posted on July 5, 2006 07:11:45 PM new
3 years ago when we moved to Northern New Hampshire from Colorado we paid $1.24 a gallon for winter home oil. 2 years ago $159.9 a gallon. Last year I gasped at $2.01 a gallon..... I opened this years black envelope today. GASP I lost not only the wind out of my lungs but my sails as well!!! $2.69 a GALLON! We use 1200 a winter... I keep the thermostat at 58. I wear gloves with my fingers tips cut out,a blanket wrapped around me in my office which is upstairs. We have no forced heat upstairs just the old fashioned "heat rises" vents YEAH RIGHT!!!
To whom it may concern if the war in Iraq WAS about oil ... it ain't working! OR is IT!!!
posted on July 5, 2006 07:35:18 PM new
You ain't seen nothin' yet. Wait till later this month when a hurricane roars into the gulf and workers have to start bailing out of the offshore platforms. Exxon will declare a "supply interruption". You'll be afraid to look at the prices posted in front of service stations.
If Murphy's law is correct, everything East of the San Andreas Fault will slide into the Atlantic
posted on July 5, 2006 08:15:15 PM new
Alaron Trading Corp. analyst Phil Flynn. “Once again the American public has shown its ability to get over paying high prices for gasoline.”
And the choice we have IS ???? PHIL!!!
Sparkz, Tom We have no choice. We in the North east especially must take "advantage" of the prebuy.Last year my brother decided to see what would transpire and not do a prebuy at $2.00, his companies price. In mid Feb he paid $1.58 a gal. to fill the tank in his house. Luckily he has a wood stove and can stave off the cold. We have not one single space in this ole house to put one save serious renovation. Time for a letter to my very Republican US REP. Charlie Bass, that should make me feel warmer!
posted on July 5, 2006 08:31:25 PM new
For the past two years we've prebought our heating oil and saved money over the going price as the winter came on. We'll probably do it again this year.
One big advantage for us in Idyllwild (mountain resort town, 6,000 feet) is that people within a 100-mile radius who would normally plan on taking a big car trip are coming here instead for day trips or weekends or whatever. We've had a huge upsurge in tourist visits. This won't help tourist areas that don't have a huge population base nearby, though. Southern California is right now ripe for the picking, and we're picking!
posted on July 5, 2006 08:59:13 PM new
Roadsmith...I wasn't aware there were any oil heating systems in California. I guess since you're above 5000 feet, you're exempt from the rules. The systems in the mountains here are mostly propane or LNG, or wood. It would be virtually impossible to obtain the permits necessary to install one here in the valley. Even if you could, it would be cost prohibitive. There are even certain days we can't use the fireplaces in our homes, unless it's the only source of heat we have.
If Murphy's law is correct, everything East of the San Andreas Fault will slide into the Atlantic
posted on July 5, 2006 10:23:33 PM new
Dang! Senior moment, I guess. I saw "oil" and my brain read "propane." We have propane furnace and a propane heating stove in each of our offices. Sorry for the confusion. Too late to think, I guess!
posted on July 5, 2006 10:40:38 PM new
That makes sense now. In California, it's about 100 times cheaper to buy mink coats to stay warm than it is to install a petroleum storage tank on your property.
If Murphy's law is correct, everything East of the San Andreas Fault will slide into the Atlantic
posted on July 6, 2006 11:51:05 AM new
Ahhhhh, it's alway's nice and tosty in the 4x4 house in the winter. I keep the wood stove well fed and got more dead tree's on the property than it can eat.
Have you considered and is LNG available in your area. If I'm not mistaken I saw on the Nightly Business Report on PBS that LNG prices are at some of their lowest prices in quite a few years.
1 out of 4 people are mentally unbalanced. Take a look at your 3 closest friends. If they seem alright, you're the one! - Kyle Stubbins, CMS
posted on July 6, 2006 12:37:42 PM new
Too bad you can't go solar and buy a bunch of batteries to store the energy. When there's no sun, use the wind! Wouldn't that be great! I wish I could do that! When I don't have the sun, I have the wind. I usually have more wind than sun
posted on July 6, 2006 12:47:37 PM new
Paloma, we do have solar for most of our electricity at our house in Idyllwild, and we love watching the dial run backwards as we're selling elec. back to the power company. Our guest house isn't on our solar grid, and neither are a couple of outlets in our house, so our elec. bill runs about $20 a month. We also have solar at our cabin near here. Every morning when the sun hits the roof, the capacity goes to 100% within a few minutes. We use electricity all day and evening, and it rarely goes below 75% capacity. We have 'way more elec. power than we need there.
posted on July 6, 2006 01:09:09 PM new
I believe all of us New Englanders are in the same boat this year. Mine went up to $2.899/gal. and I'll be paying $430 per month for fuel oil. I think it's time I move down to Florida with the rest of the family because these cold Maine winters are gonna completely drain me.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way, when you criticize them, you're a mile away and you have their shoes. ~
posted on July 6, 2006 02:24:20 PM new
Yep, Sparkz. They're here day and night, sometimes with bundles of extension plugs. Sooooo exhausting.
Honestly, though, many of the cabin owners have looked at our system and immediately had one installed on their place. There's never been electricity brought into our little cabin area, since 1870 when the loggers first came in, so for about 50 years we all used Coleman lanterns and cooked on wood stoves. Then some people got those noisy generators--and now solar is sweeping the canyon. MUCH quieter than generators, LOL.
posted on July 6, 2006 02:38:33 PM new
And the best part is no one is going to be able to pull the same con game the oil companies do and claim there's a shortage of sun in California.
If Murphy's law is correct, everything East of the San Andreas Fault will slide into the Atlantic
posted on July 6, 2006 05:53:33 PM new
CTA
my gosh I was in tears all night last night barely slept a wink ... this oil crisis and I really do believe it is ... is not going to go away or get better. It is time to really consider options. As you know in this part of the country we have far fewer than other places.
SUN ... yeah right!
natural gas.... no such thing here
propane is very expensive and you couldn't heat with it.
wind ?? maybe
wood is the only real option ... my husband and I talked tonight about those outside furnace's that you can use coal, pellets or logs uncut ..big chunks. There are several folks in this town that are installing them this summer. I plan to keep up with the "how did it work, what were the plus and minus of them" They are money up front but we don't want to move again so we have to dig in and make this climate work.
Road I read with pure envy your set-up. Gosh if I only had a cord that was long enough! Girl if things get any worse, gas goes to $ who $ knows $ what $ I don't want to even think... and home heating oil goes right along with it you could start selling energy on ebay ! Now thats what a real POWER SELLER IS!!!!
posted on July 6, 2006 06:01:17 PM new
BJ--you truly have my sincere sympathies. And we have to imagine that people in the cold climates are going through what you're going through, in varying degrees of dismay. This crisis could very well cause a rush to warmer climes as the news of the heating oil costs begins to sink in. I see no easy solution, either--except of course for renewable energy, less consumption of non-renewable sources, etc. etc. etc. Population pressures on this planet will cause more usage of oil, etc., and the emerging powers (Indian, China) have no inclination to conserve at this time. We're making this planet a giant garbage dump; wish we had a president who seemed to care more.
1 out of 4 people are mentally unbalanced. Take a look at your 3 closest friends. If they seem alright, you're the one! - Kyle Stubbins, CMS
Now thats what a real POWER SELLER IS!!!!