Is anyone''s house heated by oil?

[ladypirate]

A house we''re looking at renting when we move to Portland has oil heat--does anyone have any experience with that?

It seems like heating oil prices would be going through the roof along with gas. We like the house but we''re trying not to break the bank on our heating costs.

 

[MichelleCarmen]

We have a hybrid heating/cooling system (works with both gas and electric, depending upon which is more efficient). Our range top, dryer, and hot water heater are gas.

The tank we have is HUGE - not sure of the size, but it costs about $1,000 to fill it and it lasts DURING THE WINTER 3-4 months and that includes using the dryer A LOT (at least three loads per day). And, our power bill is about $200 every two months. (that is for a 2,600 sq foot home with four people living here)

We moving on Friday and to an almost all electric condo - has a gas hot water tank, and I guess it should be a relief in our expenses!

 

[ladypirate]

Date: 5/27/2008 6:03:19 PM
Author: MC
We have a hybrid heating/cooling system (works with both gas and electric, depending upon which is more efficient). Our range top, dryer, and hot water heater are gas.

The tank we have is HUGE - not sure of the size, but it costs about $1,000 to fill it and it lasts DURING THE WINTER 3-4 months and that includes using the dryer A LOT (at least three loads per day). And, our power bill is about $200 every two months. (that is for a 2,600 sq foot home with four people living here)

We moving on Friday and to an almost all electric condo - has a gas hot water tank, and I guess it should be a relief in our expenses!

Wait, so are you heated by oil or is it a tank for natural gas?

We''re thinking that if we weatherproof the house (it''s apparently relatively drafty since it was built in 1922) and get a couple of space heaters for the bedrooms we may not have to use all that much oil heat, but maybe we''re just being naive. There''s a wood-burning fireplace, as well, which should provide some heat.

The house is pretty big (around 2000 square feet plus a basement), but with just the two of us I don''t think we''d need the heat on all the time (especially with the aforementioned space heaters/weatherproofing). Any thoughts?

 

[MichelleCarmen]

natural gas.

If the house is from the 20s and not well insulated, you'll have to weatherproof it. My first house was from the 30s and it was FREEZING. Our powerbills were really high. The house we're in now has a solarium and also many windows without coverings, so it's very inefficient.

Are you getting a great price on rent? That will help cover the overhead on heating costs, but, personally, I'd not rent a "relatively drafty" home unless I absolutely loved the home or could afford high heating costs.

Oh, fwiw, I live in WA state so the weather is about the same. Where are you moving from? Are you use to cold weather?

 

[brazen_irish_hussy]

I don''t think it will be too bad. For one thing, oil and gas prices tend to go down in the cooler months, so it is more affordable.
Old houses tend to be built with more small rooms, which really cuts down on the draft and cold traveling through the house.
I think it depends a lot on how warm you keep it. I keep my house cool in the winter, like 65, for enviromental reasons, so if you are keeping it low, anything will be affordable.
I grew up in a house built in the 20s and as long as the insulation is good, you are probably ok.

One note of weatherproofing. In wet climates, it can seal the house too well and you can get a lot of mold in the basement. Doesn''t bother me much, but my dad is allergic, so just something to be aware of.

 

[diamondsrock]

We live in a house from the 1940''s which is poorly insulated, as most were back then. We live in New England. When we bought it 6 or 7 years ago, oil was something like $1.10 a gallon. This year it was close to $3.75 I think at it''s highest. So it has been an expensive winter for sure. Plus we have a forced hot air system, so when the heat is on it is very warm, then when the furance shuts off, it gets cold quickly. So I''m always either putting on or taking off my sweater in the winter. Forced hot water systems don''t have this problem as far as I know.
I need to work on getting more insulation since it is drafty. However, if you weatherproof too tight, you can have problems as well which was mentioned.

 

[brgirl]

Hi! I live in New England, and our house was built in 1840. We had a ton of work done this year to add insulation, new energy-efficient furnace, etc. It is a 2200 square foot house....and it''s just two of us. We had programmable thermostats in three zones that kept the temp at 65 when we were home, and 61 for when we weren''t there...We do have a wood stove, but we did not use it enough. (DH complained we didn''t have enough wood..)

And, our oil bill was $5-600/month last winter. For about 6 months. I thnk that is ridiculous, but I came from Texas!