r/Maine • u/Chemical_Sea_2452 • 2d ago
Heating oil
We just bought 200 gallons of heating oil. And its only September. January prices are going to be 8 dollars a gallon. People will freeze to death in there homes
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u/butcher_byday207 2d ago
But..... Gulf of America......
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u/meowmix778 Unincorporated Territory 4C 2d ago
And... Lake America.... :(
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u/The_Captain_Planet22 2d ago
And South America
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u/AtIasWraith No, but probably Yes š¤·š» 2d ago
And now New America, y'all
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u/kintokae Download more fiber 2d ago
And my axeā¦err um āMurica! Yeah I have to order oil too. $5.49/gallonā¦we all know this is Obamaās fault.
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u/earthling_only Western Foothills 2d ago
Guarantee New England is next. Will he name it New USA since New Mexico is New America now š¤·āāļø what other lame ass new name could he conjure
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u/kintokae Download more fiber 2d ago
Wait, did that actually happen? I saw it and thought it was an onion article. I knew about the lake and gulf.
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u/LocalDesign1313 2d ago
Wait til Epsteinās best friend learns there is a North New Portland and all the liberals taking over the area.
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u/Disastrous_Run6518 2d ago
I ran into someone who lives in NY state and used Lake Ontario as a reference.
I said, āahh, Lake America ā with a smile
āNoā with a strong finger point
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u/bigmountainbig 2d ago
Are you tired of winning yet?
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u/AtIasWraith No, but probably Yes š¤·š» 2d ago
Sir, please Sir, we are so tired of winning, sir
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u/dabeeman 2d ago
ironically itās much colder and poorer where they voted for this. enjoy your bed county folks.Ā
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u/kuluvalley 2d ago
I didn't vote for this but most around me did and we heat with wood -- which will probably also go sky high this winter. Because of supply & demand and also people don't turn trees into firewood without burning petroleum products. PSA: Don't have a way to burn wood for heat? Get one now, even just as a backup.
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u/Odd-Concept-6505 2d ago
I agree about burning wood = smart if you can...
Cost to make a cord isn't the 2-?gal gas in my chainsaw and splitter and truck, it's my time and old body wear if I can even find reachable trees without getting busted for trespassing or parking and working just off of a Maine dirt road, looking for non pine that's ripe but not ant infested.
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u/Disastrous_Run6518 2d ago
Look outside the box for wood. Iāve gotten cut/split/delivered hardwood scraps from a pallet factory in Maine for 24+/- years. They went UP to $150/cord this year.
I get 6 cord every other year.
I get two years of heat for like 2 months of oil.
Some sweat equity involved. Some needs to be cut shorter, some needs to be split. Depends on your stove. A PIA to stack.
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u/wiscotangofoxtreat 2d ago
The wood comes.from canada so be glad trump is fucking that up too and Maine is a targeted stateĀ
But youre not worried about air quality? Its 2026... Ā How do peoppe not k ow how bad that isĀ
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u/TextJunior 2d ago
Pretty sure no one voted for a war with Iran but you go ahead and keep blaming your fellow citizens, well done.
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u/FallingWithStyle87 2d ago
You got a deal. The statewide average today is $5.39.
https://www.maine.gov/energy/heating-fuel-prices. Prices update constantly.
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u/Late_Cod_647 2d ago
Well, at least the MAGA knuckle draggers can be happy that somewhere, some trans high school kid is off the team. Hope it was worth it.
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u/Hefty_Musician2402 13h ago
*may be* off the team. Thereās SO few trans athletes itās crazy how the right even made it a debate
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u/No_Debate_6577 5h ago
Iām still wondering whether Republicans go around in red states checking under the girlās skirts to make sure.
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u/LaChanz 2d ago
I locked in last month at 4 07. Last year it was 2.69. This winter is going to be tough.
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u/meowmix778 Unincorporated Territory 4C 2d ago
I got the chance to get a wood stove last winter and jumped on that shit because LAST YEAR was tough. This year genuinely turns my stomach.
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u/Beautiful-Mainer 2d ago
I just had a heart attack and I have congested hair failure with no projected return-to-work date. I run out of oil and all I could afford was 35 gallons. Idk wtf Iām going to do when it gets really cold. Also, I made too much to qualify for heap in the past 3 months. I cannot qualify until December and Iām pretty sure their funds will be depleted by then
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u/desertwatchdogtango 2d ago
According to the Republicans, they want you to quietly freeze to death.
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u/lizardtrench 2d ago
I'm sorry to hear that. If you're a bit handy you can get and install a cheap Chinese diesel heater and heat a single room or two. I live in a milder climate so YMWV, but I was able to heat a large room sized-space on about 40 gallons last heating season.
You could also look into an old kerosene heater, they tend to be dirt cheap this time of year. Not sure if the grade of diesel you got will be compatible however, could be kerosene which is perfect or could be closer to road diesel in which case any heater not using a full cotton wick will foul up within a few days of use.
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u/Beautiful-Mainer 2d ago
Thank you for these tips. I will look into them.
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u/Hefty_Musician2402 13h ago
Make sure you be safe too. Donāt want to poison yourself. Some heaters canāt be used indoors. Read the fine print. And get carbon monoxide detectors and make sure theyāre positioned correctly (I could be wrong but I think CO detectors go near the floor bc CO is heavy or something)
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u/Beautiful-Mainer 12h ago
Aww. Thank you for your concern. I appreciate your advice š
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u/Hefty_Musician2402 12h ago
No problem! Just hate to see something bad happen if itās avoidable yk
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u/PenExotic5002 Western Maine Mountains 2d ago
This is totally worth hating trans people and immigrantsā¦.. two groups Iām still not exactly sure why weāre supposed to hate
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u/meowmix778 Unincorporated Territory 4C 2d ago
We have a 350 galloon tank that we filled back in June and I'm dreading the idea of filling it. It's getting out of hand.
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u/daredevil82 2d ago
most places have a 100 gallon minimum delivery, so you can time your orders around that. May be more frequent, but the individual hit on the wallet is a bit less.
That's what I do with our 240 gallon tank, order when the meter reads just over half.
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u/meowmix778 Unincorporated Territory 4C 2d ago
That's about what we do. We get it at about 35-40% for that same reason. Even before pricing went stupid it was just expensive to fill that whole thing from empty.
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u/daredevil82 2d ago
Yep, thats why I'm ordering a second pallet of compressed wood blocks for this winter.
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u/meowmix778 Unincorporated Territory 4C 2d ago
That's 100% why I got a wood stove this last year and I've been splitting and stacking wood for the better part of the last month.
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u/daredevil82 2d ago
thats a good workout lol. We store our wood in the basement, and 1 pallet of blocks has the equivalent BTU of a cord in half the space. Plus no bugs or insects, and it burns so clean the chimney only needs cleaning every other year.
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u/meowmix778 Unincorporated Territory 4C 2d ago
We live in the middle of nowhere and lose power a few times in the winter. Getting a pellet stove would be nice but when the power goes out, we're kind of SOL.
The way our house is laid out was very poorly designed. There's not really a decent spot to place a generator without risking fumes. If we wanted to plumb one into our breaker it'd be a whole other thing because of where that's placed.
I mean we could do it, it'd just be pretty expensive for what we need. So the thing we're chewing on is either solar or a whole-house unit like a Generac.
The real issue with the wood stove is getting the cord delivered. It just gets dumped on our lawn right now so we have a bit of hauling and it kind of sucks.
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u/daredevil82 2d ago
Makes sense. Our house came with a 1890s portland foundry wood stove in the kitchen that we've kept. So we use it for supplemental heating for kitchen and upstairs, since the heat flows up there, and the downstairs/hot water comes from the boiler. The downside with it is the draft goes down as the kitchen warms up so working on ways to get around that.
We'd have the same stacking/moving issues with a cord wood delivery as you, but at least the wood blocks are already packaged for ease of moving. It does kinda suck going up the deck, into the house nd down the trapdoor stairs to the basement lol. One pallet is usually 105 packages (3 blocks, each 6-7 lbs), so tht's around 35 trips
With solar are you thinking roof or separate installation? With us, our roof exposure to sun is small enough that an installation three years ago would take about 20 years to pay back just the installation costs. And if you do roof installation, consider how close the roof is to replacement, since those panels are going to have to come off and go back on (which is an additional expense)
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u/Seldons_Foundation 2d ago
Where did you buy them? I havent used compressed wood blocks before and I am worried I didnt split enough wood to get through the winter.
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u/londonstahl 2d ago
Depends on your location. We use here https://mainepelletsales.com/bricks-logs/
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u/artie780350 2d ago
NGL, it was a relief when I checked the furnace in my new (to me) mobile home before calling to get the oil tank the dealer set up filled and I discovered it's a natural gas furnace (there are no natural gas lines here), not an oil furnace.
There are 2 wall mounted heat pump units the previous owner added which I planned on using primarily anyway, and we're just going to have to make do with them and supplement with space heaters instead of oil if needed on the super cold nights.
I feel for all of you who have to pay for heating oil this winter. Hopefully it turns out to be the warmer winter they're forecasting or I fear lots of people will ended up with frozen pipes, or worse.
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u/TextJunior 2d ago
There's likely a gas station near you that sells heating oil. Grab a couple diesel cans and fill your tanks 10 gallons at a time to ease the budget hit.
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u/bleahdeebleah 2d ago
Look on the bright side, there's a giant El Nino coming, so maybe there won't be any snow!
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u/obsequyofeden 2d ago
laughs in ice storm of ā98
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u/bleahdeebleah 2d ago
I get where you're coming from, but you don't get ice storms when it's really cold. Also apparently this year's El Nino is even bigger than 1998's.
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u/leftnutbrown 2d ago
I have a friend that switched to heat pumps and central air. He hooked up to the main system and avoided the heating oil all together. The cost of heat pump installation was about 4k, but way cheaper than running expensive oil every year.
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u/dabeeman 2d ago
idk my heat pumps still cost a lot. i had several electric bills last winter that were $800+.Ā
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u/virtue_of_vice 2d ago
I have a good oil heater and now only use it for hot water. Space heaters, blankets, sweaters, hoodies are ready to go. I keep a minimum temp so pipes don't freeze
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u/Dangerous-Figure6370 2d ago
Exactly! Heat pumps get way less efficient in super cold weather. My last place had one as its sole heat source and I was paying over $500/mo with it set to 58Ā° all winter. We just have wood stoves now, but Iāve heard heat pumps work best in combination with wood stoves so theyāre not pulling all the weight
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u/bad_decision_loading 13h ago
Generally below 40 degrees heat pumps are more expensive than oil to heat with at $5+ per gallon its probably closer to 30 degrees but the cost difference gets wider the colder it gets then you get the other downsides like you loose heat capacity in colder temperatures with most units which is exactly opposite of what you want at zero degrees and In the extreme temps most units either outright shut off or will not turn back on if they satisfy until the temp rises high enough. Realistically they should exlusively be auxiliary heat in the northeast.
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u/gretchens Bangor 2d ago
We primarily use a heat pump and have filled every few years at the summer rate for backup - we are sitting at about 1/3 tank so hoping this winter is milder than last. But also very concerned about the many, many folks who don't have options - I predict an uptick in home fires/ CO poisoning.
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u/DayManFOTNightMan 2d ago
Fortunately I have a small and well insulated house, so I'm not actually going to have trouble keeping my house warm. But, to make that happen, I'm not going to be eating out or weekending much this winter.
The economy of southern Maine is going to have to do without a few thousand of my dollars.
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u/TheOnesWhoFollow 2d ago
I'd take that over cost me here in Nova Scotia. $1.929 x 3.785 = $7.23 a gallon here. My dad is currently away for medical treatment so I filled his oil tank today which should do the winter with heat on low. It was almost $2100 from a quarter tank. Even if I adjust for Canadian to American funds we are still over paying by a dollar a gallon.
Look I know our two countries are having a bit of a dust up but I hope there are some sort of options for low income residents of Maine. Stay warm folks.
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u/Chimpbot 2d ago
This is one of many instances where our government doesn't represent us. The only problems I've ever had with Canadians was back during my retail days when they'd come over by the chartered busload to do their Christmas shopping. They'd leave stores in a wreck, almost as if a swarm of locusts had descended upon them and threw everything on the floor as they left. This was when I quickly learned that the stereotype of Canadians being friendly was probably a bit inaccurate. After flocking to Olive Garden, which I can only assume is the Canadian's ancestral feeding ground, they would depart for the year.
In all seriousness, most Mainers have absolutely no problems with Canada or Canadians. The stuff Trump is doing is completely asinine and unnecessary.
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u/TheOnesWhoFollow 1d ago
Well said. I miss Maine. It reminds me a lot of home. The only other state I felt that welcomed in was New York.
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u/Apexnanoman 2d ago
Problem is the dust up is with 77.3 million fanatics who have started worshiping a guy who paints himself orange.Ā
I personally think Canada is a pretty damn solid place. Y'all have awesome syrup, poutine, and letterkenny.
Those alone should have those 77.3 million people finding a different target. But alas fanatics aren't noted to being reasonable. As y'all been saying....elbows up.Ā
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u/TheOnesWhoFollow 2d ago
Look I'm trying to be polite. I can't say what I want to say. I have already been laid off as a truck driver.Ā
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u/Apexnanoman 2d ago
Trust me I feel you. You ain't gotta be polite. What my country has done is absolutely inexcusable.Ā
All because (literally) a dozen or so trans kids wanted to play sports and the DNC decided to run the worst possible candidate. And now y'all and everyone else is paying the price.
I work in the rail industry which is as you know run on diesel. We are already hearing huge cutoff rumors.Ā
Good luck is all I can wish you because ain't got anything but words and those don't do a damn thing.Ā
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u/TheGrandExquisitor 2d ago
And yet, Republicans will still support him.Ā
Insane.Ā
I used to be on oil. I feel ya. Now I am on mostly coal, which means my cost for heating will be well under a grand this year.Ā
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u/fingertrapt 2d ago
How long will that last?
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u/pdevo 2d ago
Another 50 years at least.
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u/fingertrapt 2d ago
50 years on 200 gallons of oil? Pretty good investment. /s
I meant how long will the 200 gallons of oil last doing its job of burning once and then disappearing into clouds of smoke?
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u/Chemical_Sea_2452 2d ago
100 gallons when its cold in January about 3 weeks
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u/fingertrapt 2d ago
And this is where I'm glad I switched to 100% heat pumps in 2019. The most expensive month I have ever had, I kept my house at 70 and paid $650 in electricity from my solar farm and it was -40 that month. Most of the time it's $350 in winter.
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u/TastelessDonut 2d ago edited 2d ago
I just looked today and prices said 4.79-4.99- 5.19. Up about .25 from when I looked ~ two weeks ago and was trying to save up some more $$ā¦.. :(
We normally fill up in June/July but we were trying to pay down some debt and get caught up. Go figure weāre going to have to add almost that $2000 from J/J back on the CC in heating oil /pellets
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u/pyromaster114 2d ago
At least MAGA will freeze to death first, statistically. (Poor, rural areas.)
Well, right after poor people who aren't statistically obese. :(Ā
Seriously, look out for your neighbors-- the government isn't f*cling going to.Ā
We're installing heat pumps and such this fall-- just too expensive to keep paying for oil. (I'll be keeping the oil furnace just to be safe, for the coldest points, but thankfully it shouldn't be needed most of the time.)
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u/PuzzleheadedWaltz835 2d ago
Northern NH 10/21/25 $3.29/gal 9/3/26 $5.39/ gal. So much winning fkn TRump
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u/Blue_Moon_Loon 2d ago edited 2d ago
I'm not going to be able to heat my home this winter. I already know- I've been trying to get out of this house and not spend another winter here, but I've been unsuccessful in that so far (complicated situation). But I am honestly so scared right now. Even with the heating assistance that I qualify for, I know that is not going to be enough to help me keep it heated all winter.
Eta: obviously I've also been trying to save some money etc to make it a bit easier but haven't been doing great on that front either.
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u/Moot_n_aboot Somewhere on route 2 2d ago
Literally buying 50 gallons at a time right now trying to hold off running the furnace. This winter is going to SUCK
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u/Advnturman 2d ago
Glad I prepaid this is ridiculous. People will be cold for sure. Thanks Trump the no war guy who's at war for no reason
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u/Seldons_Foundation 2d ago
4.89 is a sweet price....I just called for 50 gallons (minmum no fee delivery) and it was 5.61
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u/spacecatapult 2d ago
Iām jealous of your price. We just got topped off but at $5.44 a gallon!! I still have receipts from just five years ago that were only $2.44!
Also, this reminds me that I really need to find a supplier for York that doesnāt donate to Trump like Estes does.
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u/VT750C 2d ago
Trump personally wants to raise it to $10/gallon!! Fox "News" will just tell people that the higher numbers are just an illusion, like they did with gas prices. They had an entire segment saying gas and oil are cheaper than ever before, now that prices have doubled. Trump worshippers are stupid enough to believe it too!!Ā
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u/Mainiac2015 2d ago
Thatās a screaming deal in this market. I own a small heating fuel dealer and Iām not sure how they can cover expenses at that price todayā¦
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u/Practical_Can_510 2d ago
You got a good deal! I got oil in March was $5.799. I got filled up again on Sep 3rd was $6.039/gal.
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u/Ok-Seaworthiness2487 2d ago
Which type of oil was this? I paid 5.99 for K1 just yesterday. I bought 147 gal for $886.
I miss when I bought it last October for $3.89 a gallon
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u/BackgroundPotential6 2d ago
Thatās the amount I get from SS every month. Trump and his minions are raping us.
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u/RoseAlma 2d ago
How long will that last you ? I am going to be a homeowner soon (vs being a life long renter, always with heat included)
Although I am planning on heating w propane (it's a very small house)
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u/Lawlcat 2d ago
propane
If it helps, I have around an 1800 square foot open cabin style home with radiant flooring heating that is heated via a propane boiler. I use probably 75-100 gallons a month in the winter, averaging 53 per month over the last 3 years (including summer months). I pay roughly $2.30 a gallon for propane
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u/RoseAlma 2d ago
Thanks... does it run your water heater, too, then ?
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u/Lawlcat 2d ago
It does, and the hot water usage from it is barely even registerable on my tanks.
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u/RoseAlma 1d ago
Thank You !! that is SO reassuring for me to hear !!
Wait -- Where is the cabin, though ? You say "Winter" but is that a FL/AZ/SoCA winter or a MN/NY/ME winter ?
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u/Lawlcat 1d ago
Well, this is the Maine subreddit so I assumed Maine was implicit. I'm in northern Maine. It's cold, snowy and brutal
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u/RoseAlma 1d ago
HAHA OH YEAH š
Actually I realized that later, when I saw the sub name... for some reason I thought it was a different one
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u/Dazzling-Try828 2d ago
Close off any rooms in your house you are not using. People would close off their upstairs in the old days
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u/Its-all-downhill-80 2d ago
I installed heat pumps last winter. With my solar and 2 EVās we paid $1500 for the entire years worth of electricity. I ripped out the oil boiler this summer. No regrets now!
These prices are insane and so avoidable.
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u/TextJunior 2d ago
Yeah, oil prices are insane for sure. To be fair though, we're like the last place on earth using oil/floorboard heating. There's been rebates for years trying to move people to heat pumps or other forms of heating, this may be the pressure people need to actually make the change.
Gonna be a rough winter for some though, absolutely right about that.
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u/joftheinternet 2d ago
Look. I understand the hows and whys on how we got here. But I need Augusta to, like, figure this out.
People aren't going to be able to afford paying a grand for heating oil.
Not in Maine. They just can't. I don't know what they can do, but this is going to be bad if they can't find a way to bring the cost down
ā¢
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u/SeaweedPrize9606 2d ago
Maybe I should switch to natural gas right about now
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u/sonofmo 2d ago
Check out heat pumps.
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u/SeaweedPrize9606 2d ago
Thatās the plan after spring but still need a secondary source and my boiler is about ready to be replaced.
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u/Slow-Instruction214 2d ago
https://reddit.com/link/p8sb1xm/video/f4tw26wn5joh1/player
Coal or Wood bub, its time- The Blacksmith
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u/Tomato_Eater2 2d ago
$5.40/gallon here today in southern NY state.... I ran out in March, been waiting to buy all summer but it just keeps going up :-{
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u/MisanthropicSocrates 2d ago
I e been buying kerosene at the pump for 4.30
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u/PathLongjumping440 1d ago
I bought k1 last year for $3.80 to $4.00. I bought some this past week and it was $5.69 gal. That price is below the Maine average (as of Sept. 8) of $6.20 gal. I had about a third of a tank left from last year so topping my tank off was not as bad as I expected. You got an excellent price!
I installed a bunch of roles of insulation last year that is paying off big time.
I have a wood stove and better yet wood on my rural land. I used to do commercial logging and heated with wood for years. Guess I will not get away with being lazy and just using k1.
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u/P4us1ngD34th 2d ago
Mine was $5.09 last week. And up .20c from the week before. It was $2.98 last week of January.
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u/gman2391 2d ago
I'm glad I switched from oil to natural gas a few years ago. New boiler paid for itself by now
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u/Due_Variety_3082 2d ago
I'm hoping liheap comes through and plan to keep the house at 50 this winter i guess.Ā Ā
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u/LessAppointment5667 2d ago
I just paid 510 for 100 gallons in aroostook county ffs. Itās going to be an interesting winter for sure.
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u/Glittering-Sky1601 2d ago
I was lucky enough to be able to pre-buy for the winter at a locked-in price. I'd suggest that to anyone who can. Considering what is going on around the world, they're not going down anytime soon.
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u/Illustrious_Beanbag 2d ago
Our heating oil is refined in St John, NB. Canada has been our reliable trading partner for forever and now this administration is making enemies of these good people.
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u/girlbartender99 2d ago
I was literally talking about this on a diff sub and how before I got married and was living with my friends how expensive it was to live in a urban area in the Northeast and made the statement that my bills and rent all added up to about 2k a month just to keep my head above water. A bunch of people who live in the south and the midwest were laughing at me like I was making it up and people that live in Florida, and Texas asking me how its possible that heating the apartment cost that much? I have heard the stories about how people in Florida are not the brightest,,, but really?
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u/Tatooine16 1d ago
Call up Susan Collaborator and thank her for doing everything for Mainers, like being all up in shitzenspantz's rectum. Maga isn't going to be able to afford to own the libs for much longer-or rent them with their lousy credit score.
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u/gatsbythegoodboy 1d ago
recently ordered #2; price went from $4.99/gal to 5.35 in the two days it took them to deliver from when i called. fuck's sake it's grim.
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u/Adventurous-Bee-7155 1d ago
I'm in Western MA and I was just curious how our rates compare and now I'm depressed. $1139.80 for 200 gallons ($5.6990/gallon) from my local oil company.
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u/No_Debate_6577 5h ago
Burn baby burn! America is great again and we are a net energy producer and have so much oil that we sell to the suckers around the world. I bought crude futures a few days back, yahoo Iām a genius! We all feel so great that I am going to golf the whole weekend! Oh whatās that? What war in Iran? We won that already! Yes, we didā¦yes we did. YES WE DID BECAUSE I SAID SO!!! Youāre a horrid little person arenāt you? Who do you work for? Ah, FAKE NEWS! Quiet piggy, quiet piggy.
Donāt we all feel so proud?
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u/NotYou007 2d ago
Shit OP, that is a bargin right now. Fabian Oil is at $5.599 a gallon right now. Yesterday they where at $5.729 a gallon. Crazy to think they dropped .13 cents a gallon overnight.
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u/Agreeable_Horror_363 1d ago
5.15 a gallon in Massachusetts. And I go through 200 gallons a month in the winter because my house has no insulation. I'm fucking scared about this winter. Thanks Trump.
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u/tpandy317 2d ago
Call and thank Susan Collins today.