How to Get the Best Heating Oil Prices This Winter

Posted: Jan 22, 2012
Author: Bumgarner Oil

What sends shivers down your spine – the thought of winter approaching or the cost of your heating bill? If you’re like most Americans, heating oil prices are going to make a major dent in your budget. Sure, for the more affluent, the high price of oil is not a big deal, but for others, it can mean the difference between living in poverty and getting by. Some of us are spending 10-15% of our annual income on energy costs. (Read article here.)

You can’t control the outside forces that influence the cost of oil, but here are some ways of getting cheaper heating oil prices.

Select an appropriate payment plan – capped or fixed. Both are called locked-in pricing structures, meaning that the cost per gallon is either capped or fixed for a year. A cap determines the highest price that you will pay, but it will go down in tandem with the market price. A fixed rate remains the same, irrespective of the market rate.

Call your local Consumer Affairs office or visit its website.You will find information about home oil prices in cents-per-gallon-per-month for this year and last year. Check if the prices have been steadily rising, or if they’ve been erratic.

Visit the US Energy Information Administration’s website here. On the home page you’ll find a valuable link, Short-Term Energy and Winter Fuels Outlook. This provides information about the estimated heating costs for this winter, as well as estimated winter fuel prices – fuel by fuel, region by region. As an added bonus, you get a summary of winter weather forecasts across the country.