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Fuel Oil

MossbergboogieMossbergboogie Member Posts: 12,211
edited November 2007 in General Discussion
Keep hearing about home heating oil cost, and I cant help but wonder why more people are not switching to somthing else. With the money spent on heating oil you could buy a electric furnace or a natural gas where available. I know at home we have a LP gas furnace and thats not cheap but probably still cheaper than a fuel oil furnace. My Grandpa still uses wood heat but has a gas furnace for back up.
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Comments

  • MossbergboogieMossbergboogie Member Posts: 12,211
    edited November -1
    This question was inspired by the question about diesel fuel. Fuel oil is graded, to my knowledge, 1 to 6. #1 is the lightest and #6 is the heaviest. I always thought fuel for jet engines was called JP4. Is this correct? Is #4 fuel oil the same as JP4? To my knowledge #6 is only used by ships and large stationary engines. Is that right?
    Thanks

    J. Patrick Tatum
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  • MVPMVP Member Posts: 23,453 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    I have a wood stove that I use 80% of the time and also a oil furnace that I just burn off road diesel in. The offroad diesel is almost 1.50 a gallon cheaper for me than to have the delivery guy fill my tank.
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  • MIKE WISKEYMIKE WISKEY Member Posts: 10,042 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    fuel costs from most expensive to least (I'm a hvac dealer and sell all of them)
    1. wood
    2. electricity
    3. oil
    4. l.p. gas
    5. nat. gas
    6. electric heat pump (above 20 deg. far.)
    note: some red neck will come on and say "I cut my oun wood and get it free", if he would sell the wood and buy gas he'd have money in his pocket.
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  • spanielsellsspanielsells Member Posts: 12,498
    edited November -1
    Right now we're using old-fashioned oil-heaters in our house. We're going to see if there's a cost-savings over last year, where our heating bill averaged $250/month on natural gas.
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  • HandLoadHandLoad Member Posts: 15,998 ✭
    edited November -1
    Hey MW - are the costs not even close? In some markets, might they be in a different order? Just curious - we use Natural Gas here, in a pretty big house - bills for heating uses and cooking all amount to only about $80/month in heating season.
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  • Warpig883Warpig883 Member Posts: 6,459
    edited November -1
    Many don't switch to natural gas because it is not available.
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  • dpmuledpmule Member Posts: 6,739 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    I'd love to switch from wood and propane to natural gas, but the last house and where it crosses under the road to service our little village, is a measured 660' feet from my property line, same side of the road and Intermountain gas wants $12,000 to bring the line to my property line. I offered to have to trench dug, etc, etc, and they said no they had to do it all.
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  • Warpig883Warpig883 Member Posts: 6,459
    edited November -1
    The nearest line to me is 5 miles and the natural gas company won't run a new line unless it is cost effective.

    They need a town of around 1000 all commited to natural gas before they will even consider it.
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  • spanielsellsspanielsells Member Posts: 12,498
    edited November -1
    quote:Originally posted by Warpig883
    The nearest line to me is 5 miles and the natural gas company won't run a new line unless it is cost effective.

    They need a town of around 1000 all commited to natural gas before they will even consider it.


    Sounds like cable TV. Back when I lived up in Evergreen, my house was located 500 feet (that's FEET not MILES) from the end of their existing service line. I offered to pay whatever it would cost to dig or string the cable the 500 feet. They refused.
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  • MVPMVP Member Posts: 23,453 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    All my wood is free except for the gas to run the splitter and chain saw. I have more wood then I know what to do with it. So wood heat is by far the cheapest in my book.
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  • Warpig883Warpig883 Member Posts: 6,459
    edited November -1
    I grew up feeding 3 wood stoves in my parents huge house. I never wanted to see a chainsaw or splitting maul again. When I bought my own place after the military wood heat was the last thing I wanted.

    Now that I have 2 strong teenage sons I am thinking of getting a wood stove again[:p]
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  • LightningLightning Member Posts: 945 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    quote:Originally posted by MVP
    All my wood is free except for the gas to run the splitter and chain saw. I have more wood then I know what to do with it. So wood heat is by far the cheapest in my book.


    Ditto
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  • Colt SuperColt Super Member Posts: 31,007 ✭
    edited November -1
    I studied this issue some time ago, and wood was the most cost-effective.

    Doug
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  • RUGERGUNZRUGERGUNZ Member Posts: 5,638 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    Hopefully next year I will be running an outdoor wood furnace. It will be tied into my existing furnace and hot water heater.

    I have untold cords of wood stacked here and there but can't do much with them right now.
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  • bang250bang250 Member Posts: 8,021
    edited November -1
    quote:Originally posted by HandLoad
    Hey MW - are the costs not even close? In some markets, might they be in a different order? Just curious - we use Natural Gas here, in a pretty big house - bills for heating uses and cooking all amount to only about $80/month in heating season.


    Ouch! I have a relatively small house, on propane, average $500/month in the heating months. We're well insulated too. [xx(]
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  • CubsloverCubslover Member Posts: 18,601 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    Different areas are different.

    We were running $325/mo for Natural gas heating, bought two electric space heaters $100, our gas bill dropped over $100/month. Paid for themselves in a month.
    Half of the lives they tell about me aren't true.
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  • buschmasterbuschmaster Member Posts: 14,229 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    quote:Originally posted by MIKE WISKEY
    fuel costs from most expensive to least (I'm a hvac dealer and sell all of them)
    1. wood
    2. electricity
    3. oil
    4. l.p. gas
    5. nat. gas
    6. electric heat pump (above 20 deg. far.)(and what cubslover said)

    I don't know about natural gas being 2nd to cheapest, depends on the gas co.! I spend up to 325$/mo on gas bills in the winter, some other dudes in the neighborhood have spent 375$. if I don't use any gas or hot water for a month (no bath) I still get a 29$ gas bill. mebbe nat. gas is cheaper, but not when you get it from the gas co.

    btw, if cubslover's electric heaters are both 1500 watts, and electricity is about 8c/KWH, he could run them 24/7 all month and it would cost $172.80
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  • MIKE WISKEYMIKE WISKEY Member Posts: 10,042 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    "Hey MW - are the costs not even close?"... SURE PRICES VARY, BUT NOT BY MUCH. All "my wood is free except for the gas to run the splitter and chain saw. I have more wood then I know what to do with it. So wood heat is by far the cheapest in my book."... SEE THE PART ABOUT SELLING THE WOOD[:D]
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  • yawarakaiyawarakai Member Posts: 2,688 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    You forgot geothermal heating. Also cheap. Use a heat sink in the ground to heat the place.
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  • slipgateslipgate Member Posts: 12,741
    edited November -1
    We just got new siding this year and 1" insulation foam under it all. I expect us to save quite a bit. So far this season, I have to set the thermostat at 67 for it to be below 72 upstairs! The new insulation must be doing its job pretty well!

    We are natural gas.
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  • RosieRosie Member Posts: 14,525 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Those 1500 watt are probably only putting out about 5000 BTU's each.
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  • dakotashooter2dakotashooter2 Member Posts: 6,186
    edited November -1
    While that sounds good the diversity of having several fuels available is what keeps the prices fairly close and stable. If everyone switched from fuel oil to natural gas or electric the demand for those would drive the costs up. The best scenario for the individual homeowner is to have a duel fuel system. In the case of electric many suppliers offer discounts for those who have duel fuel/off peak systems.
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  • victorlvlbvictorlvlb Member Posts: 5,004
    edited November -1
    Even paying for my wood is cheaper then natural gas, in my area. A cord of wood will cost me $ 160.00. It will last me two to three months, depending on how cold it gets.If I use gas it could cost me $90.00 to a hundred bucks a month, and thats if its a warm winter.Burning wood the house stays a 70 degrees or better. With gas we are at 60 degrees tops.
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