So my local oil guy called me this evening

[dperk]

So I get a phone call this evening, and the fellow said that they hadn't made a delivery since June 09 so the sent a truck up to fill the tanks. The driver said the tanks were full, and he wanted to send a guy up to check my gauges. I said no thats ok, the tanks are full I haven't ran my furnace, in over ten months, trying not to laugh as I spoke. Well he sounded kind of dejected and almost felt bad, then I remembered the last oil bill and that feeling went away real quick. Anyway I figured you guys would appreciate this story.

 

[maineheat]

Now that's funny Hard to feel bad though. How do you like your HydroFlex60 Boiler? Pluses or minuses? I looked at one over at Northern Lights and thought it looked like a solid unit.

 

[MSmith66]

YOU GO!

 

[lessoil]

We haven't rduced our oil consumption 100% yet but have managed a 57% reduction.
When our dealer first found out we were getting a pellet stove(Oil prices on their way to $4.50/gal),
they wanted feedback from us as to how we like it. Our deliveries speak for themselves. 400 gal/yr vs 925.
Well now pellet prices are going down in price (Ordered 4 tons for $199/ton) and oil is $2.50 to $2.80/gal.

Glad to hear you are "oil free"
We have a boiler mate for hot water. Not sure if an electric hot water tank would be cheaper to run.
Sure hope the pellet industry will settle down and be there for the long haul.

 

[BJN644]

I filled my oil tank last August, I still have 1/4 tank left. I burn oil for domestic hot water and heat for 2 weeks when we went on vacation. Sorry oil man.

 

[TboneMan]

It is so bad in my neck of the woods that a propane distributor is now selling pellets (pick up only) to diversify their products.

 

[poconoman]

It is so bad in my neck of the woods that a propane distributor is now selling pellets (pick up only) to diversify their products.

I despise propane companies.....especially mine.

 

[jtakeman]

I have been all pellets for 10 years(except for a bit of wood in the extreme cold and power outages)! My last oil bill was in 94 with the old house. Only used the Electric here for 1 month until the bill came in and I passed out from shock! Went to wood because it was quick and simple(had the chimney already in the house). Looked into natural gas, Oil, and propane when the wife found out she was pregnant in 1998. We put in the first pellet stove in Oct of 1999 and never looked back.

But if you really think about it, We are still at the mercy of whats available in a local area and what the market is demanding of use. SO Enter the multifueler for some more options on fuel(corn, wheat, barley, grass pellets, ect ect!) and if only crap pellets are what I can afford. But at least my area has several dealers and retailers selling fuel. This year there seems to be a little bit of a price war going on even! All good for me. Have to wait and see what the next year brings, But atleast I have options! Heck I can still burn wood if I have too. Pellet stove can just balance the temp when I am not home to stuff in the wood! But I do prefer the wood when it comes in 40 lbs bags. :lol:

 

[woodsman23]

The propane guy filled my tank today it took 31 gallons, last time they filled it was jan. 2010 The guy perplexed to say the least, neighbot's took 156 gallons at 2.70 a gallon :ahhh:

Neighbor= 400+ 1 month
Me= 83.00 almost 4 months

 

[smwilliamson]

I drained my propane tanks over the weekend and call ed the gas company to come and take the tanks back... apparently they won't because they say they don't own them. I guess I do. I wonder if I can clean them out and store pellets in there?

 

[orangecrushcj7]

Last bought Oil in Feb 07. I have been 100% pellets with my Englander since then, and loving it. Hey SMWilliamson.... if you want to unload your propane tanks, you can drop them at my place... I'd love to dump my $60/yr tank rental from Eastern Propane

 

[yknotcarpentry]

Eastern propane just snet me a bill for $100 because I didn't use enough lp this year to meet my minimum.......come pick it up....

 

[Phatty]

these are the things i like to read, back in nov.the gas co. called and wanted to change my meter so i asked why. they said they thought it was broken
couse i havnt used any, i told her i had installed a pellet stove she said you cant heat your whole house with that ,all i did was chukle and set up a time for them to come. i never even turned on the furnace and dont plan on it again. i only use the gas for hot water and cooking .the hot water might change :cheese:

 

[Panhandler]

Eastern propane just snet me a bill for $100 because I didn't use enough lp this year to meet my minimum.......come pick it up....

Why would he want to pick up your bill from the propane company? Seriously tho, do you really HAVE to pay that bill? Is it in your contract? I'd talk to someone about that before paying.

 

[Ladderlieu]

If propane companies think they can bill customers for not using enough propane, I should be able to send my oil company a bill for storage fees

 

[twojrts]

Last year I spent over $1,000 in propane from Jan through May. This year I haven't spent $120!! Last month I got billed $4.00 for propane. We get billed by the cubic foot here and since I didn't use any cubic feet, I have to pay $4.00.

I've spent about $620 in pellets since 26Oct09. So I am still ahead of last year!!

LOVE THIS LITTLE BUGGER!

 

[gbreda]

Eastern propane just snet me a bill for $100 because I didn't use enough lp this year to meet my minimum.......come pick it up....

Why would he want to pick up your bill from the propane company? Seriously tho, do you really HAVE to pay that bill? Is it in your contract? I'd talk to someone about that before paying.

Probably is in the contract. I am with Eastern on my HHO for the first time ever. It is in the contract that they will bill me .50 per gallon of unused pre-buy home heating oil. They had the best pricing, and as this was my first season with a stove, I bought the minimum...and I am still at 225 gallons unused.

I too am looking at 100 plus as a penalty.

Eastern sucks....DO NOT PRE BUY WITH THIS COMPANY

Then again, I will not pre buy with ANYONE from here on. My oil is used for hot water and a little during real cold snaps.

Good luck yknot

 

[Tom Pencil]

I you have the space in your tank to purchase the amount of oil needed to cover the oil that you did not buy during the pre-buy I would do that then drop them. Why pay for oil if you do not recieve any?

I have a 1,000 gallon undergound tank and only use about 350 gallons of oil/year since purchase of pellet stove. Prior to stove was around 920-950 gallons a year of usage.

 

[gbreda]

I you have the space in your tank to purchase the amount of oil needed to cover the oil that you did not buy during the pre-buy I would do that then drop them. Why pay for oil if you do not recieve any?

I have a 1,000 gallon undergound tank and only use about 350 gallons of oil/year since purchase of pellet stove. Prior to stove was around 920-950 gallons a year of usage.

I have only a 250 gal tank in the basement. They filled it (20 gallons) on April 2. I am having them come again this week as the pre buy period ends on April 30. It wont take but a few more gallons...everything counts though.

I did consider adding a second tank, but too much cost involved.

I am giving them the option of not charging me the .50/gallon and I would keep the $$ on account for next winter. If they wont do that, I will want a check cut for my refund minus the penalty and be done wih them.

 

[btuser]

We ALL get calls this time of year for propane/oil. Why? Because the price is about to drop! I got the scare tactic to fill up or be charged so I told them to take the propane tanks last Summer. It took 3 months to get a check for my remaining propane and they were about $100 light, telling me the tanks weren't full and the 80/20 story about 200 gallon (really 250 gallons). Oh well.

They know better than anyone when the most profitable time to fill their customer's tanks will be. That's why I always refuse auto delivery.

My first year in the house was about 1600 gallons of oil and 300 gallons of propane. This year about 1100 gallons oil and zero propane. My goal is under 1000 gallons of oil. After the new boiler this Spring it should be good.

 

[thewoodlands]

So I get a phone call this evening, and the fellow said that they hadn't made a delivery since June 09 so the sent a truck up to fill the tanks. The driver said the tanks were full, and he wanted to send a guy up to check my gauges. I said no thats ok, the tanks are full I haven't ran my furnace, in over ten months, trying not to laugh as I spoke. Well he sounded kind of dejected and almost felt bad, then I remembered the last oil bill and that feeling went away real quick. Anyway I figured you guys would appreciate this story.

Last delivery for us was Jan. 09, feels great.

zap

 

[dhungy]

We bought our house last May. We had our two 150 lb propane tanks filled then. We only use it for heat so it wasn't until my early october that i started to use it. after one month I had use 60% of my supply. That weekend I bought my stove and called the propane company and told them not to deliver. Early this month I told them to come get there tanks.. The cost of 60% my propane was as much as two tons of pellets.... Im never going back now I just have to be smart and pre buy...

 

[spikej23]

So I get a phone call this evening, and the fellow said that they hadn't made a delivery since June 09 so the sent a truck up to fill the tanks. The driver said the tanks were full, and he wanted to send a guy up to check my gauges. I said no thats ok, the tanks are full I haven't ran my furnace, in over ten months, trying not to laugh as I spoke. Well he sounded kind of dejected and almost felt bad, then I remembered the last oil bill and that feeling went away real quick. Anyway I figured you guys would appreciate this story.

Hi Dperkins, Can you pm or tell me more about your Harmon Hydroflex60. I sent you a PM. I am thinking about getting one. If anyone else has one tell me your experience with it and how you like the system.

Thanks

 

[Hot_h20]

So I get a phone call this evening, and the fellow said that they hadn't made a delivery since June 09 so the sent a truck up to fill the tanks. The driver said the tanks were full, and he wanted to send a guy up to check my gauges. I said no thats ok, the tanks are full I haven't ran my furnace, in over ten months, trying not to laugh as I spoke. Well he sounded kind of dejected and almost felt bad, then I remembered the last oil bill and that feeling went away real quick. Anyway I figured you guys would appreciate this story.

Hi Dperkins, Can you pm or tell me more about your Harmon Hydroflex60. I sent you a PM. I am thinking about getting one. If anyone else has one tell me your experience with it and how you like the system.

Thanks

Have had ours since Sept09, ran all last winter. 4.5-5 Tons used, 2800 ft2 house, NO GAS. Hooked it up in conjunction with forced air furnace (Water to Air heat exchanger)

 

[spikej23]

Hi Dperkins, Can you pm or tell me more about your Harmon Hydroflex60. I sent you a PM. I am thinking about getting one. If anyone else has one tell me your experience with it and how you like the system.

Thanks[/quote]

Have had ours since Sept09, ran all last winter. 4.5-5 Tons used, 2800 ft2 house, NO GAS. Hooked it up in conjunction with forced air furnace (Water to Air heat exchanger)[/quote]

Thanks for the reply. How do you have it vented out through a chimney? Do you have a lining in the chimney 4" pipe? Are you pulling outside air option to pull air from the outside.

You have the system in your basement also? May I ask how much you payed for your Hydroflex60? You also used to have wood pellet stove.. How much do you think you are saving by using the Hydroflex instead of gas? How old is your house? Mine is 1972. What type of pellets do you like? How much? Do you know anyone else that has a hydroflex?

Thanks so much for your help and detail