yep yep, my electric heat wasnt bad at all this past year compared to oil or gas. granted my house isnt huge 1400sq foot cape, my electric heat never cost more then 250$ a month. most months it was around 190-200. This winter I hope to get a pellet stove or a wood stove to help offset that.

 

5 years ago, anyone buying a house would convert any electric heat to oil/gas... Now it could conceivably be a selling point. Sigh.

I'm going to make this political rant just once... If our country weren't in bed with the oil barons, we would've been dealing with this problem gradually over time instead of now facing the dependency catastrophe that's looming. The entire economy is going to get slammed with the side-effects of this. The fact that we're here at this precipice is strictly due to interference with capitalism. The next administration is going to have a serious domestic crisis on their hands. OK, rant over.

 

Sometimes things don't get fixed until they are truly broken.
I would consider $5.00 a gallon heating fuel to be truly broken.

 

Well said.

However, $5 is broken, but not enough, BB. If market forces are allowed to really drive the prices (they won't be of course!) it'll get a lot worse than that.

 

Loving my 96.5 efficiency natural gas furnace


My parents use oil, but like many of you here, they supliment with lots, and lots of wood. The Vermont Casting stove is in use just about all the time.

One of my closest friends though, they are just plain screwed. They bought an old farmhouse a couple years ago and they use oil. They are in bad shape because the house has bad windows all around, and insulation is non-existant.

 

I have also read stopies where some communities are banning wood as a heat source because too many houses, all too close together are burning too much wood and the air qualitry in the neighborhood is so bad it lead to the bans.

I grew up out in the country, so the smell of wood smke was always a nice treat, but I can indeed imagine how it could be over whelming in a suburbia setting.

 

Bill, are you thinking oil prices will come down?

 

They are thinking of doing that up this way too, but only for those wood furnaces that are outside of the house.
Levi

 

actually for next winter most of those people are ok.
the oil delivery people will be securing contracts over the next 8-12 weeks for next winters delivery.
of course they may be the ones who get left holding the bag.
or the homeowners who buy at a fixed price for the year up front.

 

All I know is I drove by the local blue canoe this morning and Diesel fuel was drumroll $4.839 a gallon Wow I mean just WOW!