Getting Ready for The Winter Heating Season

Yesterday was the first day of Fall so this is an appropriate time to start thinking about the upcoming winter heating season. First of all, you want to consider having your heating system serviced before the heating season kicks into full gear. Many people think about their furnace or boilers, but often overlook their heating oil tank.

The Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) issued a press release yesterday as a reminder for us to check our oil tanks.

One in five Pennsylvania homes uses heating oil to stay warm in the winter. Owners of home heating oil tanks should consider inspecting indoor and outdoor home heating oil tanks for potential problems prior to refilling them. Preventing leaks will save owners energy and money, in addition to protecting owners' health.

Cleaning up a spill caused by a heating oil tank can cost up to $50,000 and may not be covered by homeowner's insurance. Homeowners can check with their insurance provider to see whether coverage is available. 

Read the full press release complete with tips at http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/dep-reminds-pennsylvanians-to-maintain-home-heating-oil-tanks-300148137.html

Concerning home heating oil prices, there is good news for consumers as the price of oil is at an all time low for recent months. The impact of a slowing economy in developing countries like China has some effect on the record low oil prices as well as increased domestic oil production.

Here is a clip of a recent news article in the Boston Globe, written by Jay Fitzgerald and Jack Newsham, that illustrates this point;

Petroleum prices are falling because of record US oil production and weakening global demand, the result of slowing economic growth in other countries, particularly China. The price of gasoline in Massachusetts averaged $2.23 a gallon Monday, down $1.20 from a year ago, according to AAA Northeast, a nonprofit auto services organization.

Average heating oil prices are down over $1 from last August’s $3.68 gallon. It’s the lowest summer’s end price since 2009, near the depths of the recession, according to the Department of Energy Resources.

 View the entire article here: https://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2015/09/14/bad-news-summer-over-good-news-heating-oil-prices-falling/QfyLuyIfjogE9EPDZsXt5O/story.html

Couple the low heating oil prices with this year's prediction of a winter season that is more mild than last year's and the result is a lot of Pennsylvania homeowners that are please with the outlook of spending less in energy costs this year. Chad Umble wrote a piece that discusses this year's outlook;

At the same time oil and gas prices are looking good, the forecast for milder winter also bodes well for keeping heating costs down.

“I can’t imagine that this winter would compare with that we saw the past two winters,” said Eric Horst, a meteorologist and director of Millersville University’s Weather Information Center.

While Horst won’t issue his annual winter outlook until late October, he said the early signs show a strong El Nino weather pattern forming in the Pacific which usually means a milder winter here.

“I’m not saying that it’s going to be overwhelmingly mild, but it will be less persistently cold,” Horst said.

View Chad's complete article at: http://lancasteronline.com/news/local/milder-winter-lower-energy-costs-should-give-homeowners-a-break/article_cbff8d64-5e52-11e5-bafb-8b8fbe930129.html

The take away is to make sure to have your heating system serviced, check your oil tank and place your starting oil delivery order sooner than later to capitalize on today's low oil prices. And, enjoy the savings of heating your house this year since it appears as though the overall costs will be less than last year.

image credit: WMTW-TV YouTube video; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_5EuZ21sy0