the Cost of Heating Oil Refills

Our house is basically propane fueled. We live in the mountains and sometimes loose power. So the stove, heater, drier and water heater are all propane. This comes in very handy when we have power outages (we lost power for 9 days this past winter) - I like being able to have a hot shower and cook dinner on the stovetop! However the cost of filling that tank is really very high. I suppose, utilities in general are sky high with the price of oil. The propane people come out every 6 weeks or so and fill/top off the tank.

After a $600 propane bill in November (for one month!) I did some research and went with a smaller company. They gave me a good deal, free tank rental for the first year and a great deal on the first tank of fuel. Because nothing is worse than running out of fuel I got a larger tank than our last one.

They had some trouble setting the tank and had to do it twice. Because of this they did not completely fill it the first time. When they came back and reset it and filled it I did not get the price we initally agreed on as a new customer. As it was still considerably cheeper than my previous supplier I did not make a fuss.

I have been impressed with their services - I have never ran out of fuel (a problem with the previous supplier). It does, however, seem that the instant the price of gas/oil goes up - they are here.

Shop around for the best price for the propane and see if they will give you the first year rental for free. Be sure and check with your neighbors to see who they use. I can't stress this enough - there are bad companies out there and there are safety issues in having improper set ups for propane.

Although I am too lazy to do it, you could save money by watching the prices of propane fluxuate and calling to have them come out when they are lower.

If you get a deal on the first tank fill - make sure it is for the full 250 (or whatever) gallons and that they completely fill your tank the first time. If you live in the mountains and loose power a lot - propane is the way to go. If you have teenagers (especially girls who like to change outfits a lot) you may want to hang your laundry out to dry, weather permiting. It seems the drier is the biggest user for our house. All in all I think (even with high oil prices) the cost of propane is cheaper than electricity.