Home heating oil $ going up......

rowerwet said:

my parents called their oil dealer to do a prebuy and were told don't bother, the oil price is expected to go lower and they (townsend oil) were expecting the oil market to have a glut this winter! WISHFUL THINKING?

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No, not wishful thinking. Why not trust the oil dealer, I'm sure they have your best interests in mind. :D

Mainegeek:Greg, I’m not an expert on the market but I did stay at a Holiday Inn j/k

Actually I worked in the Oil Industry for 4 years… OPEC controls prices; if they want prices to go up then they set the fear of god in the futures market…. guess what? Prices go up. Once they feel they have squeezed enough out of “us” they lower prices again (but it seems never below where the price hike began). In my opinion, the US is WAY to dependent on foreign countries for oil… we got plenty of it here but too many regulations and very little refineries (can count on one hand; most offshore and prone to natural disasters). What good are the US reserves if they are reserved?

Yeah I know buttttt On this forum and others the info I was seeing was that there was a huge glut.Just wondering why the recent price spike.I put a second oil tank in this year and filled lt at a good price.I think when my garage is finished I might put in a third,some time you got to do what you got to do.You are right that the US is way to dependent on foreign oil.Oil is like an adjustable rate mortgage to many ups and downs.

Take Care Greg :zip:

greggo730 said:

Yeah I know buttttt On this forum and others the info I was seeing was that there was a huge glut.Just wondering why the recent price spike.I put a second oil tank in this year and filled lt at a good price.I think when my garage is finished I might put in a third,some time you got to do what you got to do.You are right that the US is way to dependent on foreign oil.Oil is like an adjustable rate mortgage to many ups and downs.

Take Care Greg :zip:

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Supply doesn't necessarily mean prices will go down.

I'm thinking I may get a second tank next year as well.... but since the oil is mostly for hot water right now I'm actually thinking of getting a propane on demand hot water heater also. I'm trying to migrate my house to use other fuels besides oil; don't get me wrong I'll probably always have an oil furnace but I don't necessarily like relying on oil for everything. Now if geothermal installs were cheaper....

[quote author="greggo730" date="1255849546"]I put a second oil tank in this year and filled lt at a good price.


Just out of curiosity, what does it cost to add a 2nd tank? Will you always fill both or just when oil is at a good price? I have to say, it never occurred to me to add a 2nd tank until I read about it on this forum. Seems like it would have to be a long term plan though to recoup your investment since oil will not always be at a reasonable price when its time for a fill. My oil company has already mentioned my dramatic reduction in oil usage since getting the stove so I'm sure they would love to see me put a 2nd tank in.

my uncle sold his oil business, but still works part time for the new owner, He goes in a removes the old oil tanks when they get a customer that switches to gas. He has 4, or more by now, full tanks of HHO in his barn from all the oil he pumps out of the old tanks. The company could charge for "disposal", but he takes it for free. I wish I lived closer, he would give some to me.

[Supply doesn't necessarily mean prices will go down.

I'm thinking I may get a second tank next year as well.... but since the oil is mostly for hot water right now I'm actually thinking of getting a propane on demand hot water heater also. I'm trying to migrate my house to use other fuels besides oil; don't get me wrong I'll probably always have an oil furnace but I don't necessarily like relying on oil for everything. Now if geothermal installs were cheaper....[/quote]


I was hoping to use multi fuels this year to(pellets,oil,wood) but it looks like I will only be using oil.I think pellets are still to expensive right now.Next year I will be adding a wood stove insert.I have a Buderus boiler with an 80 gal.indirect water heater that's pretty efficient.

Take Care Greg

greggo730 - 17 October 2009 11:05 PM
I put a second oil tank in this year and filled lt at a good price.


Just out of curiosity, what does it cost to add a 2nd tank? Will you always fill both or just when oil is at a good price? I have to say, it never occurred to me to add a 2nd tank until I read about it on this forum. Seems like it would have to be a long term plan though to recoup your investment since oil will not always be at a reasonable price when its time for a fill. My oil company has already mentioned my dramatic reduction in oil usage since getting the stove so I’m sure they would love to see me put a 2nd tank in.

I had the second take for a while I just never installed it.I think you can get them for around $350-$400(275 gal.), 2" piping $40 a length, fittings about $5.00 each,gauges,caps ,vent alarm,legs,filter,valve.So maybe $600-$800 parts only.Every install is different.I did my own.I didnt think it was that hard to do,but then again I built my own house.

The last time I filled I paid$1.69 gal.I bought 500 gals at that price.As far as recouping my investment what will you do if oil spikes at $4.50 a gal. again.

Take Care Greg

When you have two tanks normally you hook them up together so only one fill line. Basically it allows the oil delivery man to pump ~550 gal (minus what is in the tank) versus 275 gal.

I think 550 gal (2 - 275 gal) is the limit for a residence though... I don't think you can "legally" have 825 gal sitting in your basement. But that probably varies by state.

rowerwet, where's your uncle? Would he be willing to part with one of his full tanks?

ashby, MA, I don't think he would give it away though!

I wouldn't expect him to but that is too far for me to haul anyways

Mainegeek: I did consider the system you discribed(Manifold) the two tanks together,but after talking to some of the guys I work with(they drive oil in the winter) They more or less told me that any problems or blow outs they had were usually with a single piped system.Thats why I went with separate fill and vent. A little more money but worth the piece of mind.I will say that threading 2"pipe with a Ridgid pipe threader by hand is a bit of a work out.(lol)

I see that oil went up again,over $80 a barrel.I think I'll move to Arizona.

Just paid 2.27 for #2 this morning. Had 100 gallons delivered....I'm good for a couple years for hot water lol.

My Parent company just jumped to 2.44 per gallon, and their prices are normally one of the lowest around. I'm watching the ticker by my desk get close to $82 per barrell as I type this. I was so aggravated I made a most in the Ash Can about it

Franks said:

My Parent company just jumped to 2.44 per gallon, and their prices are normally one of the lowest around. I'm watching the ticker by my desk get close to $82 per barrell as I type this. I was so aggravated I made a most in the Ash Can about it

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With the dollar siting at over $1.50 to the Euro and gold pushing $1100/oz, its no wonder. I'm glad I have my pellet stove (and 5 ton of pellets in the garage) as a buffer against large fluctuations in the market. ;-)

Up another 7 cents today; My oil guy is at $2.37 from a low of 2.01 a few short weeks ago...

Yup and my phone is ringing, I may be posting less often very shortly. Folks are being reminded that having a back up to fuel oil is a good idea

Last year ago I added a second tank. I bought a 2 year old 275g with fill guage, cap, legs, filter, firematic valve and 10' of lineset for $100. To have it installed would be about $700, more if the old tank needs to be removed. There's tons available right now because the smart money is switching to Nat Gas for the efficiency rebates not available with oil (yet). Condensing oil boilers don't condense at typical baseboard temps. I'd be burning gas instead of oil if we had it in the boondocks.

I put in a separate fill and vent fot the second tank. It would've been more work to disassemble the original tank and I don't like the idea of two piped into one. I like being able to fill one tank at a time and switch between the two instead of just letting both tanks I let one tank run dry, switch over then change the filter and refill the other tank. If I had the room I'd ad a third tank and try to buy once a year.

Last year I burned about 1150 gallons. The game for me is to make it through that first big roggering that comes around December. I'm trying to get through to January, because historically there's a dip after the first of January in the futures market, then a rebound from Mid January into March. I figure theres a 40-70 cent premium in December for that 2nd tank, so its about $100/year to load up. I'm hoping however, that the longer capacity can get me through with only one buy in January.

Many oil companies will give you a discount if you buy 500+ gallons, but I highly doubt you can shove that much into 2-275 gallon tanks. I've had them fill when I was empty and the amount was right aroung 225. Between the pitch and the whistle I think that's about it. A residence in NH is "required" to have less than 1000 gallons. After that I think they make you register/make yourself known to the fire department.

Don't forget the almost hurricane in the vicinity of the Gulf that may or may not threaten oil installations, but let's assume it will so we can raise the price of oil....