Put on a sweatah!
Posted on 08/05/2008 9:51:06 PM PDT by FocusNexus
In a season of roller-coaster energy costs, the drop in oil and natural gas prices in recent days was greeted as good news. But they remain so high that experts are predicting that heating bills this winter will far exceed those of last year.
Even after a precipitous decline from its peak in early July, the price of natural gas is still 11 percent above where it was last winter.
Heating oil is 36 percent higher, with the government projecting that the costs of both fuels will stay high. Electricity prices are also up moderately.
Higher heating costs will hit particularly hard in the Northeast, where many people use heating oil.
"This could be the winter of our discontent," said Daniel J. Weiss, a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress. "This is going to have a huge impact. It will start to pinch people in September and October and could influence this fall’s elections. Remember, it is much easier for people to drive less than it is to heat less."
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Vote Republican!
Now, if you connect a tire gauge to the thermostat in your house...
ROFLMBO!!
L
The article is mostly about heating oil for the Bolshevik Northeast. I wonder if any lefty changes his mind about drilling after these forecasts. If Obama is elected it will be too late.
Yep, thank goodness for woodstoves and fireplaces. We’re ready here. Bring it on, Jack Frost!
I’m really dreading the propane bills this winter. I started paying into my 08/09 winter usage in May.
I’m going to be burning a lot of wood too, that’s for sure.
I just got the proposals for my options from my oil company. It’s a little scary. My friend just got an oil delivery, she has no plan and the delivery was almost $1700.00. (She has a large oil tank). I’m glad that I like to be cool and have the fireplace going.
I just got the proposals for my options from my oil company. It’s a little scary. My friend just got an oil delivery, she has no plan and the delivery was almost $1700.00. (She has a large oil tank). I’m glad that I like to be cool and have the fireplace going.
~~~
Steph~~~FWIW~~~
Oil prices are going down at this point in time,,,
Mite be a bad time to “lock in” a price at this point,,,
Louisiana produces near 80% of the home heating oil for
the NE as well as near 30% of the total energy for the US,,,
Production of natural gas from the Haynesville Shale will
drive down the cost of heating homes in that area as well
as home heating oil production increases by refinery
expansions in this area that will come on-line soon,,,
IIRC some Texas-Louisiana refineries will switch over to
Home heating oil production from motor fuel at the end of
this month,,,
Bee Warm...;0)
I hope Montana likes Obama’s energy policies this winter. They voted for him over Hillary.
I had a Carrier air source electric heat pump for fourteen years, whole house was completely electric. Worst electtric bill I ever had was $200.00, for an 1800 sq ft house. I'm in NC, we don't have "warm" winters here, but overall it's seldom lower than the high teens (Fahrenheit) at night during the winter months, and not even that low the majority of the time. Very little trouble out of it. Condensation froze up on it a couple of times, due to too much humidity inside, exterior doors being opened frequently.
Heat pump technology has come a LONG way in efficiency and effectiveness. As long as you don’t live in a place with frigid winters (Chicago-Minneapolis, e.g.), it would be worth looking into. Heat pumps are not effective when the temperature dips below 35 deg. or so. Then your back up system (there are lots of back up options, some more expensive than others) will kick in.
Geo-thermal is a great option as well in most climates, but expensive to install so it takes longer to get to the break even point in savings.
We just had a two zoned heat pump system installed (NE PA region) to replace our kerosene monitor system, which used to be cheap to operate, but isn’t any more. We’re looking to downsize to a new home, so we wanted to install a more conventional heating system. The A/C portion has worked REALLY well, but we haven’t had a winter with it yet.
Despite replacing my home furnace with a 93% efficient model two years ago and running ahead in payments versus cost of gas actually used on my current constant amount billing option, my natural gas supplier is raising my monthly billing amount by 20% starting in September. Unless global warming kicks in pretty soon, I will be dialing that thermostat down considerably this winter.
This is what I don’t like about Pickens’ plan. I can barely afford my NG bills as it is. Imagine if cars were competing for NG.
At 20 below the system struggles to hold 70 but is otherwise very comfortable.
“Oil prices are going down at this point in time”
Thank you for sharing all of that. I guess I should just keep checking everyday to see if it keeps dropping. I have until the end of August to make a decision.
Quite welcome,,,
More info here :
JMHO : If there is not a major hurricane in the Gulf,prices
should keep coming down at least for awhile,,,
Bee Warm...;0)
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