'm sure the next delivery they'll try to hit me with $5.00 / gal due to such little use of my propane furnace.

therocket said:

300 gallons of propane at $4.11 / gal.

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:bug: :gulp: Holy chit! I thought I had it bad at $1.80/gal.

My propane company gave me a call in November, I turned the valve off and when they came to top it off, which was zero gallons, they turned it back on. Said that I was under contract since I use their tank to use X amount of fuel and if not, then they are going to remove the tank, at my cost and I lose the fuel. Fortunately for me, my brother in law is a lawyer and he gave them a call, seems they had no recollection of the call and nothing like that would ever happen.... imagine that...... lol

fired by your oil company roflmao make them stop my sides hurt

that is awesome

I had kinda, the same situation when 1st installed my stove. See I burned propane & was paying $500 to $600 a winter month to heat. Thats why I got the stove, it paid for itself plus more, the 1st year. I have (2) 100 gallon tanks. They came out every month thru winter to fill. I was using around 125 gallon a winter month to heat & that was with thermastat set at 68-70. After stove, it took about 14 gallon a winter month. They continued to fill every month but started to charge me a $25 dollar delivery charge, instead of $5 dollars & jumped my price of around $3.99 a gallon to $4.99 a gallon. In April, I than called them back after watching usage for a few months & calulated that with 200 gallon of propane, I only need them to come out 1 time a year & I wanted it at the beginning of October. So, when October came around, they still charged me a $25 for delivery, they jumped the price to $5.49 a gallon & charged me a rental fee for each 100 gallon bottle of $75 dollars = $150 for bottle rental. So all said & done, I pay around $500 a year for propane for 3 years, till I got tired of that. I called them back & told them I didn't need there bottles or there propane & come & get them (it). So it got more interesting, they called me back a couple days later & told me I would have to pay a $2.50 a gallon restocking fee for the propane, after they fill them to the 200 gallon mark & pay for the usage used, because that what I started with in beginning, pump all 200 gallon out, charge $2.50 restocking fee, plus $100 per bottle to remove each bottle. All said & done, that would cost around $750. to $800 dollars to get everything removed. This was just last year. So I left it go & paid the $500 dollars in October, because this spring, we were tearing the 14 x 70 trailer out & putting a modular, on my land. I called & ask them about that a month or 2 later & was told, all I would owe was for the gallon used to fill propane back to 200 gallon. I figured this would be cheaper, so that is where I stand right now. So to make a short story short, to try & conserve oil, be greener to envirment, & try & save some money, they still find ways to screw the he!! out of you for being a greener person.

My oil company put me on will call years back when I started burning cordwood. I still went through about half a tank of oil a year for times I was out of town, lazy, you name it. Since I got the pellet stove this fall my furnace has run maybe 3 times. Once to make sure it would light if I needed it and twice when it was around 50 outside and the stove would have been too much heat. The gauge on the tank hasn't moved at all and that's fine with me. The oil truck still visits the neighbor once a month or so. I do miss the calendars they would give out during the December fillup, but that's all I miss.

I called my my oil company back in November and cancelled my account with them, it was an awesome feeling. I am no longer hostage to the oil man!

padfitz said:

My propane company gave me a call in November, I turned the valve off and when they came to top it off, which was zero gallons, they turned it back on. Said that I was under contract since I use their tank to use X amount of fuel and if not, then they are going to remove the tank, at my cost and I lose the fuel. Fortunately for me, my brother in law is a lawyer and he gave them a call, seems they had no recollection of the call and nothing like that would ever happen.... imagine that...... lol

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We have a 500 gallon LP tank that was filled 2 yrs ago (only use it for cooking since then). So every year we have paid about $21 rental. . .

Just got smacked with a $99 "No usage fee" a couple weeks ago. Told them I wasnt gonna pay it... They said they will come pick up the tank...

So I paid it. But in 2 yrs ( when the tank is finally empty) I will have them take it. I have two 100 gallon tanks I will use instead.

This 500 gallons will last me 4 yrs (over 2 yrs and have 45% still) so my 2- 100 tanks should last almost 2 yrs...

I would buy an electric stove and have no LP at all..... But I am a Fire Bug and love my food cooked over Fire.

Congrats on kicking the oil man to the curb. We did it a few yrs ago and have never been happier. Saves us about $3,000 annually ($800 for pellets or $3,800 in LP). Although this year we may not use 3 ton, as we are just over 60 bags now.

Good feeling knowing you dont need them. Being an independent home heater gives one a sense of Pride........ I know I am proud of it.

padfitz said:

My propane company gave me a call in November, I turned the valve off and when they came to top it off, which was zero gallons, they turned it back on. Said that I was under contract since I use their tank to use X amount of fuel and if not, then they are going to remove the tank, at my cost and I lose the fuel. Fortunately for me, my brother in law is a lawyer and he gave them a call, seems they had no recollection of the call and nothing like that would ever happen.... imagine that...... lol

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About the same here.propane company said because i didn't use a whole 120# tank a year they were going to start charging me a rental fee.I told them fine,i'll supply my own tank and then buy my fuel from whoever i want.Haven't heard anything more from them.

thedude110 said:

Had my XXV installed in October, and I've had two oil fill-ups since. I never took myself off my company's auto-fill plan (didn't want to until I knew for a fact how well the stove would work). They came in December and gave me 1/4 tank of oil. They came last week and gave me less than that -- at $3.85 a gallon!

Sure enough, I received a voice-mail from my oil company on Friday -- I'm not worth their time, and they're not coming back unless I call them. I've been fired by my oil company, and I couldn't be happier!

Last year, I spent over $3500 on oil. This winter, I'm around $500, with $900 sunk into pellets. Granted the $5,000 cost of the stove and install up front, but all things considered, if I can keep this stove running ten years, the savings will be immense.

Don't want to see a pellet shortage or price spike, but I don't get why anyone's heating with oil these days.

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It is my hope that my oil company will give me a similar call next year...XXV to be installed in the next week or so (anxiously awaiting the call)!

just make sure the oil tank stays full over the warm months so condensation doesn't rust it out and cause a big mess, buy off road diesel at the gas station to fill it for the shoulder seasons and you're good. have a friend of mine who heats his house with nothing but off road diesel (dyed) as the price is less than HHO and there are no road taxes on it. my oil co in ME hasn't been by since '08, between pellets and jet fuel sumps from the trucks and tanks at work (free) my employer was paying $60/gal to have the waste fuel and oil hauled away. (win-win) works out to about 5 gal/day

i'm still on a delivery schedule, but its once a year. last was 60 gallons....used it during the warmer shoulder seasons. gotta love it.

cass

You may want to look into some additives to preserve your oil if none is used.....
http://www.bp.com/liveassets/bp_int...pdfs/f/Fuel_news_long_term_storage_diesel.pdf

Hello

I had to let my oil company go.

I had auto fill after my pellet stove and was getting 49 gallons per fill. so I stopped the auto fill.

I only need 225 gallons per year now instead of 930 gallons I used before.

930 x 3.54 peg gallon is $3292.20

So now I just buy in the summer when the price is cheaper and from the oil company who has the cheapest price!!

Last July I got
204.8 gallons x $3.469 for $710.45

3 tons of wood pellets @ 200 per ton for $600

$600 + 710.45 = 1310.45

$3292.20
-$1310.45
--------------
$1981.75 Yearly Savings

I paid about $1800 for the stove. The stove was worth $1500 more but I got the Tax Credit!

I put myself on "will call". If I call for oil. I have to be able to take a minimum delivery of 100 gallons. I still heat my hot water with oil, but looking for a way to get around that as well. Wife told me she didn't want to burn pellets for hot water during the summer so the hot water adapter for the PF100 is out. BTW...same wife that told me the bathroom light had burned out. Get my drift?

Ejectr said:

Snip ...

BTW...same wife that told me the bathroom light had burned out. Get my drift?

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You have light in the facilities?

For heavens sake don't go broadcasting that fact or the rest of us will have another project to do.

I've been so consumed playing around with my 2-week-old pellet stove that I forgot to call my oil company for will-call delivery. They got me on Friday for 83 gallons -- that's $352. And I got my annual service contract -- $425.

I don't have an "oil company". I have a 1000 gallon oil tank that, in the past, has been able to keep me warm for two years. For the last few years I have been topping it up annually. My neighbor and I shop around for the best oil price and then press for a price break because we are both filling up at the same time and buying a lot of oil, we always get that further price break.

The number of independent fuel oil companies has declined in my area over the years, as bigger companies buy out smaller ones. but there is still some competition.

This is my first year with a pellet stove, we keep the house at about 64 degrees in the daytime and 58 degrees at night. I have noticed that the oil furnace is running a lot less this year. I'll see what I save at the end of the summer when I fill up with heating oil again.

Juice is cheap here, I cook and heat water with electricity.

Dave

Now get a couple 5 gallon cans , find a truck stop/gas station that sells off road diesel and fill your own tank for $.30-$.60/gal less at your liesure or when the price is low.