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Fuel oil prices

Started by mike_van, November 15, 2007, 07:37:20 PM

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mike_van

We've got a thread on firewood, so........ truck came today 80 gallons, 3.09 per gallon!  He hadn't been here in months, won't be back for many more - I get this  smiley_roller smiley_blue_bounce everytime I look at the woodpile. There's going to be a lot of very poor or very cold people come spring. smiley_crying
I was the smartest 16 year old I ever knew.

Tom

Back in 1973, before the turn of the century ;D ,  when fuel oil hit 50ยข a gallon, I unhooked my space heater and bought a two plate woodstove.  Me and the boys fed that thing for a little over 4 years.  We saved enough money on fuel to buy and install an electric, water to air heat pump, duct and all.

This might get some of those folks who never leave their house to talking with their neighbors again. :D

beenthere

When I built this house I am in, the 1968 fuel oil price was 15.9 cents a gallon. In 73, I put in a wood stove (Ashley stove) and in a few years, put in a wood boiler. Wouldn't want to trade back to not burnin wood for winter heat. That 6 cords I burn in the winter is worth a lot of money to me. That is how I justify the tractor, the splitter, and the MS361 saw.. ;D  and a new logrite or two along the way.

I broke my logging tong tip off week afore last, and it cost me $20 to have it welded back on..just didn't mind one bit.  For backup, I have propane, but that is $1.60 a gallon this year (contract).

Wood is good, if ya have it available.  ;D
south central Wisconsin
It may be that my sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others

Corley5

  High fuel oil means high diesel prices at the pump.  Off road was $3.209 a couple days ago and premium on road was $3.739.  Regular diesel was $3.699.  The premium's worth four cents
  My parents had a fuel oil furnace installed in the late 60s.  At that time it costs a dollar a day for oil to heat the house but Dad was only making a couple bucks an hour too.  He put in a woodstove in 74  :) :)
Burnt Gunpowder is the Smell Of Freedom

arj

My house has a combination wood - oil furnace & an oil fired hot water heater,
greenhouse & garage have a small oil furnace, got 400 gal. last week $2.99.
Should last till March.                 
                                          arj

fuzzybear

   Fuel oil hit $1.39 a liter here. Cost my neighbor $1200 a month to heat his house last year. He installed a wood stove and bought 10 cords of firewood from me. He says "it's money in the bank"
   They are projecting oil to hit $1.99 a liter here this winter. For Our American friends that's about $8.30 US a gallon. They claim it's the cost of living in the great white north.
I'll heat with wood. Cost's me about $45 a month to heat my house and shop. ;D
   And we only have 6 more months of winter left. whiteflag_smiley
I never met a tree I didn't like!!

WDH

I have two free standing wood stoves in my house, one in the front-middle and one in the back.  They keep it toasty in here.  Of course, my climate is milder than many of you, even so, the wood heat saves a bundle on energy cost.  Plus, I have plenty of wood to utilize.  I generally harvest that which has died of natural causes within the last year on my place. 

It is real nice and warm in here tonight :).  I sympathize with the folks who are having to buy fuel oil.
Woodmizer LT40HDD35, John Deere 2155, Kubota M5-111, Kubota L2501, Nyle L53 Dehumidification Kiln, and a passion for all things with leafs, twigs, and bark.  hamsleyhardwood.com

Tom

I wonder what these high oil prices for home heating will do to the momentum the environmentalists have built up over the years.  Do you think a bunch of them will see trees in a different light after this year?

WDH

I sincerely hope so.  Idealism meets realism.
Woodmizer LT40HDD35, John Deere 2155, Kubota M5-111, Kubota L2501, Nyle L53 Dehumidification Kiln, and a passion for all things with leafs, twigs, and bark.  hamsleyhardwood.com

RSteiner

Just a week ago, last Friday, a woman at work had to buy fuel oil and she found a dealer selling oil for $2.91 a gallon.  By Monday oil prices had gone up to over $3.00 a gallon.

Oil dealers around here, southwestern New Hampshire will not deliever last than 100 gallons per trip.  A friend of ours had a little extra cash and wanted to buy $150.00 gallons of oil.  Their oil dealer told them of the 100 gallon minimum, that's over $300.00 now.

I feel sorry for those people who are just getting by and they are facing these high prices to stay warm.  We heat solely with wood we don't have any other heating system, it feels good to have two years supply of firewood sitting at home.

Randy
Randy

thecfarm

Just about the same prices here,$3 a gallon.That is stupid.I just put in a outdoor furnace.Wife cannot have the wood in the house.Just the smell of some wood would hurt her lungs due to a bad cold or whatever it was 2 years ago.Even being behind a diesel truck just starting out will hurt her lungs.Wife was kinda wondering if it was a good idea.We was going to burn oil.She's happy we put it in now.My paycheck is still set up on gas around $1.30.It makes it hard.I use to work for the low income and would see alot of hard times.It's too bad.
Model 6020-20hp Manual Thomas bandsaw,TC40A 4wd 40 hp New Holland tractor, 450 Norse Winch, Heatmor 400 OWB,YCC 1978-79

Warbird

Quote from: Tom on November 15, 2007, 11:22:22 PM
I wonder what these high oil prices for home heating will do to the momentum the environmentalists have built up over the years.  Do you think a bunch of them will see trees in a different light after this year?

Yes, they will.  It's already starting around here.  In fact, some very far left people I know just bought a house that has a wood stove in it.  I gave them a bit of seasoned firewood, just so they could try it out.  Within a week, they'd gone down to a local mill and purchased a cord of split wood.  I take partial credit for their conversion.  ;D

Ron Wenrich

I use oil for hot water and heat.  But, my thermostat is set at about 62ยฐ or less.  The balance of the heat comes from my soapstone stove.  It will heat the whole house as long as it isn't too windy and as long as someone throws wood into it. 

The local oil dealer said our fuel consumption was the least in the county.  I'm still thinking about putting some sort of solar heater in. 
Never under estimate the power of stupid people in large groups.

Engineer

I've been heating two houses since October 2006.  The house we live in NOW (and will for a couple more weeks) has oil-fired hot water baseboard heat.  I don't usually run the fireplace, so we depend on the oil.  I have only been able to afford 100 gallons at a time for quite a while, and we just ran out a couple days ago.  My brother is buying the house from us and he's converting to propane, I told him he better put a woodburning insert in the fireplace if he wants to stay warm this winter.  Bro don't make a lot of $$.  Heck, nobody can afford oil right now.  We thought it was bad a few years ago when it was over $2 a gallon. 

The new house, is heated with a Central Boiler Dual-Fuel model, wood boiler with propane backup.  I don't expect to be filling the propane tank until at least this time next year.  500 gallons oughta go a long way toward just running my kitchen stove.   I burned 4 cords last winter heating 4300 square feet, heat AND hot water, but we weren't living there yet so the hot water was just for cleaning, painting and other washing-type chores.  This year I figure 6-7 cords, and it's all cut and ready.  Sure does justify the cost of a new chain saw and other firewood tools.  I'n gonna treat myself to a new splitting maul this winter.   :D

Warbird

I feel yer pain, Engineer.  They are projecting $4/gal by the end of the year here.  Last winter, for the months of Dec, Jan, Feb & Mar, we averaged 225 gal/mo.  That'd be $3,600.  :( 

I've got the boiler turned way down but it's the only thing that heats the crawl space and the shop.  Since the water softener is out in the shop, we have to keep it above freezing.  We've started looking into selling the Blaze King wood stove and buying a wood forced air furnace that I could put in the shop, then heat the house with the forced air.

All kinds of things to consider doing that, tho...  not sure if it is okay to have a forced air unit in a shop with vehicles (due to CO worries) that blows air into the house.  Pretty sure I could hook up a fresh air intake on the unit but I don't know if there are codes for this sort of thing.

I'm really concerned about people all over the country freezing.  It'll be interesting to see how the market handles it.

Furby

Would it be possible/easier/cheaper to move the water softener into the house somehow?

Warbird

Quote from: Furby on November 16, 2007, 10:40:33 PM
Would it be possible/easier/cheaper to move the water softener into the house somehow?

Well, it's a 2 stage system and takes up a lot of floor space.  Plus, if at all possible, I want to keep the shop above freezing for the vehicles.

LeeB

This ought to make all of you sick. It always bothers me to see it go up in smoke. I watched enough Natural gas flare off last night to heat all our homes for the winter. We just finished drilling and completing a well and one of the last steps is to "test the well" to see what the reserves are and how much of a flow rate the gas can be extracted. 

'98 LT40HDD/Lombardini, Case 580L, Cat D4C, JD 3032 tractor, JD 5410 tractor, Husky 346, 372 and 562XP's. Stihl MS180 and MS361, 1998 and 2006 3/4 Ton 5.9 Cummins 4x4's, 1989 Dodge D100 w/ 318, and a 1966 Chevy C60 w/ dump bed.

WDH

These fuel prices are insidious; they creep up on people, and before long, they bite your head off.  A lot of folks do not own land or have ready access to wood, so they bear the brunt of the high fuel oil prices.   Borrowing money to stay warm will be a sad reality for some.

I do not want to step across the line into the political arena, but a well thought energy policy and strategy for this country would be a blessing if there is a leader out there with the gumption to make it happen.  In the meantime, people will suffer this winter.  Those of Us With Wood (TOUWW) are in better shape than most.  (We know that there is at least OneWithWood, OWW).  ;D
Woodmizer LT40HDD35, John Deere 2155, Kubota M5-111, Kubota L2501, Nyle L53 Dehumidification Kiln, and a passion for all things with leafs, twigs, and bark.  hamsleyhardwood.com

Warbird

Yup.  I used to work in the oil business.  My first degree is in Petroleum Science Technology.  Problem is, they won't let us drill in ANWR and the natural gas pipeline is on hold.  Do you have any idea how much oil is in ANWR??

WH_Conley

Nope, no idea. How much, ya got us curious. Amount vs amount we use annually.
Bill

Quartlow

I know if I had to heat with propane I would be hurting.. I'm lucky that I have a deal lined up for firewood that should cover me for a several years to come.

I really do feel sorry for the folks that are on limited/fixed/low incomes.
Breezewood 24 inch mill
Have a wooderful day!!

beenthere

All the wood we burn, saves that much fuel for someone else who needs it.
south central Wisconsin
It may be that my sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others

Onthesauk

I went to a city council meeting this last week and listened to a couple of the regional clean air people complain about wood stoves.  They want them all traded out for propane or electric heat.  Hinting that eventually they are going to be banned.  This in a community where most of the folks have used wood for heat for years.  Going to be tough.

John Deere 3038E
Sukuki LT-F500

Don't attribute irritating behavior to malevolence when mere stupidity will suffice as an explanation.

beenthere

Anybody speak up at that meeting to mention the supply of such resources??  Or sit quietly and let 'em ramble..?

Like the next forest fire in that area won't dump gazillion more smoke particles out in the atmosphere..or the next Mt St Helens type eruption. ::) ::)
south central Wisconsin
It may be that my sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others

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