Home heating oil

[laryu.livejournal.com]

Have any homeowners received capped-price or fixed-price offers on oil for this coming winter?

I heard from my provider today (Cubby Oil) and not only have their rates jumped quite a bit (capped price of $5.09/gal), but also the terms of their offer are quite a bit more restrictive over last year (large fee plus you have to be in their 10-month payment plan). I like Cubby Oil quite a bit, in large part because I’ve seen how they operate in a heating emergency, but I want to benchmark their pricing a bit more. Before I start calling around, I thought I’d ask here to see if anyone has heard from their oil vendors yet.

Comments

[mrboboto.livejournal.com]

Given how volatile the market is, I imagine all the companies are too busy covering the worst-case to offer any appreciable deals with these this year.

[mrboboto.livejournal.com]

For what it's worth, these are just a terrible idea in general. No one can predict the market, so you're basically gambling with your heating oil bill.

[laryu.livejournal.com]

Actually, a capped-price program is not gambling at all, because you pay the lower of the spot-price and the capped-price. I capped at $3.19 last winter, which paid off big time. But if prices had gone down, I would have paid the lower price. Fixed-price programs are a different animal...

[emcicle.livejournal.com]

if you aren't already a member, i suggestion you join massenergy (www.massenergy.com), it uses collective buying to get a (slightly) lower rate for heating oil. let me know if you want to join, and i can give you a referral...

[laryu.livejournal.com]

That's pretty interesting. Looks like there's no price ceiling, only a discount on spot prices. Let me think about that. Did you separately get a service contract through your service provider?

[eustaciavye.livejournal.com]

The rate I got was $4.25 a gallon for my balanced billing plan (pay the same amount every month and settle out at the end of the year) and the company I deal with said that if the price drops significantly they will reduce my payments to account for it, but I'm also a member of an oil buying alliance that gets lower rates and a longstanding customer.

[crunchyjew.livejournal.com]

I just went around with my provider (heatwell). I didn't ask about a cap but they quoted me a price for the budget plan that was based on 4.79 a gallon.