Looks like the days of heating oil is over

[jmcp]

The high price has killed the business few homeowners left almost eveyone is switching or already switched.

(broken link removed to http://www.cnbc.com/id/46393078)

 

[firebroad]

The high price has killed the business few homeowners left almost eveyone is switching or already switched.

(broken link removed to http://www.cnbc.com/id/46393078)

Very interesting article. If the gas lines came out where I live, I would have converted in a minute regardles of the cost. Gas heat wins over oil hands down.

I am so glad I got a stove

 

[helismash]

I wish I had to option to go with gas. I guess that may become reality in 2014 from what I am being told. When that happens, I will drop oil like a bad habbit!

 

[bbfarm]

We would have converted too, but it is not in our area.

17 years ago when we bought our house it was $300 for fuel oil for the entire winter season. now it is
4350 - $400 a MONTH!

 

[jmcp]

between the gouging the speculators the pricing and volitilty nobody wants it anymore I blame J P Morgan and co for killing this business.These guys almost control the whole oil business last year they had 3 supertankers docked off the usa and they would not bring the oil in until the price came up so that they could make hundreds of millions of dollars at our expense.

 

[mr coffee]

and up our way, the oil businesses have moved into LPgas

 

[velvetfoot]

I'm having a heck of a time figuring out how to get off oil (or propane).

 

[RidgeRunner56]

Will be interesting to see how this all plays out. I live on the edge of the Marcellus shale region, and companies are pulling out because of the drop in gas prices, down to a third of what it was a few years ago. We need more people hooking up to gas, bring the price up a bit so they keep our local economy moving in the right direction

 

[silverfox103]

I'm having a heck of a time figuring out how to get off oil (or propane).

Two pellet stoves and an electric hot water heater got me off of oil.

Tom C.

 

[B-Mod]

I'm having a heck of a time figuring out how to get off oil (or propane).

DIY solar water heat, and a multi fuel stove. That's what I am doing, and I have a corn boiler........

 

[Rick @ Great Northeast]

I live in the country next to a working dairy farm, fuel oil along with outdoor wood boilers is the normal around here, as no gas line will ever be here in my life time. Up-graded my Furnace 5 years ago new Belarus, 88.5 efficiency, too bad fuel oil's running $3.90 per gal, that's why I just put in the Harman Accentra, just to save a bit.

 

[jtakeman]

Oil? What's dat. ;-)

 

[Outerlimits]

Oil? What's dat. ;-)

I think it is something people used to put in their hair back in the 50's to try to look tough. Whatever it is, it looks like it is history.

 

[shtrdave]

Can you replace a hot air oil furnace with a pellet stove? I have been looking to put a pellet stove in my apartment that is built inside a block garage, and the garage is heated with oil, it is about 1500 square feet or so, but has 14 foot ceilings, now I only heat it to maybe 48-50 degrees but it still is costly at 4 bucks a gallon. Do they make pellet furnaces?

 

[Ejectr]

Can you replace a hot air oil furnace with a pellet stove? I have been looking to put a pellet stove in my apartment that is built inside a block garage, and the garage is heated with oil, it is about 1500 square feet or so, but has 14 foot ceilings, now I only heat it to maybe 48-50 degrees but it still is costly at 4 bucks a gallon. Do they make pellet furnaces?

http://www.harmanstoves.com/Products/PF100-Pellet-Furnace.aspx

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

They also make insulation, you might want to try that as well.

 

[subsailor]

I'm having a heck of a time figuring out how to get off oil (or propane).

Two pellet stoves and an electric hot water heater got me off of oil.

Tom C.

x2

 

[DexterDay]

Can you replace a hot air oil furnace with a pellet stove? I have been looking to put a pellet stove in my apartment that is built inside a block garage, and the garage is heated with oil, it is about 1500 square feet or so, but has 14 foot ceilings, now I only heat it to maybe 48-50 degrees but it still is costly at 4 bucks a gallon. Do they make pellet furnaces?

http://www.harmanstoves.com/Products/PF100-Pellet-Furnace.aspx

Yep... Forced air Pellet furnaces and Boilers. The PF-100 that Ejectr has in the link is the Caddy of Furnaces. If its to big or rich for your blood. Look up the Revolution (70,000 BTU's) or SCF-050 (50,000 BTU's) both of those are good furnaces made by St. Croix. Or the Fahrenheit Endurance 50F (50,000 BTU's), that I own seems to be a very good unit and seems to be more than 50,000 BTU's??

But a pellet stove should heat 1,500 sq pretty easily. If its insulated pretty well and has an open floor plan.

Tall ceilings will hurt, unless you have a ceiling fan to help distribute the air better. So all that hot air doesn't get trapped.....

 

[Don2222]

Can you replace a hot air oil furnace with a pellet stove? I have been looking to put a pellet stove in my apartment that is built inside a block garage, and the garage is heated with oil, it is about 1500 square feet or so, but has 14 foot ceilings, now I only heat it to maybe 48-50 degrees but it still is costly at 4 bucks a gallon. Do they make pellet furnaces?

You could also do it real cheap by getting a pellet stove and ducting it to the cold air return on the furnace. It would put so much hot air into your funace it would never go on!! The oil furnace would still be nice to have as a backup this way!!

 

[Pellet-King]

I live on a main road, there is gas 30 feet from me, why this house wasn't gas is beyond me, but the cost to convert and the cost of pellets is well cheaper to just keep on burning pellets, if there was a free line to my house and free install furnace i would think about it, otherwise i'm happy with pellets and my electric water heater
My oil fired forced air furnace is below my bedroom, the noise is so loiud between the furnace starting and the forced air making air WHHOOSH sounds because the duct from the furnace first is a direct shot into my bedroom...really sucks.

 

[Pelletfisky]

We would have converted too, but it is not in our area.

17 years ago when we bought our house it was $300 for fuel oil for the entire winter season. now it is
4350 - $400 a MONTH!

I had the same issue so for starters I bought my pellet stove. Still use oil for hot water but saving to convert to gas.

 

[4Dtvman]

I live in the side of Tiverton that doesn't have any gas lines, my oil bill in December before I bought the pellet stove was $511.


.

 

[velvetfoot]

We can't even get cable, never mind natural gas.

You guys with two pellet stoves have colonial style homes?
I don't know where I'd put one upstairs-bedrooms.

 

[pinewoodburner]

I have gas in street in front to f my house but I went with a Heat Pump since my central AC had died. I figure there is no need to have 3 heating systems, heat pump. wood stove and gas. It does not get that cold her in Va where the heat pump has top go to Aux heat. If my electric bill had gone to $300 in the winter I would of been saving about $1400 but so far in 2 years on two bills in winter that where slightly over $200, so saving over $2000 over the old oil boiler. Wood stove helps out that bill and the wood stove would not pay for itself very fast with the heat pump but paid for it in less than two years when heating with oil.

 

[firebroad]

Unfortunately, I see a sad future of people getting rid of their oil furnaces and the oil dealers raising prices to maintain profits, so the poor schmucks who cannot afford to convert to something else get burned(no pun intended).

Still, I hope as many people as possible can get away from oil. I know I am trying to ween off of it. So far I have cut my oil consumption by 2/3. Yay!