Heating Oil Prices Forecasted Lower this Winter
As usual, we here at Hillside do not claim to be smarter than the average bear. This is information we are passing along from the US Energy Information Administration…With a name like that, they must be important.
This fall, the U.S. Energy Information Administration published a winter fuels outlook that projects slightly lower heating fuel costs for those who heat their homes with oil. EIA predicts an average household will spend 2 percent less on home heating oil this winter than last winter. This is good news for many Hillside HVAC customers who depend on us to get them through the winter, although the real savings won’t be entirely known until we see how cold outside temperatures get this winter. EIA forecasts that our country area will only be about 3 percent colder than last year, but we know that weather forecasts aren’t perfect!
Those of you who use natural gas to heat your homes won’t be as lucky this winter. EIA predicts an average household will spend 13 percent more this winter than last winter on natural gas. This translates to roughly $80 extra over the course of the winter.
Aside from local weather conditions, other variables impact the cost of heating your home, such as the worldwide supply of fuels, regional demand, the energy efficiency of your home and the efficiency of your heating equipment, and the temperature to which you set your thermostat.
Here’s what you can do to increase your cost savings this winter:
Turn your thermostat down a couple of degrees; your body will naturally acclimate to the new inside temperature. “Acclimatization usually occurs over a period of about two weeks in healthy, normal persons,” says Dr. G. Edgar Folk, physiology professor at the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine. “This process is faster in response to heat but slower in the cold.”
Maintain your heating equipment so its components are dirt-free and its filters are clean and “breathable.” When equipment is clean and working properly, it operates more efficiently to heat your home.
Programmable Thermostats
A programmable thermostat can save you money this winter when you use it to automatically adjust your home’s temperature to cooler temperatures at night or during regular periods of time that you are away from the house, such as during work hours. This way, the house isn’t being fully heated when it doesn’t need to be, saving you money on your home heating bill. Hillside HVAC installs programmable thermostats that don’t require a monthly fee to use or monitor it. There is even a type of programmable thermostat that you can remotely access by smartphone or anywhere you have the Internet!
thermostat
Give Hillside a call for prices and options: DE: 302-738-4144 or MD: 410-398-2146
