While we’ve heard a bit about heating oil and the anticipated shortages thereof in the news of late, I must confess, living in a part of the world that does not rely on such, I don’t know what we’re talking about in real costs to homeowners.
What are typical costs for residential heating oil during the winter months? I can look up the price per gallon, what I’m after is how much do you really use?
Just to add to the OP (hope that’s not bad form…I apologize if it is) who uses heating oil in the first place? Everyplace I have lived or house I have visited (AFAIK) has used either natural gas or electricity for heat. Even apartments I lived in with steam heat (radiators) used natural gas to heat the water. Just curious where all that oil is going…
Well, whole great swaths of Minnesota, for one. 
I believe that heating oil is used mostly in places where the infrastructure isn’t there for natural gas. You can get tanks of propane for gas heat, but I think that’s generally not as cost-effective. (can anyone confirm or deny this?)
Are you in the habit of examining the furnaces of the people you’re visiting? If not, I cannot imagine why you’d necessarily know what they use to heat their home. I mean, for instance, one of my neighbors in the suburbs of Minneapolis actually used wood to heat his home…but there was no way you could tell just by visiting him, because the wood burner was out behind the garage, and worked by piping hot water underground.
We (rural Mid Michigan) just put in a new furnace about a year ago. SO did all the reasearch, so I can’t provide cites for ya. But.
Our choices were :Oil, electric or propane.
We had oil. Now have propane. The cost of the tank, propane etc. became more cost effective when you compared the various efficiency rates for the furnaces. Or so he said.
Cost for fuel last year I think about $600 for the "season " (mid October to Early April - we do chilly here) I hear it’s going up though
Sure, in California we use natural gas. The gas people just told us that we have to pay 50% more this winter for it. What on earth. Those with oil only have to pay 33% more.
This sucks.
I live just miles from where a large percentage of the N.Gas in north america is piped from, and we too have been told to expect gas to go up by 1/2 as well… and we actully use our furnaces a lot in the winter. I am willing to bet a bit more than our friends in CA. I can say this though, gas is IMHO -CHEAP-. It gets to -40 sometimes here, and our gas bill is rarely over $50 CDN. So, if it spikes up to, say $75…big deal. Without having the initiative to look, I would bet that oil already cost substantially more than that. As well, from what I understand oil has to be delivered by truck to houses, correct? Is there an extra (delivery) charge for that? How often do houses tanks have to be filled?
N.Gas is of course piped directly to homes, so the minimal dist charge is hidden in the bill (more or less).
Usually it’s the first thing I ask to do (check out the furnace) when visiting someone’s house! 
Obviously that’s not so. I just meant whenever I’ve had cause to be next to anyone’s furnace for whatever reason I’ve never seen it be an oil burning unit. Although frankly, not being an expert in furnaces, it’s possible I might have been next to an oil burner and just not known it. They sure looked like every other furnace I’ve ever seen though.
I have seen places in northern Wisconsin that used natural gas (is that propane or something else?) that wasn’t piped in. It was disconcerting to see two huge tanks (maybe 20’ long and 5’ in diameter) just sitting on the ground waiting for any of the dozens of nearby trees to fall on them and rupture them. I imagine they’d make one helluva bomb if they went off. Still, in this case the gas had to be trucked in as well and either the delivery charge would be there again or it’d be buried in the purchase price same as the oil.
Propane is different. You are right, they are stored in big honkin’ tanks and has to be trucked in. Natural Gas is piped by the big friendly gas companies right to your furnace, hot water heater, dryer and stove if you so like :). It is not a refined oil product like propane. It comes out of the ground more or less in the same condition you burn it, I believe.
Eric
Oil costs – the average house has a 275 gallon tank. The
number of refills varies considerably depending on how tight the house is, how large it is, and whether there’s anyone home during the day. I think the average homeowner would fill up anywhere between 2 and 4 times in a winter.
Two winters ago, oil was at almost historic lows and it cost something like $160.00 to fill a tank. With oil edging up to the $1.60+ region, it’s closer to $450/tank. That’s starting to get into some real money…
Thanks. That helps. WAY more than Natural Gas. I would guess that the most gas could cost me this winter would be, lets say avg of $75 a month (which should be high) at 5 months = $375 for gas. That includes my furnace, hot water heater and clothes dryer. Wow. I really feel for the people that have to pay those prices to fill up their home tanks with oil.
Eric
The propane for home heating is also known as LP gas, and occurs together with oil and gas wells:
Well tells you how much I know. I was under the impression it came exclusively from oil.
Eric
Just an informed guess, here, but it seems to me that the only reason people use fuel oil up here in Minnesota is that they’re a) too broke or b) too stubborn to replace their fuel oil furnace.
Fuel oil is inefficient, messy, and it stinks. I dream nightly of owning a lovely propane furnace–heck, even a wood-burner would be nice by comparison, as then I can burn junk mail to heat my house.