Talk to me about heating oil

[Beaniemom]

We are seriously considering putting inan offer on a house in a more rural location than we are currently. It is heated by heating oil and also has a wood stove. These are new experiences for me. The current owner estimated he spent $600/year on oil. Does this sound like a probable estimate for an almost 4,000 sq ft house in North Central Maryland? What do I need to know/ask about such a house before he put in an offer?

[Guest]

The price of heating oil fluctuates ...last year was the lowest we have paid in a long time. Ask how much wood and oil he consumed last year and the year before. Last winter was mild, the winter before was not.

[xixstar]

Don't take this past winter as a good gauge because prices dropped quite low this year.

 

We have paid almost $4/gallon for fuel oil. Average has seemed to be around $2.75/gallon for the time we've lived here (9 years) though I haven't actually calculated that yet.

 

We live in Central Maryland and I generally need fuel oil deliveries 3 times (sometimes 4) a year and cost ranges at from $600-900 each time based on oil prices. We use about 1 gallon a day during the year and up to 3.5 gallons a day in winter. It is our sole heat and hot water supply and our house is 150-yo and not at all energy efficient. We keep the heat set to 58-60 majority of the time in winter. Last winter with the very low prices, I set it to 62-64 many times. I believe our house is about 1500 sq feet.

 

If adding a wood stove and it's not your hot water supply and you have modern insulation, you're very far ahead of us. :)

[xixstar]

Also have you had a wood stove before? Would you have wood available on your property or will you need to order that? That's another good cost to factor in as well. But you probably know this already. :)

[lllll]

nm

Edited November 7, 2016 by cathey

[Beaniemom]

Thanks Hive! I knew you guys would come up with the questions we should ask.

There is the chance to get wood from the property but I don't want to depend on that.

[MEmama]

Also, be aware that the homeowner is responsible for leaks, etc. Potentially very expensive cleanup . Heating oil is nasty stuff; we switched to natural gas (I would have preferred a wood stove, alas) as soon as we could. Oil was so expensive we mostly relied on our pellet stove and wore extra clothes to thwart the cold. Last year was a blip; I agree to ask for several years worth of invoices. That number doesn't sound right for such a huge house, even if most of it was sealed off and unheated.

 

Eta: I don't mean to say don't buy the house, just make sure you are receiving accurate costs. Oil is unavoidable in many areas, and there are few truly good solutions in cold climates.

Edited August 18, 2016 by MEmama

[Onceuponatime]

It sounds low to me. We have a 2,000 square foot house in rural Virginia. We buy 300 (last year that was just over $600) gallons of oil in September, only run the oil heat at night with the thermostat at 67 degrees, and use the wood stove in the day. And last year was not terribly cold.

 

Now, if the house was newer with terrific insulation and energy efficient windows, we would probably do better. But still, oil prices fluctuate which can be a real pain in the wallet.

 

Also, heating with wood usually means finding sources of wood, chopping, hauling, stacking, giving it sufficient time to dry, and bringing it indoors when it is freezing outside.

Edited August 18, 2016 by Onceuponatime