Heating oil: Pay now or later?

Heating oil? Heating smoil. Who needs it.

Go Geothermal!

I've used all methods in the past for buying heating oil. I pre-bought oil from a particular company in August, with the understanding that any monies left over after I was done, would be returned to me. However, when I decided that I no longer needed anymore oil for the remaining of the heating season, I called to request a refund of my unused monies, that was in March. I was told that I would not receive a refund on my unused monies until June, that was several months after I informed then that I no longer needed anymore oil from them. Yes, you do get your money back, but next time, I'll look at a different company and be sure to get my money back when I request it, not several months down the road.

yep this could get ugly

I am contemplating a geothermal for my cape cod. Does anyone have one?

wph351 wrote:

I am contemplating a geothermal for my cape cod. Does anyone have one?

I put one in 3 -4 years ago.

We only used about 500 gallons of oil last year, supplemented by the woodstove. We've already got our wood for this year and are working on next year's stack.

Also, Kohl's has these wonderful Velux throws called the Big One that feel like velvet, are lightweight, and very warm. I got them on sale last fall for about $15 apiece. Between the throws, hot flashes and snuggling, who needs a lot of oil?:-)

George wrote:

We only used about 500 gallons of oil last year, supplemented by the woodstove. We've already got our wood for this year and are working on next year's stack.
Also, Kohl's has these wonderful Velux throws called the Big One that feel like velvet, are lightweight, and very warm. I got them on sale last fall for about $15 apiece. Between the throws, hot flashes and snuggling, who needs a lot of oil?:-)

Oh no, Dave is going to call you a polluter and a killer of trees!

LIL John wrote:

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Oh no, Dave is going to call you a polluter and a killer of trees!

Oh well, I can't be everything to everybody.

Geothermal is nice but doesn't always pay for itself as quick as they want you to believe in smaller homes. After much research we decided on a regular heat pump with oil furnace backup. Drilling the vertical wells were too costly where we live.

Dave wrote:

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I put one in 3 -4 years ago.

May i ask who did your install? Did you go with an open or closed loop?

Any information about your experiences would be greatly appreciated.

No worries! Hugo Chavez and fellow Socialist, Kennedy, will provide!

I was thinking of going to natural forced hot air. just thinking about hiring dave to lean in the window and run his mouth ! I know there will be a lil stench with it but i am sure it will be cheap !:-)

wph351 wrote:

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May i ask who did your install? Did you go with an open or closed loop?
Any information about your experiences would be greatly appreciated.

I went with a closed loop system.. We have hard water & thought it might cause problems. Besides, I did not like the idea of putting something back in the aquifer.

I will not recommend an installer as the one who did mine was not the best.

If your installer does not drill their own holes, you might try contracting directly with the drilling company. All of the local well drillers
are reliable. Just discuss it with the driller & installer to make sure they will work together on it. We contracted direct & it saved us some money. Our driller did the holes, st the loops & grouted. The HVAC installer ran the lines in the trech & connected them to the house.

I'm thinking the drilling will run between $8 & $10 a foot including the loops & grouting assuming no casing is required to hold the holes open. Drillers aren't busy right now - time to get a deal!

There are different theories on how many feet you need per ton of the unit. Mine is at 150/ton, so I had two - 375' holes drilled. There needs to be a trench dug connecting the holes & your house. Some installer don't have a trencher but your driller probably does.

To get a quote, the HVAC unit installer will want to look over your house to properly size your equipmemt. My house is the typical cookie cutter split level from the 70's. I have a 5 ton but a 3 1/2 ton may have been better sized.

In the coldest months, my electric is higher than it was but I'm not buying any oil. The unit does run a compressor & a pump (moving the fuid thru the loops). In the summer, I can crank up the A/C with hardly a bump on the electric bill.

I would recommend this to anyone building a home or anyone in an existing home with forced hot air.

I tossed my older but working oil burner.

The air to air only help in certain situations. When its cold & you need heat, its tough to get heat out of 20 degree air. When its hot outside, its tough to get cold from 90 degeee air.

The earth is a solar battery & keeps the fluid in the loops at a constant 48 degrees or so.

Oil hit $4.15 last winter. What will it get to within the next 7 years? Why risk it.

Dave wrote:

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Oil hit $4.15 last winter. What will it get to within the next 7 years? Why risk it.

Where did you get YOUR oil? I never paid more than $2.99/gallon for mine.

George wrote:

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Where did you get YOUR oil? I never paid more than $2.99/gallon for mine.

In was in this article. I haven't bought any for the past few years.

Oil companies charge to bleed your lines to start your furnace. They said it would be an extra $40 and that was after I dropped $800.
What a joke. All you need is a wrench.

Get Gas!

You're right. But there are a lot of people who either don't know how to do it and are afraid to learn, or think they are above doing something like that. Those people deserve to pay $40, IMO.

BUTTHEAD wrote:

Get Gas!

Those of us who don't live anywhere near a gas line don't have that option. When I lived in Fairfax, my house was heated by natural gas; it was a nice, warm heat. Enough so that my son who was 9 when we moved to Fairfax, chose a house heated by natural gas (rather than electric) when he bought one.