$500 a month on oil?? Does that sound right?

My house is small--similar to a cape. We have the heat set at 67 when we are at work. We ordered 200 gallons the day before NYE then we ran out at the end of January. Now, you guessed it, we just ran out. We don't have a contract-hubby has 3 places that he calls for the best price.

Re: $500 a month on oil?? Does that sound right?

To me, that seems like a lot. Is your burner old?

We have a 1600 sq ft ranch and we filled up 217 gallons 12/24 and then another 215 gallons 2/12. We have our heat set at 68 at all times. (We did turn it down to 55 when we were gone for a weekend.) Our burner is less than 5 years old.

Re: $500 a month on oil?? Does that sound right?

sounds about right for an older burner compared to what my parents were paying to heat their cape. sometimes the bill was $800+.

Do you have an electronic/programmable thermostat? If not, consider getting one. Set it to 64 deg during the day (8-5pm) while you are at work, then have it come up to 70 deg at 5pm and stay there until 11 or so, then while you sleep, have it be at 67. You will save a ton of money that way.

Also, how old are your windows and doors? do you have weather stripping around your door frames? We have been on a quest to stop all drafts in our house and each time we identify a leak and plug it, we do notice the heat coming on less.

GL!

Re: $500 a month on oil?? Does that sound right?

It sounds like a LOT by comparison to us.

We have a 4 bedroom cape - 3 zones (basement, upper, lower). We have the heat timed. Upper is at 72 at night from 8-6 and 68 from 6-8. Lower is at 68 from 8-6 and 72 from 6-8. Basement is always set to 67.

We have a newer and extremely efficient boiler. We spend $150 per month on our budget plan which includes our service contract. So.. we are spending 1800 for the year.. and we usually get to skip payment the last 3 months of the year because we are ahead of the game.

Maybe you can look at having your burner checked for efficiency?

Our Burner is the Marran System 2000.

Message edited 2/27/2010 10:38:33 AM.

Re: $500 a month on oil?? Does that sound right?

That sounds like a lot to me too. Granted my house is tiny (1,000sf) and I keep the heat at 62 (much to DH's dismay!), but we definitely do not use that much oil. AND our burner is almost 20 years old, and our house is 45 years old.

We are on a budget plan so I pay a set amount every month. Next month (at the one-year mark) we will see if we fell over or under on that, but the last statement I had we were on target - and it is less than HALF of what you are paying.

Re: $500 a month on oil?? Does that sound right?

I have a two level 4 bedroom home with high ceilings. We pay about $2200 a year not on a budget and our bills are about $400-$500 during the winter.

What price did you get? We filled at 2.79 last time.

Re: $500 a month on oil?? Does that sound right?

We have a high ranch, it cost us about $400 to fill our oil tank and we have been doing so 1x a month

Re: $500 a month on oil?? Does that sound right?

Thanks ladies. The oil guy just left. The price was $2.38 (we used Dart). I guess we will need a new burner. (Although my friend mentioned that the tank could be leaking. Yipee )

Re: $500 a month on oil?? Does that sound right?

We have a 1200 sq ft 3 bedroom cape. we got 200 gallons at about $480 in december and it lasted about 2.5 months. We keep our heat at 64 while we're home, 55 when we're at work and asleep.

Re: $500 a month on oil?? Does that sound right?

that seems like a lot.

our tank is 275 gallons ithink..we have a levittowner house (2 floors). the downstairs when we are home is at 69; at nite its lower;

we just got a delivery this week of 130 gallons. our last delivery was january. (we're using more b/c i was home on maternity); normally we dont use that much.

i would have your burner checked out. it sounds like you're burning through way too much

Re: $500 a month on oil?? Does that sound right?

We have a small 3 bedroom ranch and on budget, it costs $187/month-for 12 months. Total $2,244/year

Re: $500 a month on oil?? Does that sound right?

Posted by ladybug8

Thanks ladies. The oil guy just left. The price was $2.38 (we used Dart). I guess we will need a new burner. (Although my friend mentioned that the tank could be leaking. Yipee )

Re: $500 a month on oil?? Does that sound right?

I think you should try turning your thermostate down while youre at work. We started doing that this winter and its made a HUGE difference. We put it at 60/62 while we're gone for the day.

Re: $500 a month on oil?? Does that sound right?

I would set it much lower than 67 when u are not home - I keep mine around 62ish - I have an old crappy thermostat but maybe you can time yours to get warmer maybe 1 hr before u get home...

Re: $500 a month on oil?? Does that sound right?

Posted by ladybug8

Thanks ladies. The oil guy just left. The price was $2.38 (we used Dart). I guess we will need a new burner. (Although my friend mentioned that the tank could be leaking. Yipee )