first winter oil fill up ,

[peter lena 8,632]

we are are on a  " plan "  with the oil co , still  $ 4.70  a gallon is  what it is , live in a small well insulated ranch ,  only us, so its not  a  family coming up with  lots of hot water issues , higher heat ,  many years ago , pumped  home heating oil for  12 cents a gallon , same stuff , today , world  is getting tighter , pete 

[ri702bill 8,327]

Sad, but true, Pete.

As the comedian Nipsy Russell used to say, "The cost of livin' is going up, the chance of livin' is going down".

[Snoopy11 5,714]

46 minutes ago, peter lena said:

we are are on a  " plan "  with the oil co , still  $ 4.70  a gallon is  what it is , live in a small well insulated ranch ,  only us, so its not  a  family coming up with  lots of hot water issues , higher heat ,  many years ago , pumped  home heating oil for  12 cents a gallon , same stuff , today , world  is getting tighter , pete 

Yessir, I just went to my local parts store yesterday to get some 10w-30 oil... 10$ per quart...

 

Don

[Ed Kennell 38,200]

Just filled my 97 yo MILs fuel oil tank.       $5.63/ gallon    

[ebinmaine 67,565]

Seeing the prices of oil this year versus the last couple which I thought were astronomical is making me more and more glad that I demanded the DEP get my oil furnace OUT of the house 3+ years ago when we had the spill.

 

 

We switched over to electricity to heat the house at that point. I knew we were going to be using wood as the main source so I wasn't that worried about the bill going up.

My electric bill WENT DOWN!!

 

One February 2 or 3 years ago we did an experiment.

I used exclusively electricity to heat the house and it was during a cold spell.

As it turns out the heaters we are using use less power than the oil furnace was all those years AND we don't have to buy the fuel as well.

 

My whole life I've been told that electric heat is not the way to go. Scares the snot out of people even to consider using electric heat. Turns out, in my area, it's less expensive even before these ridiculous oil prices...

[Achto 27,597]

1 hour ago, ebinmaine said:

Scares the snot out of people even to consider using electric heat. Turns out, in my area, it's less expensive even before these ridiculous oil prices

 

Just wait until we start exhausting the grid to charge our cars. The tables may just turn back the other way. 

[ebinmaine 67,565]

13 minutes ago, Achto said:

 

Just wait until we start exhausting the grid to charge our cars. The tables may just turn back the other way. 

Absolutely agreed. 

The BBT and I have been contemplating a whole house off grid capable solar setup. Still not quite ready to pull the trigger but I could see it happening in the next 4 to 6 years.

 

[Snoopy11 5,714]

1 hour ago, ebinmaine said:

off grid capable solar setup

The replacement battery packs on those are a little pricey though... at least so I have been told...

 

I thought it was something like... every 10 years the pack has to be replaced... I could be wrong though...

 

Don

[ebinmaine 67,565]

4 minutes ago, Snoopy11 said:

The replacement battery packs on those are a little pricey though... at least so I have been told...

 

I thought it was something like... every 10 years the pack has to be replaced... I could be wrong though...

 

Don

One of the reasons why we haven't done it yet... 

[Snoopy11 5,714]

31 minutes ago, ebinmaine said:

One of the reasons why we haven't done it yet... 

...and the reason why the rest of the mass population hasn't...

 

Don

[lynnmor 7,307]

I have a heat pump that does the work when outside temperature is 40 or higher.  Last night I heard the oil furnace fire up for the first time this season, so the wood furnace in now fired.  I bought fuel oil for the house and shop about a month ago for $4.45, the house took 27 gallons for all last year and the shop took 140 gallon.

[JoeM 7,874]

At my age the return on investment of solar panels would not be any good.

If I was a young man in the 30 ish range, building a new place, might consider incorporating the cost into the build and mortgage. 

We heat with natural gas and got a notice of my contact running out at the end of the year. looking like it is going to double in price but compared to oil a bargain.

As far as electric goes, with the ac, out buildings, pool pump, etc and welding in the shop once or twice a week, it consumes a couple of Ben-jam-in in a month. I compare that to cell, internet, and streaming, I feel like the electric bill is a good deal. Lot of bang for the buck!

I did tell my neighbor I am thinking about an electric truck and he would have to turn off his ac while I charge it! 

 

[Achto 27,597]

1 hour ago, JoeM said:

I did tell my neighbor I am thinking about an electric truck and he would have to turn off his ac while I charge it! 

 

Sorry @peter lena, we're getting off topic.

 

Joe (or any one else) if you are truly considering an EV truck, you might want to watch this video.

 

[8ntruck 7,014]

  Compared to my 2015 Ram 1500 with a 5.7 Hemi, the drop in range while towing is similar to the drop in range of the electric F150. 

 

I get between 20 and 22 mpg on the highway without a trailer, 8 to 10 mpg towing our 22' house trailer, 12 to 15 mpg pulling a U Haul car transporter with our Jeep Cherokee on it, and about 18 mpg towing a 2 axle U Haul box trailer.

 

The difference is it only takes 10 mites to fill the gas tank - a much longer time is required to refill the batteries.

 

Honestly, we could get along fine with our day to day travel with a battery electric vehicle.  Would it work for long trips and towing things?  Not so much.  I'm just not ready to shell out the $$$$ for an electric vehicle that will only fill part of my transportation needs. 

Edited November 15, 2022 by 8ntruck

[sjoemie himself 3,068]

There's news that few big car company's are working on synthetic fuels with zero emission to save the internal combustion engine. I for one am excited to see how that turns out.

Battery electric vehicles are just not practical enough (yet) in terms of range, let alone cost..

 

About the home setup, some people turn to use (old) revamped traction batteries from forklifts. They are a bit bulky but relatively cheap and can store a lot of energy. 

[JoeM 7,874]

10 hours ago, Achto said:

if you are truly considering an EV truck

might need to have them throw in a long extension cord! 

 

Not ready for a new one yet, hopefully maybe in 3 years. Let the technology stretch its legs. 

Have thought about the range and my normal stuff it is fine. I would have to go get the sons rig or rent one if I am making any long trips. (unless things improve on their range)

 

Since I retired there are things that are a pet peeve. Waiting for a haircut and stopping to buy gas. I just want to back in, plug in!

 

For as little as it takes to cut a guys hair...... needs to be drive thru. 

 

 

[953 nut 55,285]

Our home heating system is a hybrid unit that uses the heat pump down to 32 degrees Fahrenheit then switches to LP gas below freezing. I have the tank filled during the summer when rates are "LOWER", most years it has been in the $ 800 range but this year was over $ 1,000. The electrical bill has been about the same this year as last so far. I wouldn't be at all surprised to see a rate increase for the electrical company too.

 

Our son purchased a hybrid Toyota Camry a couple months ago and it has been getting over 80 MPG. He visited us a few weeks back and that Camry handled the steep mountain roads just fine and was recharging the battery on the down grades because of dynamic braking. Much better than an all electric car because you have no mileage limitation, just fill it up and drive. On the upgrades it uses the gasoline engine and battery power but on level ground it operates on battery only until the battery gets to about 25% power then the engine starts to assist and recharge the batteries. It is very impressive but we aren't ready to buy a new car yet so we will see how reliability and upkeep on these complex units works out.

[Alex175 784]

17 hours ago, ebinmaine said:

My electric bill WENT DOWN!!

 

Alright, I'll ask for all of us in CT.....they can go down?  How is a state sponsored corporate monopoly on a utility able to pay it's stockholders dividends from it's 1 billion dollars in profit if it doesn't double the rates every year?!?

 

For real though, I love Connecticut, I know lots of people complain about it, but it's a great place to live....that being said, Eversource's grip on the state is horrific.

[peter lena 8,632]

@Alex175  also live in conn, agree with your view of  Eversource's  failure / disfunction . have to say that the battering that they regularly get , has been making a change , their  response /  set up areas  are numerous now . always amazed in the " MANAGEMENT " look at a problem .  not a clue  as to opportunity for  problem set up plug ins , talking to a number of responding linemen , their is so much infighting , also disgust  /  incredible  management EGO issues.  never wrong .  think if they had  RETIRED NAVY CHIEFS , in charge of the maintenance set up  ,  it would be so much better . but that would also  terrify , management  control .  pricing today  for anything is brutal , just the opportunity  to rip / gouge , pete   

[rjg854 11,377]

I have a fuel oil boiler, and a coal boiler for heating the house and the big barn.  I use the fuel oil ($5.299 a gal.) until the temps drop below freezing.  That's when I fire up the coal boiler ($225.00/ton) I use 4 ton a year.  This year the fuel oil delivery was almost as much as it cost for coal. I don't use much of that oil for the heating season.  Each boiler has a domestic hot water coil so there's no additional cost to heat hot water. I know that probably sounds old school, but the price of coal over last year only rose $10 a ton.  Until they come up with a way to retrofit a hot water baseboard system, I'll leave things the way they are.  At my age it just doesn't seem reasonable to install anything else.

[tunahead72 2,423]

Just got a delivery of fuel oil this morning, $5.299 a gallon, close to $1000 total.

 

So, one of today's projects will be to clean out the wood stove and start a small test fire to see how it's working.  I've already called my local friendly chimney guy for an inspection and cleaning, that should be happening soon.  This past January, we had a bunch of borer-infested ash trees taken down, and a couple of weekends ago we rented a splitter and split close to 3 cords of firewood.  That should help!

 

[clueless 3,002]

I feel for you guys, but I can't reach yea .

[cafoose 3,355]

22 hours ago, Achto said:

Joe (or any one else) if you are truly considering an EV truck, you might want to watch this video.

Just wondering if the EV truck would use less gas and also keep it charged if a generator was put in the bed and kept running to keep the truck charged? Or possibly an electric start generator with a remote start in the truck so it could be started on the go without stopping?

[Achto 27,597]

6 minutes ago, cafoose said:

Just wondering if the EV truck would use less gas and also keep it charged if a generator was put in the bed and kept running to keep the truck charged?

 

This works for the hybrids. I think the hybrid design should have been pursued a little further.  

[953 nut 55,285]

36 minutes ago, cafoose said:

Just wondering if the EV truck would use less gas and also keep it charged if a generator was put in the bed and kept running to keep the truck charged? Or possibly an electric start generator with a remote start in the truck so it could be started on the go without stopping?

The chargers that will charge a fully depleted battery over night require a 50 Amp 240 Volt outlet and cost around $ 1,000. That would have to be a substantial generator to keep up with the EV's electrical needs.