Is it Possible!! My neighbor got a second oil delivery in two weeks!

[Phoenix Hatchling]

I wish I liked my neighbor, since morbid curiosity is getting the better of me. They just got a second oil delivery in two weeks time . Now being conservative, would that mean they used at least 137 gallons assuming a 275 gallon tank and automatic delivery at half a tank? Is that usage in line with the cold temps we had?

I want to cross post this under the Pellet Mill as well.

 

[Jean-Claude]

Maybe it's like around here where a few oil delivery firms had to limit tank fills to x amount for a week after getting hit by a storm that caused backlogs for deliveries and issues getting their trucks to the rack to fill up. Better to give the clients 1/2 a tank and prevent empty tank situations and catch up once the weather improves.

 

[Chimney Smoke]

Holy cow. My primary heat is oil right now and I supplement with wood at night and on weekends. I filled my oil tank in August and it's down to around 3/8 tank now. It's also been very cold in Maine so far this winter.

 

[tcassavaugh]

Holy cow. My primary heat is oil right now and I supplement with wood at night and on weekends. I filled my oil tank in August and it's down to around 3/8 tank now. It's also been very cold in Maine so far this winter.

why don't you burn 24-7, just wondering. is the wood box too small or do you just not feel safe enough being away. just curious.

 

[ironspider]

Last month while speaking to my brother we were on the topic of inserts because i have one. Not two days later he called and wanted detailed information because he just got an 800+ fuel bill, that same time frame i used only 59 gallons for 280. So i called him this month after another oil delivery where i only got around the same bill. Now he's really considering it, but doesn't want to do wood, more interested in pellets.

 

[NE WOOD BURNER]

When one is short on money. You call and get what you can afford.
Lots of reasons!
Glad your not my neighbor-wouldn't want the whole world knowing my heat load

 

[Chimney Smoke]

why don't you burn 24-7, just wondering. is the wood box too small or do you just not feel safe enough being away. just curious.

We bought a new house this summer with a woodstove hookup in the uninsulated basement. I try to burn 24/7 but the wife is new to woodstoves and doesn't tend it as much as I do especially when I'm not home. The stove does a pretty good job heating the first floor if I keep it going but the furnace heats the second floor. May look at installing a chimney and moving the stove upstairs this summer. For a 2.2 firebox, it does pretty well holding enough coals overnight for a morning reload.

 

[red oak]

Maybe it's like around here where a few oil delivery firms had to limit tank fills to x amount for a week after getting hit by a storm that caused backlogs for deliveries and issues getting their trucks to the rack to fill up. Better to give the clients 1/2 a tank and prevent empty tank situations and catch up once the weather improves.

This would be my guess, it's hard to believe using that much oil in so short a time. Are your neighbors older? In my experience older people set the thermostat higher. Going to my mother's or in-law's sometimes I feel like I walked into an oven!

 

[ClintonH]

We just moved in to our place at the end of August: 2 oil tanks (300 gal) hooked up outside for the furnace--1 empty, 1 full. After getting our credit application done with the oil supplier, they were eager to come and top off the tanks. I politely declined because I knew I had ~75% of that 1 tank still full. They asked if I had another source of heat: I replied that I had put in a woodstove. Long story short, they were polite and hung up without many more pleasantries. :D :D :D :D

 

[firefighterjake]

We bought a new house this summer with a woodstove hookup in the uninsulated basement. I try to burn 24/7 but the wife is new to woodstoves and doesn't tend it as much as I do especially when I'm not home. The stove does a pretty good job heating the first floor if I keep it going but the furnace heats the second floor. May look at installing a chimney and moving the stove upstairs this summer. For a 2.2 firebox, it does pretty well holding enough coals overnight for a morning reload.

I think you'll find having that woodstove on the first floor will make you a bit happier . . . in terms of heat on the first floor (and moving up to the second floor) and the view. Heating with wood in uninsulated basements according to many folks who have done so here at hearth.com can be tough with a large loss of heat.

And yeah . . . it has been pretty cool up here . . . except for last week's "Spring Break" . . . looks like we're back to Winter with the snow and the cold. I can do without the extreme cold, but really want some snow.

 

[DougA]

Maybe your neighbours could not afford to fill-up the tank. I do the same thing when gas is so expensive. I fill it to half hoping that the price will go down. Never happens.

 

[Badfish740]

We just moved in to our place at the end of August: 2 oil tanks (300 gal) hooked up outside for the furnace--1 empty, 1 full. After getting our credit application done with the oil supplier, they were eager to come and top off the tanks. I politely declined because I knew I had ~75% of that 1 tank still full. They asked if I had another source of heat: I replied that I had put in a woodstove. Long story short, they were polite and hung up without many more pleasantries. :D :D :D :D

The first winter with my furnace the truck came about mid-way through February to top the tank off for the winter (I had a fill up the preceding April so the tank was full going into the heating season) and the tank only took 25 gallons. The owner of the company (small family owned, been in business over 75 years) called me personally. He was concerned, not because I wasn't buying enough oil, but because he thought there might be a problem and was afraid I might run dry. I told him that I was just burning a lot of wood and wondered how he'd respond. He just "Ok, just as long as I know you're not going to run dry in the middle of some cold night-nothing wrong with that!"

 

[Phoenix Hatchling]

This would be my guess, it's hard to believe using that much oil in so short a time. Are your neighbors older? In my experience older people set the thermostat higher. Going to my mother's or in-law's sometimes I feel like I walked into an oven!

No not older. I really don't have anything to gauge oil usage, being that I installed a pellet and wood stove when I first moved in last year. Best thing I could ever have done, and this simply justifies my decision to invest in these wood burners from the beginning! My oil delivery came the first week of January as well and they topped me off. They pumped 52 gallons since the last top off in early August. Not bad for 5 months I think. Only burned approximately half a cord of wood, and two tons of pellets since then (early August)

 

[eclecticcottage]

We keep a eye on our neighbor's house for them. They have two big tanks in the basement that were full this fall, last check about a week ago and they were at 5/8. Thermostat is set at like 58 and it's probably about 1300 sq ft. I work with someone that uses oil and they have bought less than a tankful at a time as $$ allowed. I'm betting that's what happened, or, as someone else mentioned, it's just rationing because of the cold (heard LP is in short supply somehow).

 

[Phoenix Hatchling]

We keep a eye on our neighbor's house for them. They have two big tanks in the basement that were full this fall, last check about a week ago and they were at 5/8. Thermostat is set at like 58 and it's probably about 1300 sq ft. I work with someone that uses oil and they have bought less than a tankful at a time as $$ allowed. I'm betting that's what happened, or, as someone else mentioned, it's just rationing because of the cold (heard LP is in short supply somehow).

I never knew that would even be an option...getting a partial delivery. That must be more expensive in the long term, as those on an as needed/will call contract must pay a higher rate than automatic delivery. The way I view it is the same as dollar cost averaging when it comes to stocks or mutual funds. You don't time the market by "waiting" for the price to drop, and pay a lower average price per gallon as a result.

 

[btuser]

A lot of people set up automatic delivery, and it's up to the oil company to figure when you need oil.

 

[billb3]

100 gallon minimum - only buying what they could afford that week.
Truck ran dry - gave them something until they were in the area again
any number of scenarios ....

 

[coaly]

150 gallons is the minimum delivery around here. When I worked for a gas company, they also had oil delivery and service. Degree day information was used and they could calculate extremely close for both auto delivery of oil and propane. That's why it's important to let them know when you add another heat source such as wood or coal OR add another fuel burning appliance such as gas logs, dryer, water heater...... You can end up running out, or they come back too often and put you on "will call" so it's up to you to call when you want fuel. And wait................
Us guys on call over night would have the service truck and drift propane into a customers tank in an emergency until the delivery bulk truck got to them "next day".
They probably had enough for the minimum delivery or help with one of the many assistance programs. Then their ship came in, or someone else helped.
My neighbors dump 5 gallons a day in their tank buying off road diesel at the station. They must partake in mind altering substances, because I was asked to go over and bleed it once to start their burner after running out, and THE FUNNEL was left in the fill. With it POURING outside ! I did not advise them to get a wood stove.

 

[Phoenix Hatchling]

150 gallons is the minimum delivery around here. When I worked for a gas company, they also had oil delivery and service. Degree day information was used and they could calculate extremely close for both auto delivery of oil and propane. That's why it's important to let them know when you add another heat source such as wood or coal OR add another fuel burning appliance such as gas logs, dryer, water heater...... You can end up running out, or they come back too often and put you on "will call" so it's up to you to call when you want fuel. And wait................
Us guys on call over night would have the service truck and drift propane into a customers tank in an emergency until the delivery bulk truck got to them "next day".
They probably had enough for the minimum delivery or help with one of the many assistance programs. Then their ship came in, or someone else helped.
My neighbors dump 5 gallons a day in their tank buying off road diesel at the station. They must partake in mind altering substances, because I was asked to go over and bleed it once to start their burner after running out, and THE FUNNEL was left in the fill. With it POURING outside ! I did not advise them to get a wood stove.

That's AWESOME!! They were making their own vinaigrette!

 

[Boil&Toil]

Probably nothing that exciting; if on autofill, the oil company looks at degree days, but they can also do things like guesstimating that it might be worth topping off the tank of some "autofill" customers if the truck was called out to a location nearby on a "will-call" delivery, especially if the forecast going forward is dire and it might save them a trip; or if they have fuel coming in to cover for cold weather ahead and need to clear out their storage tanks to make room for it.

 

[woodgeek]

No problem. Back in the bad old days, I burned 200+ gallons in three (cold) weeks. Back when it was going for $5/gallon.

 

[McKeznak]

I'm proud to say that except for going away at Christmas for 4 days and the few days I was down with the flu, I haven't had to turn the oil on yet.

However those were some cold days here, and I wouldn't be so proud to say just how much oil those 6-7 days actually used up lol.

 

[Swedishchef]

Likely a half fill.....

A friend of mine drove the local oil delivery truck. He once told me that his best customer was a church rectory that is about 1/2 mile from my house. I knew that 2 nuns were living there and that they kept the temperature at 21c. Well, in the coldest part of the winter, then truck would add 300 gallons every 2 weeks!! The building is 75 years old, POURED concrete walls on the inside and brick outside. Original windows and the building is out in the open. The boiler was ancient and the entire building (4000 sq ft) was heated with radiant water heat. Needless to say after a $14000 oil bill for 6 months the nuns were asked to paymore rent (each paid $250 a month) and they said no....4 months later they moved out.

Andrew