Nova
July 13th, 2008, 05:29 PM
Homeowners who use heating oil seek alternatives
By CLARKE CANFIELD
PARIS, Maine (AP) - Mark Bancroft's new pellet-burning furnace hasn't been installed, but he's already counting how much money he'll save over his old oil-fired burner.
Instead of paying $5,000 for 1,100 gallons of heating oil in the coming year based on today's record prices, he'll spend $2,000 on about 8 tons of wood pellets. Even at a cost of more than $12,000, he thinks the new furnace will pay for itself within five years.
``How great is it if we make a move toward this type of heating that can boost the economy instead of sending money to foreign lands for oil?'' said Bancroft, who plans to have the unit installed this summer.
As heating oil approaches $5 a gallon, consumers in the oil-reliant Northeast are looking at pellets, heat pumps, firewood and even geothermal systems to soften the blow of high oil prices - which have almost doubled in the past year and gone up nearly fivefold since 2003.
About 8 million households in the U.S. use heating oil as their primary heating source, according to the federal Energy Information Administration.
http://channels.isp.netscape.com/pf/story.jsp?flok=FF-APO-1310&idq=/ff/story/0001%2F20080713%2F1427666388.htm&sc=1310&floc=NI-mo3
Guess alot of people have started checked prices on heating oil. Hard to imagine paying over $5/gal. But those are the current prices.
In another article, I read the many mom & pop heating oil companies will be discontinuing their price-caps. So that even if a customer locked in a lower rate previously, they might not be able to honor it without going out of business. If this is a trend, you might want to think about filling your tank now, just in case.
By CLARKE CANFIELD
PARIS, Maine (AP) - Mark Bancroft's new pellet-burning furnace hasn't been installed, but he's already counting how much money he'll save over his old oil-fired burner.
Instead of paying $5,000 for 1,100 gallons of heating oil in the coming year based on today's record prices, he'll spend $2,000 on about 8 tons of wood pellets. Even at a cost of more than $12,000, he thinks the new furnace will pay for itself within five years.
``How great is it if we make a move toward this type of heating that can boost the economy instead of sending money to foreign lands for oil?'' said Bancroft, who plans to have the unit installed this summer.
As heating oil approaches $5 a gallon, consumers in the oil-reliant Northeast are looking at pellets, heat pumps, firewood and even geothermal systems to soften the blow of high oil prices - which have almost doubled in the past year and gone up nearly fivefold since 2003.
About 8 million households in the U.S. use heating oil as their primary heating source, according to the federal Energy Information Administration.
http://channels.isp.netscape.com/pf/story.jsp?flok=FF-APO-1310&idq=/ff/story/0001%2F20080713%2F1427666388.htm&sc=1310&floc=NI-mo3
Guess alot of people have started checked prices on heating oil. Hard to imagine paying over $5/gal. But those are the current prices.
In another article, I read the many mom & pop heating oil companies will be discontinuing their price-caps. So that even if a customer locked in a lower rate previously, they might not be able to honor it without going out of business. If this is a trend, you might want to think about filling your tank now, just in case.