Heating oil went up from $3.699 to $4.099 since last month and I just got 175 gallons.

What pisses me off is that Central Maine regional prices as of today are STILL at $3.699, but us rednecks in Downeast Maine are getting shafted.

I've fired my current supplier twice over the years and both times they've eventually bought out the independents I switched to.

$4.09 certainly seems high. The regional heating oil price for southern NH is also $3.699.

Does your supplier offer a summer pre-buy program?

quote:

Originally posted by Graniteguy:

Does your supplier offer a summer pre-buy program?

Not sure, but I'm certainly going to check into it!

So how long does 175 gallons of heating oil last anyway?

For comparison, I just got a $428.48 Natural Gas bill from Liberty Utilities for the 12/20/25 - 1/26/26 billing period. It was my highest monthly bill in at least five years, maybe more...My spreadsheet only goes back that far. For the record, I'm heating 3100 sq. ft. w/ a Hydronic Boiler and the T-stat(s) set at 66° (setback temp = 62°).

That was between 1/16 and 2/18 of this year. It HAS been colder than the last several years, but that's not significantly higher consumption.

I keep a spreadsheet and November-March consumption has run between 140 and 180 gallons per month for the last 4 years.

~2000 square feet, 2 story, but old: North half 100+ years, South half 70 years. Hydronic with new boiler ~10 years ago.

I'm not so sure it's supply and demand anymore as much as it is "because they can" increase. Sadly I am seeing that with more and more items.

We have a oil/hydronic boiler for heat and domestic hot water.
But the oil heat is only backup for the Lopi AGP pellet stove.
I am within ~15 bags of finishing ton #4, and still have another ton already here at the house.
When it was -10 Fahrenheit up to about 15 Fahrenheit, it's about 2 bags of pellets per day.
It's warmer now and at present, one bag per day.
(50 bags @ 40 lbs. per bag on a one ton pallet)

Tractor Supply pellets were $330 per ton last fall, so 5 tons = $1650.
If heating with oil only, I would burn through a 250 gallon tank in about five to six weeks during the coldest parts of winter. (at about $1000 per tank)
My guestimate for oil heat would be about $4000 for the entire heating season.
Pellet heat is less than half the cost of fuel oil.

Another plus for the pellet heat is the average temperature in the house is 74 F to 76 F and my winter "uniform" is t-shirt and shorts if I'm not going out.
Oil heat? Likely set at 66 F to 67 F and long pants, long sleeve shirt, and a sweat shirt just being inside. (and feeling like you are freezing to death)

We did have some initial issues using the pellet stove only for heat, we had a hydronic boiler heat loop freeze and split a pipe. Boiler antifreeze in the heat loops solved that.
The boiler is located in an outside wall/attached room, and formerly was heated with "waste" heat given off by the boiler doing it's thing.
The boiler requires a window being open about 3/4" for combustion air or it doesn't burn efficiently. So cold air is always entering the boiler room.
Without makeup heat, the well pressure tank, cold makeup water supply to the boiler, domestic hot water tank & lines, and the water softener would freeze.
I added two 250 watt infrared "chicken coop" lamps inside the boiler room, and run one or both as needed so the boiler room stays above 40 F.
I installed a ten inch diameter analog thermometer inside the boiler room and it's visible with a flashlight looking through the boiler room door window.
There was a "learning curve" for certain, but I have it figured out now.

The heating oil sellers don't sell us very much heating oil now.
We still may need some more pellets for finishing out the heating season, but the goal is not to store any pellets here during the late spring, summer and early fall.
If needed, maybe ten bags at a time in the bed of the pickup, and bring them home from Tractor Supply.

PHPaul, didn't you recently install a pellet stove?

quote:

Originally posted by cee_Kamp:

PHPaul, didn't you recently install a pellet stove?

Sore subject, but yes.

Mrs. PHPaul says its for "emergencies" but I can't seem to get a definition of "emergency". We have a whole-house generator so the only way the oil furnace would become inoperable is if we ran out of fuel or a major hardware failure.

Also, she LIVES in the room the stove is installed in and because of the layout of the house it'd typically run 80° in there to be comfortable in the rest of the house. I'd be fine with that as I'm typically never in there.

I have two tons of pellets on hand and they'll probably mold or swell up before they're used, if ever.

I'm seriously pissed after spending that amount of time and money, but it's not a hill I'm willing to die on.

Sounds like even with prepay the 175 gallon tank will have to be refilled once or more per winter.

I did a quick Gemini AI search and it sounds like there are 3 thresholds of pain factor in heating oil tanks sizes in Maine:

greater than 350 gallons requires adhering to Maine Fuel Board rules

greater than 660 gallons Maine DEP rules

greater than 1320 gallons requires SPCC plan. I'm in oil & gas and SPCC plans are both a federal requirement and a pain in the ass.

In other words, it looks like a 275 to 350 gallon tank would maximize the summer Prepay value without being a regulatory nightmare.

---

Ego is the anesthesia that deadens the pain of stupidity

DISCLAIMER: These are the author's own personal views and do not represent the views of the author's employer.

I believe I can pre-pay for x amount of gallons and they'll deliver as needed, so no additional storage required.

Maine and New England in general are still very heavily heating-oil-based, aren't they?

We still have a lot around here but mostly in older areas and people are steadily switching to NG and heat pumps it seems. I've noticed in just 10 years living where I'm at that a good number of heating oil suppliers have been bought out, instead of like 6-8 of them there are only 3-4 left in the service area.

We had heating oil for the first year here and it was horrible worrying about running out and having to put in diesel until you could get a delivery then the price shock of that. Switched to a new NG furnace a year later with budget billing and love it.

quote:

Originally posted by PHPaul:
I've fired my current supplier twice over the years and both times they've eventually bought out the independents I switched to.

Only semantics here, but maybe the sentence should read...My last 2 suppliers have chosen to sell their business to a competitor.

Funny, the majority of folks I know who own their own small business, their #1 goal is to eventually sell the business...often long before they hit "retirement" age. They aren't selling it to retire, they're selling it for the financial gain. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

I had a conversation with a friend yesterday about this very topic. He owns a small restaurant and is one of the few people I know who's goal is not to sell it. He was lamenting the fact that he can't find small, single operator business to fix his shit when it breaks. His Hobart restaurant equipment, HVAC system, etc... All of the small guys are retiring and/or selling their business to a larger one, who inevitably has shittier service with higher prices.

PHPaul,
You say that your wife thinks that the pellet stove is for emergencies only. And she determines what/when the emergency is.
IF "I" were you, I believe I would be inclined to "create" an emergency every now and then that would require routine pellet stove usage.
I believe this falls under "training the wife"!

How many thermostats do you have for the oil/hydronic boiler?
Just install a simple single pole single throw switch inline in the thermostat wiring. Someplace concealed where your wife doesn't go.
Start flicking that concealed switch to "OFF" every now and then on a late Saturday or Sunday night when typically, oil burner service technicians are sleeping soundly.
When it's good and cool inside, fire up that pellet stove!
The next day, flip that concealed switch back on.

I would be having BARRELS of FUN with a person in my household that caused me to wastefully spend heating budget money on oil instead of pellets.
I promise, I will not tell your wife!

quote:

I would be inclined to "create" an emergency every now and then

How about firing up said pellet stove for a day, just to make sure it'd work in an emergency! I fire up my generator every 2 weeks to make sure
1. It starts up
2. I get to check the fuel
3. I remember how to start it! LOL

quote:

Originally posted by 1967Goat:
Only semantics here, but maybe the sentence should read...My last 2 suppliers have chosen to sell their business to a competitor.

I have no issue with independents selling their business. Capitalism at its best.

quote:

Originally posted by cee_Kamp:
PHPaul,
You say that your wife thinks that the pellet stove is for emergencies only. And she determines what/when the emergency is.
IF "I" were you, I believe I would be inclined to "create" an emergency every now and then that would require routine pellet stove usage.
I believe this falls under "training the wife"!

We've been married 51 years and not how things work around here. The money is in the budget and she's comfortable.

quote:

Originally posted by PHPaul:

quote:

Originally posted by 1967Goat:
Only semantics here, but maybe the sentence should read...My last 2 suppliers have chosen to sell their business to a competitor.

I have no issue with independents selling their business. Capitalism at its best.

Did they sell to someone local? The reason I ask is the trend that has been happening all over the country where vulture capitalists target an area trying to buy every Mom and Pop business in a certain market (e.g. plumbing, HVAC, etc). Inevitably prices double and triple as there is no competition. Some of them have set up LLCs and declared bankruptcy after people quit buying their overpriced services, but then the region is left with no business in that market. That's not capitalism and DOJ should be looking at the practice as a violation of Sherman and/or Clayton Antitrust Act.

There are dozens of oil and propane supply companies operating in PH's neck of the woods.

If he contacts a few companies in late June to secure their best pre-buy price based on his volume usage, he will save around $1 per gallon.

Since he owns his oil tank, he can switch whenever he wants. (vs. propane tanks often owned by the supplier)

Oh, and my wife of 34 years won't let me buy a wood stove.

.
Propane, man oh man, Propane is where it's at.

With apologies to Eric Clapton, from the year 1977.

PHPaul-
What's the going price for over-the-road and off-road diesel in your neck of the woods these days?

In my younger days, I fed my hungry boiler 50 gallons at a time when it was close to payday and I couldn't afford to fill the tank with heating oil (1000gal buried). Got me through some cold nights.