Fuel costs expected to rise as winter approaches, now is the time to act
by Colin Lovett – PIC Current Producer
You may be fanning yourself today, but winter is closer than you think. Does the thought of cool air make you feel better? Well, you’ll be hot again when you see your heating bill in a few months. Prices for fuel oil, natural gas and electricity are all expected to be higher when the northern cold descends on us.
Courtesy of Justin Baeder
The U.S. Energy Information Administration says it expects those using fuel oil to see the largest increases. If you heat you home this way, you might pay 22% more than you did last winter, and that is if this coming cold season is mild.
If you have natural gas, your prices are expected to be about 10% this winter. Those with electric heaters should see a smaller rate increase of 4%.
However, you can do a lot to protect yourself and lower your bill. But many of the first steps should be taken now, while the weather is still baking you and its hard to think about snow and ice.
- Do you have a fuel oil supplier? Of course you do. It’s not like you can grow the stuff in your basement. So, call them and ask about a locked in rate or price caps. Most suppliers will allow you to do one or the other. With a locked in rate, you pay the current price for the fuel all winter, even if the price of heating oil goes up. However, you also pay the locked in rate even if prices decline. A better bet might be to ask about price caps, which sets a top price for you to pay, but will allow you to pay less if the price drops. This can help if prices drop, but usually costs a fee. Call you supplier and ask. Right now!
- While you have the oil company on the phone, ask them if they do furnace “check ups”. Many do. Even if they don’t, there are plenty of heating and air conditioning companies that do. It should cost about $100, but can save you real money in the winter. This step also applies to those with natural gas furnaces. Our sister site, The Beehive, has a good list of steps to follow for taking care of a furnace.
- Do an energy audit of your home to find out what can be improved. Go to Energystar.gov to do an online audit and get a great list of projects you may be able to do to save 20% to 25% on your heating bill. Say you pay $200 a month for heat. This could save you up to $50 a month.
- Close those drapes. This also helps now in the hot months. Drapes and window coverings can help keep hot air out in the summer and keep hot air in during the winter. Easy to do and little or no cost to you.
- If you can afford it, look into getting a thermostat with a timer. The thermostat like this can not only control how hot you want to make your home in the winter, you can set it to be hotter during hours when you need it most, like first thing in the morning or during dinner time, while making the temperature lower while you’re in bed or at work. Doing this can save serious amounts of money.
We’ll be back with more daily tips as the leaves start turning and falling to the ground. But we’d like to hear what tips you might have to lower heating costs. Plus, maybe you can stop thinking about how hot it is right now.
Evelyn Black at The Amateur Economists has this fascinating post on getting home heating oil.
For more information, please visit:
CNBC: Tips to Reduce Your Home Heating Bill
[...] We also wrote a post about the rise in home heating costs a while back. Check it out here. [...]
[...] To learn more on saving on your heating bills, please read our previous post. [...]