Home Heating Oil

[BOSTONFICTIONWRITER]

I was wondering if anyone was considering locking in the price of their home heating oil.

My oil company has offered us a deal (sic) at $4.29 a gallon for 1,600 gallons (what we used last year to heat the mansion), so long as we prepay $6,864 up front. Fortunately, we have the money to prepay it, but I can't help but feel that I'm being hosed. Presently, home heating oil in Massachusetts is around $3.69 a gallon.

I feel bad for those people who are living paycheck to paycheck and are just making ends meet, before home heating oil goes through the roof. There's not end to the increase in gas, food, and medical costs. Now, they are saying that grain prices are going up because of these greedy commodity brokers. God bless America. What a country.

I've read that some are paying more than $4.29 to lock in a gallon price.

I figure, judging by what the experts are saying that the prices, especially on home heating oil due to supply and demand (same old shit), that prices will definitely go over the $5.00 mark.

We decided to close off the third floor, put plastic over the windows we don't use, put heavy draperies over all windows, install a wood burning stove in the fireplace downstairs, carry a space heater around (I bought a really good one last year), install a new thermostat, wear sweaters indoors, and basically keep the heat down.

I'm still trying to convince my girlfriend that the more sex we have the less heat we'll use. She's not buying it. She's already vetoed my argument of having a second woman sleeping in our bed, you know, for the sake of body heat (lol).

I'd appreciate any comments you may have. Thanks

 

[off2bed]

I thought the socialist dictator of Venezuela was selling heating oil to the Northeast at cheap prices. What happened to that? Another false promise?

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

Oil is dropping in price. Its about $117 a barrel today, and expected to drop to 100. One hundred dollars is about $2.75 a gallon.

The financial sites say that America's slowdown is reducing demand for oil everywhere.

Personally, I'd risk waiting to see where things are going, you may save $2000.

 

[trysail]

BeanTownFictionWriter,
I've spent a lifetime watching markets (both professionally and personally). If there's one thing I've learned it's that NOBODY (and I mean NOBODY) can accurately and consistently predict the short-run course of interest rates, the stock market, earnings or petroleum prices. I stopped doing it many, many, many years ago and I laugh at people who (A) attempt it or (B) believe the forecasts of the fools/carnival barkers who engage in the practice.

There are simply too many variables that can affect energy prices in the short run— not the least of which are:
hurricanes,
wars (think what prices could do if the Gulf of Hormuz was ever shut), and
weather (mild winter v. cold winter).

"Hedging" (which is what you'd be doing if you accept your dealers fixed price contract) is a form of insurance. In the long run, both hedging and insurance end up costing money. That's just the nature of the beast; people don't provide the service for free.

I'd like to give you "THE ANSWER" to your question but there isn't one. If you enter into the fixed price contract and New England has a mild winter, you will have paid a higher price than you would have if you hadn't entered into the contract. On the other hand, if you enter into the fixed price contract and Israel drops a nuke on Iran...

 

[Tricialen]

I was wondering if anyone was considering locking in the price of their home heating oil.

My oil company has offered us a deal (sic) at $4.29 a gallon for 1,600 gallons (what we used last year to heat the mansion), so long as we prepay $6,864 up front. Fortunately, we have the money to prepay it, but I can't help but feel that I'm being hosed. Presently, home heating oil in Massachusetts is around $3.69 a gallon.

I feel bad for those people who are living paycheck to paycheck and are just making ends meet, before home heating oil goes through the roof. There's not end to the increase in gas, food, and medical costs. Now, they are saying that grain prices are going up because of these greedy commodity brokers. God bless America. What a country.

I've read that some are paying more than $4.29 to lock in a gallon price.

I figure, judging by what the experts are saying that the prices, especially on home heating oil due to supply and demand (same old shit), that prices will definitely go over the $5.00 mark.

We decided to close off the third floor, put plastic over the windows we don't use, put heavy draperies over all windows, install a wood burning stove in the fireplace downstairs, carry a space heater around (I bought a really good one last year), install a new thermostat, wear sweaters indoors, and basically keep the heat down.

I'm still trying to convince my girlfriend that the more sex we have the less heat we'll use. She's not buying it. She's already vetoed my argument of having a second woman sleeping in our bed, you know, for the sake of body heat (lol).

I'd appreciate any comments you may have. Thanks

We have gas heat....but we also a use space heater. My husband love the cold but not me.....but I resist turning up the thermostat. Instead, I wear extra thick socks and warm sweaters.

Body heat is the best, yes. But I have to agree with your girlfriend. I'm a selfish sort....no other woman in my bed....now if it were another man...ummmmmm

 

[BOSTONFICTIONWRITER]

We have gas heat....but we also a use space heater. My husband love the cold but not me.....but I resist turning up the thermostat. Instead, I wear extra thick socks and warm sweaters.

Body heat is the best, yes. But I have to agree with your girlfriend. I'm a selfish sort....no other woman in my bed....now if it were another man...ummmmmm

Damn, I was hoping to get more support for having the extra woman in bed (lol).

 

[BOSTONFICTIONWRITER]

Oil is dropping in price. Its about $117 a barrel today, and expected to drop to 100. One hundred dollars is about $2.75 a gallon.

The financial sites say that America's slowdown is reducing demand for oil everywhere.

Personally, I'd risk waiting to see where things are going, you may save $2000.

Yeah, I heard that, too, but they are saying that these lower prices only affect gas prices and not home heating oil prices.

I think Exxon and Shell should give free home heating oil to all those in America who can't afford it, as an appreciation for all the business that they gave them when times were good.

Then, again, I still believe in Santa Claus (lol), that our president tells us the truth, and my girlfriend is a virgin.

"So...explain to me again how you've had two daughters, but are still a virgin?"

 

[TxRad]

Is Natural Gas available in your area? It's a much better deal than fuel oil and cleaner to boot.

 

[BOSTONFICTIONWRITER]

I thought the socialist dictator of Venezuela was selling heating oil to the Northeast at cheap prices. What happened to that? Another false promise?

Actually, Joe Kennedy has a program where he receives cheap(er) oil from Venezuela. Only, I know there was a falling out between the US and Venezuela last year.

We can only hope his program is still intact, as he helps a lot of people who would otherwise go without. I think he passes out 400 free gallons to whoever can prove that they need it.

I still like the idea of Exxon and Shell passes out some free home heating oil to the needy.

 

[BOSTONFICTIONWRITER]

BeanTownFictionWriter,
I've spent a lifetime watching markets (both professionally and personally). If there's one thing I've learned it's that NOBODY (and I mean NOBODY) can accurately and consistently predict the short-run course of interest rates, the stock market, earnings or petroleum prices. I stopped doing it many, many, many years ago and I laugh at people who (A) attempt it or (B) believe the forecasts of the fools/carnival barkers who engage in the practice.

There are simply too many variables that can affect energy prices in the short run— not the least of which are:
hurricanes,
wars (think what prices could do if the Gulf of Hormuz was ever shut), and
weather (mild winter v. cold winter).

"Hedging" (which is what you'd be doing if you accept your dealers fixed price contract) is a form of insurance. In the long run, both hedging and insurance end up costing money. That's just the nature of the beast; people don't provide the service for free.

I'd like to give you "THE ANSWER" to your question but there isn't one. If you enter into the fixed price contract and New England has a mild winter, you will have paid a higher price than you would have if you hadn't entered into the contract. On the other hand, if you enter into the fixed price contract and Israel drops a nuke on Iran...

Yeah, I think we're taking a wait and see attitude over the next week or two before deciding what to do.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

Oil dropped to $114 today.

TRYSAIL

I'm certain there are people with the right stuff to divine where things are going. The economy is crashing; its as clear to me as my ugly puss in the mirror. Oil is falling because the government rats who speculated need the money to replace lost tax revenues. Our local power company reports that new customer connects dropped 93% last year....from 30,000 to about 3,000. The power company plans to fire people.

The crash is coming!

 

[BOSTONFICTIONWRITER]

Is Natural Gas available in your area? It's a much better deal than fuel oil and cleaner to boot.

Yeah it is, but with supply and demand, there are lots of people switching from oil to gas and those prices are on their way up, too.

 

[BOSTONFICTIONWRITER]

Is Natural Gas available in your area? It's a much better deal than fuel oil and cleaner to boot.

Yet, now that you mention it, I wonder how much it cost to convert from oil to gas. It'd be nice if I didn't have to close off the third floor. I have my pool table up there (lol).

"Freddie, there's no way that I'm playing strip pool. It's too frigging cold up here."

"Here, have another drink. This will warm you up."

 

[TxRad]

Yeah it is, but with supply and demand, there are lots of people switching from oil to gas and those prices are on their way up, too.

Natural gas is cheaper there in the the northeast than it is here in Texas, if you can believe that. A hold over from the second WW.

Natural gas prices are falling along with oil. As a side note, 90% of the wells drilled in the US are gas wells. New fields are still being discovered. The same can't be said for oil.

 

[trysail]

Oil dropped to $114 today.

TRYSAIL

I'm certain there are people with the right stuff to divine where things are going.

JBJ-
You can be certain— but, then, you'd be wrong.

There are too many completely unpredictable variables. While petroleum may have dropped to $114/barrel today, what do you think heating oil prices will do if a late-August hurricane should knock out half the Gulf Coast's refining capacity?

What do you think the price of petroleum will do if one of Osama bin Laden's buddies manages to blow up Ras Tanura?

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

TRYSAIL

True. We may discover that dog turds mixed with pondscum makes 100 octane gasoline. Anything is possible.

But a lotta things are contingent on what we're doing today, because budgets are made and people are hired/fired and stuff is ordered or not ordered.

Like...in this county the real estate market collapsed, the construction industry collapsed, tourists arent coming, taxe revenues are down, people arent buying many cars, the power company and schools and developers and government are postponing projects. Unemployment has doubled. There are 32,000 unsold new homes in the area. 40% of the banks are losing money.

So, you can figure people will buy less school clothes, Christmas will likely take a hit, etc. Restaurants are closing.

 

[BOSTONFICTIONWRITER]

TRYSAIL

True. We may discover that dog turds mixed with pondscum makes 100 octane gasoline. Anything is possible.

But a lotta things are contingent on what we're doing today, because budgets are made and people are hired/fired and stuff is ordered or not ordered.

Like...in this county the real estate market collapsed, the construction industry collapsed, tourists arent coming, taxe revenues are down, people arent buying many cars, the power company and schools and developers and government are postponing projects. Unemployment has doubled. There are 32,000 unsold new homes in the area. 40% of the banks are losing money.

So, you can figure people will buy less school clothes, Christmas will likely take a hit, etc. Restaurants are closing.

Damn, and all this time, I've been picking up my dog's poop and throwing it away! Who knew?

 

[oggbashan]

Oil store

Many years ago my brother had a leak in his small oil fuel tank.

At the time he couldn't afford a new one because he was renovating a house built in the 1630s. He lived in a small village. One of his friends knew where there was an old ex-army fuel tank that was cheap. It was - five pounds if removed from site. With the help of some more friends the tank was collected and erected on a brick built base. The bricks were secondhand. The mortar was from some water damaged cement sacks.

The total cost of tank, removal, base-building and installation was about twenty pounds plus a couple of gallons of home-brewed beer and meals for six men.

The larger tank had more oil fuel left in it than my brother's old tank's capacity and that was worth far more than the total cost.

The large tank held 7,500 Imperial gallons. The old one held 250.

When my brother's finances improved he could get a discount for deliveries of 2,500 gallons. He planted shrubs around the army green tank to hide it from the house and garden.

When he moved to a smaller but equally ancient house the village had gas supplied and his next house had gas central heating. The new owners decided that the fuel tank was just too large so they replaced it with a small new tank. Then they sold their house.

The next owners wanted to replace the old massive tank which was still stored elsewhere in the village.

In the meantime planning laws had changed. They needed planning permission to put the old tank back. It cost them 2,000 pounds to get that permission...

Now my brother has North Sea gas, woodburners and an open fire. He acquired some coal bunkers free and can now store enough wood from his own small area of woodland and coal to last a winter even if the gas supply is interrupted. Next step is to install his own power generating windmill and he can tell the energy suppliers where to go.

Og

 

[Zeb_Carter]

Yet, now that you mention it, I wonder how much it cost to convert from oil to gas. It'd be nice if I didn't have to close off the third floor. I have my pool table up there (lol).

"Freddie, there's no way that I'm playing strip pool. It's too frigging cold up here."

"Here, have another drink. This will warm you up."

Less than $6,800.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

BFW

In the Old Times dog turds were used to tan leather.

 

[BOSTONFICTIONWRITER]

Many years ago my brother had a leak in his small oil fuel tank.

At the time he couldn't afford a new one because he was renovating a house built in the 1630s. He lived in a small village. One of his friends knew where there was an old ex-army fuel tank that was cheap. It was - five pounds if removed from site. With the help of some more friends the tank was collected and erected on a brick built base. The bricks were secondhand. The mortar was from some water damaged cement sacks.

The total cost of tank, removal, base-building and installation was about twenty pounds plus a couple of gallons of home-brewed beer and meals for six men.

The larger tank had more oil fuel left in it than my brother's old tank's capacity and that was worth far more than the total cost.

The large tank held 7,500 Imperial gallons. The old one held 250.

When my brother's finances improved he could get a discount for deliveries of 2,500 gallons. He planted shrubs around the army green tank to hide it from the house and garden.

When he moved to a smaller but equally ancient house the village had gas supplied and his next house had gas central heating. The new owners decided that the fuel tank was just too large so they replaced it with a small new tank. Then they sold their house.

The next owners wanted to replace the old massive tank which was still stored elsewhere in the village.

In the meantime planning laws had changed. They needed planning permission to put the old tank back. It cost them 2,000 pounds to get that permission...

Now my brother has North Sea gas, woodburners and an open fire. He acquired some coal bunkers free and can now store enough wood from his own small area of woodland and coal to last a winter even if the gas supply is interrupted. Next step is to install his own power generating windmill and he can tell the energy suppliers where to go.

Og

I don't think my city or fire department would give me the permit to install a 7,500 tank in my basement (lol). Massachusetts has no sense of humor when it comes to storing an excessive amount of explosive fuel in your house (lol).

"Did you hear that explosion last night?"

"Oh, that's was just Freddie's house. He lit a match to see how much more oil he needed to fill his 7,500 tank."

Thanks for the info, though. Cheers to your brother.

 

[oggbashan]

I don't think my city or fire department would give me the permit to install a 7,500 tank in my basement (lol). Massachusetts has no sense of humor when it comes to storing an excessive amount of explosive fuel in your house (lol).

"Did you hear that explosion last night?"

"Oh, that's was just Freddie's house. He lit a match to see how much more oil he needed to fill his 7,500 tank."

Thanks for the info, though. Cheers to your brother.

Explosive fuel?

His system used, and the new owners, still use very crude heating oil with a high flash point. You can't light it by dropping a match on it. The burners need preheating.

If it was gasoline? There's no way the current owners could have got planning permission even though the tank is 50 yards from any other house.

Og

 

[BOSTONFICTIONWRITER]

BFW

In the Old Times dog turds were used to tan leather.

I bought a new Polo leather jacket last season. I thought it smelled vaguely familar.

 

[BOSTONFICTIONWRITER]

Less than $6,800.

Yeah but...I'd still have to pay for the gas and gas heat is less efficient than oil heat. Moreover, I'd have to line my chimney at $2,000.

I don't know, maybe I'll just move some place warmer (lol).

 

[cloudy]

I don't know, maybe I'll just move some place warmer (lol).

There ya go. I'll warn you, any money you'd save on heating in the winter time you'll turn around and spend in the summer on air conditioning. You quite literally risk your life if you live around here in the summer without it (newer houses don't have the high ceilings and the "dog trot" down the middle to stay cool like the old houses do).