Heating/Fuel oil time

[skargo]

Re: Heating/Fuel oil time

I do have a wood stove back-up installed in my basement. I can run the house up to 85-90 degrees if I burn wood. The pellet stove is a nice idea however it would have to be installed in the basement. Fairly large size home and pretty tough winter's here.

Why must it be in the basement? We are installing ours on the main floor. Our main floor is 1800 sq/ft, and our basement is the same. Plus we get wicked cold winters too. This area is nuts, we had 108* temp in Baltimore this year, and in the winter we have single digits.

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: Heating/Fuel oil time

Why must it be in the basement? We are installing ours on the main floor. Our main floor is 1800 sq/ft, and our basement is the same. Plus we get wicked cold winters too. This area is nuts, we had 108* temp in Baltimore this year, and in the winter we have single digits.

This is a home built in the '50's....... 1850's that is. Laid up stone foundation, dirt basement floor, need the heat source down there due to the plumbing, well tank etc. The place where my house is located is at the base of a small hill (2500' high) and the way the sun travels in the winter ...... we get about 1 hour of direct sun a day....... oh yeah and the house faces north. Skargo you can see it on FB

 

[skargo]

Re: Heating/Fuel oil time

This is a home built in the '50's....... 1850's that is. Laid up stone foundation, dirt basement floor, need the heat source down there due to the plumbing, well tank etc. The place where my house is located is at the base of a small hill (2500' high) and the way the sun travels in the winter ...... we get about 1 hour of direct sun a day....... oh yeah and the house faces north. Skargo you can see it on FB

Gotcha, I will check it out!

 

[hrdwrkingacguy]

Re: Heating/Fuel oil time

I live in Arizona...My heating cost is a whopping $0.00, and that's US dollars...Cooling is another story...There are plenty of houses here and everyone is welcome...

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: Heating/Fuel oil time

Oh well....... it's that time of the year again to get ready for the winter season.......

Due to the mild winter last year I actually used over 250 gallons of fuel then previous years

Last year I received an email that was directed towards Veterans from a company within Vermont that offed Vet's a price break of .30 over cost. When I received that email I already had a full tank.

This year I resurrected the email and asked about the discount. Fuel oil is averaging anywhere from $3.65 to $3.85 per gallon...... the company I am going with offered me a "Vet" price of $3.48/gallon. Hey that's cheaper then I paid last year and absolutely cheaper then the wild price in 2008 of $4.52/gallon.

Between the lower price and my lower usage last winter I actually feel like I finally won for once.

So.....if you are a veteran (thank you for your service) in the New England and portions of Northern NY I would suggest that you look into Pyrofax Energy and see if they service your area..... take advantage of the discount. They do oil and gas.

 

[Eric 3.7LX Alpha 1]

Re: Heating/Fuel oil time

If anyone has a hot water boiler, (not equiped with a tankless coil for domestic hot water), a outdoor reset control can be added to save on fuel. Basically it adds a thermometer outside to communicate to the heating system and the boiler will regulate how hot the baseboard/radiators will get depending on the outside temp.

Heating systems are designed for "the coldest day of the year" and any day it runs above that temp outside, the system is oversized for the home, so by lowering the temps of the water to match heat loss on the home, you save fuel.
Here is a video from This Old House on adding it to an existing system:

http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/video/0,,20317019,00.html

 

[Tim Frank]

Re: Heating/Fuel oil time

And set your fan to run 24/7.
Big difference in temperature uniformity throughout the house = increase in comfort level for your heating $$.

 

[rbh]

Re: Heating/Fuel oil time

Bob-
When are they going to start putting natural gas lines in to you guys?

 

[888]

Re: Heating/Fuel oil time

Boy this thread will ruin a good day. Another day of making money to give to someone else.

 

[Fishing Dude too]

Re: Heating/Fuel oil time

Guess my $800 a year Natural Gas bill isn't to bad.

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: Heating/Fuel oil time

Bob-
When are they going to start putting natural gas lines in to you guys?

It's been discussed MANY times and here in VT....... some people say they are dangerous (quoting explosions in other parts of the country) and I agree that would be a great energy saver/savings for all. I doubt it will happen in my lifetime or even my grandson's lifetime....

 

[Bob_VT]

Yes, I dragged my Heating Oil post up from the archives...... it's that time again ;(

Well last heating season was the worst I had for fuel oil use. We used over 900 gallons of fuel oil. It was a long cold winter and while we were away we left the house at 70 degrees so we kept the house sitter in comfort. This is the highest use I have seen in 30 years. Fuel oil is coming today and at a good price of $1.85/gallon - absolutely better then the year I paid over $4/gallon.

Look at the first post for some price history. and natural gas will not be available in my lifetime.

 

[WIMUSKY]

For fuel oil that's a great price. I'm paying $1.33 for propane...

 

[Bob_VT]

Tank is full. Gives me a comfortable feeling of one less thing to worry about this year.

 

[aspeck]

Re: Heating/Fuel oil time

Boy am I glad I installed geothermal heat and air conditioning when I built my house. Last year and this coming year it will be completely paid off in the savings!

I am still glad for this option, even at the lower fuel prices! Yeah geothermal!

 

[jkust]

Two of my houses use propane which is about $1.19 per gallon at its summer price. We either buy in the summer or if the tanks are already full knowing that they will need to be filled multiple more times to get through a winter, we do a pre-buy contract that is more expensive than the summer price but less than the worst case scenario a couple winters back when you could barely beg, borrow or steal propane.

 

[82rude]

Seeing as how coal plants will be shutting down if the govt has its way coal would be a cheap source of heat.Not really sure how the tech has progressed but I see several coal furnaces on the internet.I feel for you BOB.Up here in sault ste marie n.g. is the way to go.If you have elect heat your either rich or power poor!Insurance companies are really picky when it comes to wood heat in a home though I have it in my garage with zero ins issues.If I get off my lazy butt the local big steel mill gives away hardwood 4x4 ,s and theres absolutely tons of it ,enough to heat a home for about 10,000 years.

 

[gm280]

I use to live up north in north eastern PA and at that time we actually used coal for both heat and hot water being how we had water radiator baseboard heat. So I never seen oil heaters but understand how they work. And what really seems odd it that with the falling of crude oil prices, why is it that everything made with crude oil hasn't dropped in price as well. For instance, have you priced mineral spirits, or acetone, or lacquer thinner, or even oil for your vehicles lately? Their prices actually went up. And somebody tell me why diesel fuel is not lower then gasoline. It sure looks like somebody is pocketing a lot more profit then usual. I wonder what they will be charging for K1 fuel now....

 

[jkust]

I use to live up north in north eastern PA and at that time we actually used coal for both heat and hot water being how we had water radiator baseboard heat. So I never seen oil heaters but understand how they work. And what really seems odd it that with the falling of crude oil prices, why is it that everything made with crude oil hasn't dropped in price as well. For instance, have you priced mineral spirits, or acetone, or lacquer thinner, or even oil for your vehicles lately? Their prices actually went up. And somebody tell me why diesel fuel is not lower then gasoline. It sure looks like somebody is pocketing a lot more profit then usual. I wonder what they will be charging for K1 fuel now....

Funny, I've never seen a coal heater or one that uses fuel oil. Propane, natural gas/city utility and electric baseboards are the common ones. Natural gas bill has a lot of taxes and forced charity type fees included versus propane that you buy from a coop.

 

[angus63]

I paid the lowest prices in nearly 10 years for heating fuel and marine diesel this month. I have two kids in college starting this month too, so the change is very welcome!!!!!