The price that Wall Street futures investors pay for a barrel of crude oil has shot up to near $90. That means you can expect to pay even more for your next purchase of Heating Oil.
The items listed below are in priority order for action to reduce the amount of oil you use.
1. Stop drafts – at windows, doors and the fireplace.
2. Insulate the attic – Make sure you have enough insulation to give you at least R-49 protection for your money.
3. Have your furnace cleaned and tuned up by a professional. Oil furnaces are very rugged and will burn oil and put out heat even when they are running at poor efficiency. A dirty, out of tune oil furnace can operate with a combustion efficiency as low as 60%. Just by cleaning and tuning the combustion efficiency can be brought up to 75% or more. That is a 25 cents on the dollar improvement in oil use. The furnace pro will also be doing a safety check to insure that a faulty furnace will not cause fire or carbon monoxide poisoning
4. Back down your thermostat at every opportunity. Especially at night and when no one is home.
5. Make sure your house walls are well insulated including basement walls.
6. Change or wash your furnace filter every month during the heating season. A blocked air filter drastically reduces airflow and increases the amount of time your furnace has to run to keep the house warm. This is a do it yourself job. Have the furnace pro show you how when he visits.
7. Be ready to switch to electric heat. As the price of oil goes up, at some point it will be less expensive to heat with electric power using space heaters. I suggest you buy a few electric space heaters when you can find them at bargain prices so you will be ready. As example, Oil at $3.09 a gallon is equal to electric power at 8 cents a kilowatt-hour for heating use. If you live where the price electricity is moderate, you may want to use space heaters to supplement your oil heat. Using an electric space heater to keep your bedroom warm and let the rest of the house go cold overnight will save on your total heating bill. My wife uses an electric space heater in the bathroom during her morning shower and that is good because it puts heat just where it is needed, for a short time.
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