Price in my area of mass just went from 2.34 a gallon to 2.19 per gallon I have about a quarter tank of oil left. Is it worth waiting longer to see if prices drop even more. Thanks.
order oil now or wait
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If the Iran deal goes though, oil should go down since Iran has stockpiled a LOT of oil to sell. If not, it may go up.
The deal is supposed to be resolved in the next few days ... yet again. I'd wait a few weeks and see. Of course, it's your $$ not mine.
The deal is supposed to be resolved in the next few days ... yet again. I'd wait a few weeks and see. Of course, it's your $$ not mine.
Wait. Inventories are running out of the top of the tanks and Iran or no Iran we haven't seen the bottom yet. The restraint on home heating oil now is the dropping number of refineries that mess with it.
Gonna be a lot of cold pellet and wood stoves this Winter.
Gonna be a lot of cold pellet and wood stoves this Winter.
Looks like I'm waiting. I ordered 3 tons of blazer for 299 per ton now they are up to 339 per ton. If oil gets lower than 2.19 I may only use half of what I have in pellets and save the rest for 2016/17 season.
mass_burner
Minister of Fire
I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for anything our ex-senator, Mr-bumbles-everything has to do with. He's a walking disaster area.
I have a hundred gallons coming tomorrow for $1.99 / gal. That big old goose egg on the level indicator is too close for comfort.
I missed the low last March and was pretty low then.
I can always get 150 more in Aug/Sep/Oct
I missed the low last March and was pretty low then.
I can always get 150 more in Aug/Sep/Oct
suchanewbie
Member
I have a question for you oil burning folks - maybe I should post this as a separate thread..
Do you all sign up for a "service plan" offered by the oil companies.
Nice thing is these plans offer 24/7 service coverage in case of emergency and cover cost of a lot of parts (otherwise you pay out of pocket for repair).
Flip side is almost always you HAVE to buy oil from them, and the price is almost always insanely higher at these "full-service" places. I've seen anywhere from 30cents up to a dollar difference between what may be cheapest in the area.
Also the service plan is not cheap - runs about $260 ish on average which covers annual tune-up at a minimum.
I'd still do a annual tune-up anyways but the thought of furnace conking out in middle of February and if there's a repair of several hundred dollars worth, that would really suck.
My furnace does act up every once in a while in the middle of winter and the tech adjusts either the nozzle, or gap in the electrodes or some minor tuning and things have been fine.
Signing up for the plan feels like a rip off when you are stuck without choice but to overpay for the oil whatever the mark up may be.
Wish my pellet stove heated the whole house then I wouldn't have to use oil. Oh well.
Do you all sign up for a "service plan" offered by the oil companies.
Nice thing is these plans offer 24/7 service coverage in case of emergency and cover cost of a lot of parts (otherwise you pay out of pocket for repair).
Flip side is almost always you HAVE to buy oil from them, and the price is almost always insanely higher at these "full-service" places. I've seen anywhere from 30cents up to a dollar difference between what may be cheapest in the area.
Also the service plan is not cheap - runs about $260 ish on average which covers annual tune-up at a minimum.
I'd still do a annual tune-up anyways but the thought of furnace conking out in middle of February and if there's a repair of several hundred dollars worth, that would really suck.
My furnace does act up every once in a while in the middle of winter and the tech adjusts either the nozzle, or gap in the electrodes or some minor tuning and things have been fine.
Signing up for the plan feels like a rip off when you are stuck without choice but to overpay for the oil whatever the mark up may be.
Wish my pellet stove heated the whole house then I wouldn't have to use oil. Oh well.
I always had a independent person do my cleaning and bought oil from whomever. He did say he would come out for $30 in the middle of the night to fix something if it broke. I said not to worry I wouldn't wake him up for something that can wait until morning. I always felt buying oil from the person who services your heating appliance is a conflict of interest.
maple1
Minister of Fire
That touches on a couple more reasons in my decision to yank all my oil stuff out - maintenance.
Not sure if you have forced air or hot water heat, but there are pellet fired central heating options out there.
I'm also starting to think that ductless heat pumps in combination with stoves can be a pretty good heating option.
Many years ago(pre pellet stove), in my old house, yes I used a service plan, and yes with it came higher oil prices!! Nowadays I hardly use my oil burner at all, the pellet stove heats enough of the house to not turn oil on. And the basement never drops below 52 or so. Nowadays no service plan, and only tune up furnace every other year or so..
The guy I bought my oil boiler from doesn't sell oil.
I pay him to tune it up and clean it out once a year so that it is sipping oil as efficiently and dependably as is possible.
I could do it myself especially if I had a meter/probe to help tune it correctly but I don't. Neither am i certified to keep regulators/insurance companies/lawyers happy/ in their slice of the pie.
No "service plan" games.
No extorting an extra 30-50 cents a gallon surcharge on oil for "services" [not] rendered.
Fortunately I'm not also in the position of having to buy firewood from the unscrupulous that would misrepresent the quality/quantity of their wood .
The localist pellet / wood stove dealer in town also sells fuel. Exact same business model as the oil burner guy that sells fuel at an extreme mark-up and "service plans". Guy is a real Dick to boot. I really don't understand how he stays in business.
Now would be the perfect time to start investigating if an independent certified Oil burner technician is local to your area, that would help you make an informed decision whether to 'cut the cord' with your oil company or not.. Check w/ your neighbors, the local Fire Department, folks at the Town Hall, the General Store... ask around.
If your furnace is older & acts up during the winter, it may be worth getting a second (independent) opinion for the cost of a service call / evaluation, we went through this several years ago, and ended up purchasing a replacement furnace from our oil dealer at a fair price (they were fully aware we were shopping around) and were very pleased w/ the install and service. At that point, we were confident enough to go off Service Plan / Automatic Delivery.
The old furnace was 20+ years old, and was sized too large for the home: it was chugging through oil every winter. The new furnace, properly sized and way more efficient that the old, saves us about 200 gallons +/- of oil a season: the furnace will have paid for itself in a few more years. That was the first question we asked ourselves, how long were we going to be here, and would the fuel savings justify the cost of new equipment & return on investment, vs. continuing on a Service Plan / Automatic Delivery schedule.
We still have an account w/ that dealer, and would not hesitate to have them deliver oil or service the furnace, if needed. Our goal was to have reliable heat when needed, and save money (of course), getting that first independent service & evaluation helped us in the decision. Hope this helps with yours.
If your furnace is older & acts up during the winter, it may be worth getting a second (independent) opinion for the cost of a service call / evaluation, we went through this several years ago, and ended up purchasing a replacement furnace from our oil dealer at a fair price (they were fully aware we were shopping around) and were very pleased w/ the install and service. At that point, we were confident enough to go off Service Plan / Automatic Delivery.
The old furnace was 20+ years old, and was sized too large for the home: it was chugging through oil every winter. The new furnace, properly sized and way more efficient that the old, saves us about 200 gallons +/- of oil a season: the furnace will have paid for itself in a few more years. That was the first question we asked ourselves, how long were we going to be here, and would the fuel savings justify the cost of new equipment & return on investment, vs. continuing on a Service Plan / Automatic Delivery schedule.
We still have an account w/ that dealer, and would not hesitate to have them deliver oil or service the furnace, if needed. Our goal was to have reliable heat when needed, and save money (of course), getting that first independent service & evaluation helped us in the decision. Hope this helps with yours.
crizpynutz
New Member
mass_burner
Minister of Fire
crizpynutz
New Member
LOL I just mean this time of year - at least around here - is usually the cheapest part of the year to buy oil.
roadking88
Feeling the Heat
!
roadking88
Feeling the Heat
this is a good fuel calculator here...
looks like oil is cheaper over here than using pellets
http://nepacrossroads.com/fuel-comparison-calculator.php
looks like oil is cheaper over here than using pellets
http://nepacrossroads.com/fuel-comparison-calculator.php
Bioburner
Moderator
Can buy corn here now for $3.66/bu. That's 20 cents more than I paid on 7/7/14 but has been coming down just like crude oil. May have to dig out the old Jungers fuel oil stove to heat the garage if distillates go down much further.
Local box store is $5.29 a bag for pellets
Local box store is $5.29 a bag for pellets
The Grintch
Burning Hunk
At the rate oil is falling, I may not even start my stove this year. $1.50/gallon it a break even for me....and we could see it this year!
mass_burner
Minister of Fire
1.96 at my usual place. I still have most of the 100 gal I bought in March, I can't even order enough to make the minimum delivery.
Wow, this may mess up some folk's idea of how long their wood may last them.
Wow, this may mess up some folk's idea of how long their wood may last them.
What oil company do you use? Cheapest I can find on North Shore is 2.09 per gallon wondering if I should wait a little I have well over a quarter tank
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