Heating Budget

[3930dave]

One never knows how their culture will change. On the East Coast, home heating oil USTs became a nightmare: A National Nightmare in the 90's. Though in the 40's to 50's this was what everyone did. They dug a hole, but in a tank, and ran an oil furnace. Then, oil got expensive, and people switched over to Natural Gas - the new clean energy. And all those old tanks had to be decommissioned. Which was also expensive. So after that conversion, we now have a new conversion and natural gas is now the evil heating source, rather expensive, and we should all switch to electric. There is a pattern here.

Safety Reg or are we just beaten with the stick, until we take the carrot.....

While I've never been a fan of underground steel tanks like that (they leak, relatively quickly), we went through the same cycle. Even older houses here mostly had oil tanks in the basement. Esp. with a concrete floor, you'd have to be a specific type of fool to not notice that tank leaking..... but no matter, they all had to come out too. Most people here went to natgas, or maybe propane in rural areas.

IMO, where that "Safety" reg was deficient was in decommissioning. Until most of the market was off heating oil, every once in a while you'd read about a delivery screw-up. Fuel truck rolls up to a city address, driver misreads # and goes to the house next door and proceeds to fill a good part of their basement with fuel-oil. Code should have been that the fill-pipe had to be removed when the oil tank was pulled, or at the very least welded shut and tagged-out.

Rgds, D.

 

[3930dave]

50 acres of forest here, wood burning is a no-brainer.

.

Rgds, D.

 

[3930dave]

August 2020 I pre bought 500 gallon propane at $1.79 per gallon
August 2021 I pre bought 500 gallon propane at $ 2.49 per gallon and rising.

If my income went up by those %'s every year, I could ignore these issues.....

Like most of us, I don't have that option.

Rgds, D.

 

[DK35vince]

If my income went up by those %'s every year, I could ignore these issues.....

Like most of us, I don't have that option.

Rgds, D.

Nor do I.
Our heating bill is up. Our groceries are up, our gas/diesel is up.
All our bills and purchases are going up quickly.
My income stays the same

 

[3930dave]

The Feds are offering a 26% tax credit if you buy a 75% efficient wood or pellet stove in 2021 and 2022. Manufacturers will certify which models qualify. Good for both purchase and installation. I’m thinking of adding a pellet stove in the basement and in my shop. Already have a wood insert to help heat the house. I’m watching heating oil go up daily and am guessing we will be at $4 a gallon soon. Makes wood heat a good deal when oil is that high.

Money /utiliity /value....

Specifics willl change depending on where you live, and who you are / how you think.

One of my issues (other than line-operating cost) with all-electric is backup. With oil, natgas, propane, wood.... you don't need much of a generator to keep heat running (or none at all, with a conventional wood-burner stove).

What I have always liked with wood, is that it is a nice even heat. Today, pellet is a great option. A buddy of mine ran the #'s, and heats his (well insulated) country home with a pellet stove, instead of an ultra-efficient propane furnace. He buys his pellets by the skid, and picks up with his own trailer.

Rgds, D.

 

[3930dave]

Nor do I.
Our heating bill is up. Our groceries are up, our gas/diesel is up.
All our bills and purchases are going up quickly.
My income stays the same

Lies, Darn Lies, Statistics....

Here, Inflation gets reported Excluding Food and Energy; suspect same south of 49'th.....

Always liked one Bay-Street analysts line.... "Ex Food and Energy ? Who does that matter to, other than an Anorexic Pedestrian ? "

Rgds, D.

 

[DieselBound]

Check the attached image-- its $5.45/gal for diesel.

Ah, thanks! I didn't open up the pic: thought that it was just focused on gasoline.

I'd figured that I was still good up to about $10/gal for diesel (cars get 50+ mpg).

 

[DieselBound]

People should learn to save for troubling times...the US is #99 on the list.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gross_national_savings_by_country

But they don't want you to save! It's a "consumer" economy, don't ya know...

Sadly, the majority of folks are debt-ridden.

If you think this is bad check out what it's like in most of the rest of the world: my wife is from the Philippines (they cooked using sawdust when she was growing up); I've had enough exposure to understand how fortunate we are.

 

[3930dave]

But they don't want you to save! It's a "consumer" economy, don't ya know...

Quarterly or monthly stats have me shaking my head (on a good day) when I hear "...... due to weak Consumer Spending" @ poor #'s.

Blame The Victim, much ?

On your last point, while doing some physio at a clinic yesterday, I saw somebody else really struggling.....

Remembering to think about how good you have it is time well spent...

Rgds, D.

 

[Jstpssng]

Remembering to think about how good you have it is time well spent...

This is too good to only see here once.