View Full Version : How Much Oil Do You Burn In A Typical Winter Season??


BigFish
01-02-2008, 10:37 PM
I consider myself fortunate that over the past 3 winters I have not had to pay a penny for oil to heat the house as I got enough from my former business to keep me warm....but those days are over and after this winter I will be paying for it as that business is over! However I feel fortunate that my house only burns about 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 tanks (325-350 gallons) of oil in a typical winter season by my calculations! Thats not too bad! Just curious how much others typically go thru in a winter???

Slingah
01-02-2008, 11:32 PM
we use about 275-300 gallons plus burn about 1 cord of wood....

Raven
01-03-2008, 04:57 AM
it's an unknown thus far....as it's my first year here..

to answer tho , i will always say.... as least as possible...

next winter i plan to have stacks of wood everywhere
enough for two winters...

and keep the oil burning mainly to heat hot water...

the whole back of the house is perfect for solar heating systems
and that will be my heating weapon of choice in the future.

it's 5 am and 2 about degrees outside
and i'm headed out to the barn to scrounge up a box of wood .:nopain:

fishpoopoo
01-03-2008, 08:09 AM
the "average" new england home burns 1,100 gallons a year for heat and hot water.

the average new-york area home burns 1,000 gallons a year.

the average mid-atlantic (s. new jersey/de/md/dc/va) burns about 900 gallons a year.

thortum
01-03-2008, 08:38 AM
the "average" new england home burns 1,100 gallons a year for heat and hot water.

the average new-york area home burns 1,000 gallons a year.

the average mid-atlantic (s. new jersey/de/md/dc/va) burns about 900 gallons a year.
Yeah. That's right on the money at my house. At $3.25 gal. [yesterday] I have to decide whether to eat or stay warm!!! :hang:

Joe
01-03-2008, 08:59 AM
About $3000.00 worth

HESH2
01-03-2008, 09:28 AM
locked in a price of $2.80 in oct 07,looks good now.heat hot water by electric,so use less than 500 gal for year for oil heat.thermostat set low at nite like 64 degrees day same if we are not home,boost to 70 when gets real cold,then back down.

Fishpart
01-03-2008, 11:19 AM
Less than 400 gallons+ Wood. Need to add more insulation..

Raven
01-03-2008, 12:56 PM
Less than 400 gallons+ Wood. Need to add more insulation..

i hear ya...

during the last week i took some 1 inch thick styrene board insulation i got for free (off of Craig's list free section)
3 sheets worth ($14.00 bucks each @ home depot) and cut the exact size for an unused front door and all the windows on the North
(shaded side of the house) except for the last foot (12 inches) of window at the top to still let in some light and it made a world of difference.

RickBomba
01-03-2008, 01:15 PM
Usually 250 gallons for a 1200 sq ft apartment. No insulation, but all the windows are plastic wrapped.
Not this year!!! I bought a small room heater at Costco that costs me $40 a month to run in electric bills...haven't turned my oil on once.
Now those of you who know me, know that we cook almost every day at home and the apartment is usually in the low 60's.
I'd much rather spend $300 for the season in electric, than spend $750 for oil.
I can't be the only one who's cutting back on the oil, so demand MUST be down...I hardly ever see oil trucks on the road anymore...I guarantee that there's gouging going on at the dealer's end...nice guys. Hope all the oil dealers strat looking into another way to make money, cause if it goes any higher I'll never buy oil again.
Later,
Heat Nazi Rick

Raven
01-03-2008, 03:08 PM
keep that wok hot dude...

heh heh heh :rotf2:

you crack me up

time to go cut wood again for 2nite

JFigliuolo
01-03-2008, 03:27 PM
None! Only use oil for HW...

burn about 4.5 cords of wood ($125/cord). House stays TOASTY warm (when my wife has her way HOT, I've been known to open windows to cool it down from her escapades).

Wood is allot more work, obviously, but since my wife is:
1. unable to work.
2. ALWAYS cold.
3. sick.
4. home all day.

If I had to keep the house as warm as she likes/needs it I'd burn through 200-300 gallons a month. No way I could afford that.

Raven
01-03-2008, 05:10 PM
None! Only use oil for HW...

burn about 4.5 cords of wood ($125/cord). House stays TOASTY warm (when my wife has her way HOT, I've been known to open windows to cool it down from her escapades).

Wood is allot more work, obviously, but since my wife is:
1. unable to work.
2. ALWAYS cold.
3. sick.
4. home all day.

If I had to keep the house as warm as she likes/needs it I'd burn through 200-300 gallons a month. No way I could afford that.

if your wife has an iron deficiency...as like 90 % of American woman are anemic ...and when your iron deficient you don't capture oxygen very well when you breath in air so that your oxygen fueled engine (her body) isn't functioning properly.

i don't know if you and your wife both like lobster but when a woman who's iron deficient eats lobster which is rich in iron suddenly their hands are warm when typically they tend to be cold.

so there's some food for thought. :)
Also you might consider buying one of those oil filled radiators which are electric heaters on wheels and very efficient actually.
I'm planning on buying several more in fact.

At wally world they cost $39.99 i believe, and are well built and definitely not a fire hazard like most electric heaters are with an exposed heating element because its internal and heats the oil sealed inside the radiator. Even if the power goes out they continue to keep providing heat because the oil stays hot for awhile.

tattoobob
01-03-2008, 05:56 PM
None

Aqua-man
01-03-2008, 05:56 PM
At home, 4 to 6 cord of wood and about 200 gallons of oil.
At work.....between 150,000 and 1.2m gallons a day of #6:af:

mikecc
01-03-2008, 07:34 PM
I Put in a new system 5 years ago when we did the addition. we added 1200SF of heated space (total 2800sf 2x6 construction). we now use less oil than we did before the addition was put on. The old system was only 18 years old but not efficent. We have always offset the oil with 1.5 cord of wood a year.Currently use 500 gal of oil per winter.
This year we are going to try to burn more wood. I got 3 cord free ,form the utility company replacing the tele poles. I just had to cut it smaller and take it away.

spence
01-03-2008, 08:08 PM
I got 3 cord free ,form the utility company replacing the tele poles. I just had to cut it smaller and take it away.
It wasn't treated ??? :huh:

I thought they all were.

-spence

Raven
01-03-2008, 09:55 PM
creosote city usually :spin:

mikecc
01-04-2008, 05:44 AM
It wasn't treated ??? :huh:

I thought they all were.

-spence


They replaced all the poles and had to take down a bunch of trees that were in the way.

Saltheart
01-04-2008, 10:21 AM
When I bought my house in Ct in 1983 , the lady before me was burning 1600 gallons per year for heat and hot water. by the time I redid everything , I was burning only 600 gallons per year. the later had her burner serviced by the same people who sold her the oil. they had her firing at 2.2 gallons. i replaced the nozzle with a .8 gallon nozzle and had no problems at all. i also put a hot water heater in line with the domestic she already had. that way I got free hot water in the winter and did not have to fire the big boiler in the summer for hot water only. Anyway , its time for conservation. there is lots of gold waiting for people to pick up by getting smart about energy usage.

redcrbbr
01-07-2008, 10:59 AM
usually use about 500-600 gallons from september to may. just had a fill up @ $3.20 a gal.. Like Mike, I did a service on my furnace and replaced the 2.25 nozzle with a .75. saved a bit there. I was amazed at how the oil company that did service to the unit had never taken the top off of the furnace in order to clean it properly. (I had to modify it a bit due to the way the plumbers had plumbed it) I now have a shop vac dedicated to only one purpose in life.

EarnedStripes44
01-07-2008, 11:27 AM
I've known my good friend since 1st grade. I am the godfather of his 2 yr old daughter and he shells out an unknown percentage of child support every check. He works contruction, and is a member of the N.E. carpenters union and he told me yesterday he does not have any heat. He can no longer afford heating oil. He had to get a gang of space heaters. First time I have ever heard of anything like this. Its going to start hitting home harder.

UserRemoved1
01-07-2008, 12:17 PM
ES Sorry to hear this. The squeeze hasn't even begun yet. :(

:hang:

I've known my good friend since 1st grade. I am the godfather of his 2 yr old daughter and he shells out an unknown percentage of child support every check. He works contruction, and is a member of the N.E. carpenters union and he told me yesterday he does not have any heat. He can no longer afford heating oil. He had to get a gang of space heaters. First time I have ever heard of anything like this. Its going to start hitting home harder.

Back Beach
01-07-2008, 01:28 PM
About $3000.00 worth

About the same here.