[Triffin]

Wow ..

Didn't expect all the responses to this thread !!

The house in question is in sw CT ..

2800 sq ft, 2 story colonial with full basement ca 1950 ..
I have a 330 gal oil tank in the basement ..
I replaced my boiler and burner about 5 years ago
with what at the time was a high efficiency unit ..
House has four zones ..
My domestic hot water is also oil fired so the boiler
is going year round ..

I've been adding to my attic insulation and need to do
more there and should replace my windows, and I've
considered a GSHP but I'm not willing to do all that until
I'm sure we're staying here permanently ..

The current differential in costs
$4.91 / gal for HO and
$0.14 / Kwh for electric
certainly argues in favor of electric ..

Trying to convince the bride that we
should relocate to our rural property in sw VA (piedmont)

That's a work in progress and can be heated with our own wood ..
A/C is more important there than heat ..

Thanks for the input !! Keep 'em coming ..

Triff ..

[basil_hayden]

My 250 gallon tank was filled yesterday, 198 gallon delivery, 4.55 per gallon normal price but they knock a nickel off if you pay within a certain time - used to be ten days. It's now 5 days. I guess they get it; I certainly do. Dropped off the check in person because i have no faith that the postal service can do anything in 5 days. I want to stay on the oil company's good side!

Hard to belive I just paid more to top off 1 tank than I did year round in 1991. Wood stove will be in by September and about 10 cords on on the ground waiting to be bucked.

[misterno]

Everytime I read an article about New England sitting in my warm room in Houston, it makes me smile so much you won't believe it.

Freezing asses in Boston, hello all to you from Houston.

Back to the topic It gets so cold out there, I don't know what kind of insulation will offset the high cost of fuel oil. They are sooo screwed...

[Homesteader]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('misterno', 'E')verytime I read an article about New England sitting in my warm room in Houston, it makes me smile so much you won't believe it.

Freezing asses in Boston, hello all to you from Houston.

Back to the topic It gets so cold out there, I don't know what kind of insulation will offset the high cost of fuel oil. They are sooo screwed...

[frankthetank]

What sucks is even if you switch to wood, if you don't own 5 or more acres of woods you are going to be paying a lot more for firewood in the coming years. I've got access to lots of wood, but i have to drive 45 minutes each way to get it.

[MarkJ]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'W')hile people can't control the price of oil, they can try to cut their consumption. Judy Dorsey of Gardiner halved her oil use last year by making improvements to her home, which was built in 1850.

After an energy audit of her house, she used a low-interest loan from the Maine State Housing Authority to have her walls and attic insulated, new windows installed, and cracks and holes filled in her foundation, attic and heat ducts.

She used 350 gallons of heating oil last year, compared with 750 gallons two years ago, saving her hundreds of dollars. She'll save even more this year.

[mos6507]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('MarkJ', '
')Pretty good savings.
There are so many poorly insulated, poorly weatherized homes with old windows and old grossly oversized, grossly inefficient, poorly designed, poorly maintained heat and hot water systems that reducing fuel consumption is almost too easy.

[burtonridr]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('mos6507', '
')I mean, their idea of increased efficiency is leaving the air conditioner in the window all year long and just taping saran wrap over it.

[FoolYap]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('misterno', 'E')verytime I read an article about New England sitting in my warm room in Houston, it makes me smile so much you won't believe it.

Freezing asses in Boston, hello all to you from Houston.

[Denny]

Natural gas has also shot up, just the past 2-3 months, now hanging around the $12/MCF range from about $7 in the late fall.

Still, I'd expect that gas could be the cheaper way to go, it justs needs distribution infrastructure. Nice thing about gas pipelines, is they are so much more economical as a means of shippnig compared to oil tanker trucks.

[FoolYap]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Denny', 'S')till, I'd expect that gas could be the cheaper way to go, it justs needs distribution infrastructure. Nice thing about gas pipelines, is they are so much more economical as a means of shippnig compared to oil tanker trucks.

[Denny]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('FoolYap', '
')Not in New England. Laying pipe through all the rock and trees and hills we have here would be a significant expense.

Some towns offer natural gas within a radius of the town center, but any homes outside that must go with trucked-in fuels like heating oil or propane, or with electric-based heat (ground-coupled heat pumps are expensive but getting more popular), or wood-based (cord wood or pellets).

Our town has no gas services. Everyone I know heats with heating oil, or wood, or some combination.

--Steve

[Homesteader]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Denny', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('FoolYap', '
')Not in New England. Laying pipe through all the rock and trees and hills we have here would be a significant expense.

Some towns offer natural gas within a radius of the town center, but any homes outside that must go with trucked-in fuels like heating oil or propane, or with electric-based heat (ground-coupled heat pumps are expensive but getting more popular), or wood-based (cord wood or pellets).

Our town has no gas services. Everyone I know heats with heating oil, or wood, or some combination.

--Steve

[MarkJ]

We have suburban, village and semi-rural areas in Upstate New York where they have municipal water and sewer, but no natural gas lines. Some areas also have municipal water, but no municipal sewer.

On the other side of the coin, two of my rental properties are just outside the zone where municipal water and sewer are available, but I have natural gas.

[frankthetank]

Watch the price of firewood sky rocket next winter...

[retiredguy]

Hey Frank,

I've heated my house with wood for the past three years and have not had to purchase any. I currently have four places to cut, the farthest is 15 miles from where I live and the closest is a mile away.

And this is one of the most densely populated counties in the state.

Can't believe there are less trees to be harvested in the LaCrosse area. You need to get the word out that you will remove trees for free. Believe me, there are lots of folks who are looking for this service.

Another source is tree-removing companies. Many times they will let you have the wood for simply removing it for them. I've scored over six full cords this way and didn't have to back the truck out of my driveway. In two cases the companies simply dumped the trees they were cutting in the neighborhood on my front yard.

Heating with wood certainly isn't for everyone, but there are lots of places in the country where it is a very viable and cost-effective option.

[SpringCreekFarm]

To be sustainable in every sense of the word, the only technologies that currently exist are passive solar and ground source heat pumps. The heat pumps could be run from grid-sourced sustainable energy. Are there others that can be run sustainably, other than burning biomass?

When I try to cast my thoughts any distance into the future all I can think of is how someday people could be huddled around open fires to keep warm.

[dunewalker]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('SpringCreekFarm', ' ')The heat pumps could be run from grid-sourced sustainable energy.

[kpeavey]

My brother and I will probably be bringing mother down for the winter. I sent some money up north last year. If her heating bill doubles, it will be more cost effective for here to dome on down for a few months.

She could use the change of scenery.

[dohboi]

mos wrote: "One of those basket case houses is the house I grew up in which is where I'm headed in my move back east. I'm planning to find something for my daughter to do one day and sit my mom and dad down and smack them with a 2-by-4 with my collection of news links, Incredible Journey of Crude, and What a Way to Go. If that's not enough to convince them to work with me in rebulding the house into a peak oil fortress then my stay there will be very brief.

I mean, their idea of increased efficiency is leaving the air conditioner in the window all year long and just taping saran wrap over it. To make matters worse, they just bought a new oil burner and aren't interested in talking about other ways to heat because it would mean they wasted their investment in the burner."


This sounds like a really great, real-life story about to happen. Would you please consider starting a thread that would keep us posted on how this conversation evolves? It could be a great source of support for you as you struggle (as we all have) to communicate with loved ones about the gravity of our situation.

Please consider it.

Thanks,
Dohboi

'There is hope, but not for us.' Kafka