Anyone else dealing with these absolutely insane heating bills this year?

Submitted by cataquacks t3_11tf2bv in newhaven

My 2nd floor apartment is heated by steam radiators that run off an oil tank in the basement, and my landlords contracted standard oil for the oil deliveries. The heat has always been expensive, because it's an old mildly drafty unit with poor insulation, and the first floor has never been occupied since I've moved here, so we're not leeching off of that unit's heat. But the rent is fairly low, so it all sort of came out in the wash. But the cost of heat has more than DOUBLED in the last year or so, near as I can tell, so each month's oil delivery has cost us like EIGHT HUNDRED DOLLARS.

Are other people with oil heat dealing with this? How on earth is this allowed? I feel CRAZY cutting these checks every month.

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dynari t1_jcitkqv wrote

I just moved here. The cost of electricity and gas is absolutely mind blowing. The place I just moved from increased costs this winter, and the folks there were petitioning for the utilities to go public because of that, and getting the local government to investigate the utility company. Even with that price hike, I'm paying more than double for gas and electric since moving here... It's crazy to me that there doesn't seem to be any public backlash in regards to these prices.

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hanginglimbs t1_jcngstf wrote

Change your energy supplier. The default supplier is UI and they recently upped their rate to like 23 cents per kilowatt hour. My bill nearly doubled. I changed my supplier to Town Square at around 13c per kWh

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Extreme-Cupcake5929 t1_jcklpz4 wrote

The electric companies charge the same for fees as actual usage it’s crazy it’s always been that way and never made sense to me . The electric companies went up at the start of the year . We all complain to each other it gets us nowhere

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fn0000rd t1_jcj2y1a wrote

This is why we pay for heat for our tenants — getting smacked with huge oil bills really messed with me when I was renting, especially in December when Christmas also comes along.

A landlord can write it off on their taxes, as well.

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paintedfaceless t1_jcisgv0 wrote

I definitely feel your pain. I am essentially paying as whole studio of rent on utilities in Connecticut. It was jarring coming from the west coast - cost of living essentially leveled out to be the same due to shit like this.

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cataquacks OP t1_jcisqmn wrote

It's especially crazy because plenty of people in this state don't have oil heat! So their utility costs are high, but not crazy like this. I have no idea why the government isn't just throwing money at homeowners to get them to switch from oil to electric.

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OverDimension5842 t1_jcjs5oy wrote

As someone who recently moved from a state where we had central heating run by a natural gas furnace (maybe $150 a month in the winter) to a house that has electric baseboard heat in CT (so far, each month this winter has been $900+) I’d say no on the electric. We’re considering installing a wood stove.

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jgregory17 t1_jcjt4hq wrote

I went the catalytic wood stove route a few years ago. It could save some money if you have a good source of seasoned wood (e.g. you own a large wooded property and don’t mind felling trees and splitting wood). But at $400/cord it’s a lot of work for what’s probably very little in savings. That being said, I love having a roaring fire in the evenings and it provides a nice warm room for my wife.

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chroniclerofblarney t1_jck9v8b wrote

Why are you paying 400/cord? I just had a cord of seasoned delivered last week for 225 and that is pretty standard around here (Tolland County). Is this Fairfield that you’re talking about?

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jgregory17 t1_jctl9g6 wrote

I’m in New Haven. Always happy to switch to a reliable supplier if I can find one. The definition of “seasoned” seems to be a bit shaky when I was looking, so I go with someone I trust than the lowest bidder.

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buried_lede t1_jcp5aby wrote

Baseboard electric is way more expensive than electric heat pumps

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tequilamockingbird37 t1_jcj27d8 wrote

As an electric/gas user I politely disagree. We just like you get robbed every single month. Our supply charges, yeah they're not terrible. It's the delivery charges where you're paying at least 3 times more than supply. At least. It can be astronomically more. If you belong to the ct subreddit Eversouce is the devil here. But everyone's thumbs are in everyone else's pockets so the PURA just sets whatever rates they want and the AGs office just goes along with it. They'll put out a statement now and then. Hell we got a $15 credit after losing power for 9 days during Isaias. But it's the most they'll ever do. Bc frankly they've made it clear they don't give a damn

https://www.ctinsider.com/business/article/eversource-ct-nolan-ceo-executive-compensation-17785534.php

It's not okay. I miss lower new haven county and having UI. It's the best I've ever known

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brewski t1_jcm1mgq wrote

Because electric is much more expensive than oil.

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[deleted] t1_jcmexje wrote

You'd have to be absolutely insane to go electric heat. Eversource would drain your bank account to zero in 2 months.

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6th__extinction t1_jcjomab wrote

Do you live in one of the rabbi’s apartments?

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cataquacks OP t1_jcl76jm wrote

Lol no, this is my landlord's only rental property

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CousinLarry211 t1_jclfz91 wrote

Sounds like your landlord got into a contract when the prices were crazy high.

I lived in CT for years and had an oil tank and never once signed any contracts. It's a scam. You can get oil delivered as needed for cheaper.

I just checked and oil price is about $3.15/gl right now. You shouldn't be paying $800/m.

A normal oil tank is about 325 gl. So even if it was completely dry (it wasn't) it would be about $1k to fill it. Sounds like his contract price is closer to $4 or more.

Then factor in it may be an old inefficient furnace. When I bought my home, the furnace was a coal furnace converted to oil, about $0.50 on every dollar was going up in flames. We spent almost $4k on oil our first winter. Insane. Changed the burner out to something more efficient and cut that bill down.

It was still high though. CT sucks for energy prices. And since you're renting, you're stuck with whatever your landlord has and he doesn't care what you pay in oil.

You can try the plastic film on your windows to cut the drafts. They work well. And layer up. Hahaaa

Good luck! Almost done with winter!

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cataquacks OP t1_jcln48s wrote

Yeah we're definitely paying way over the current price. Standard oil used to let them lock in a rate when they signed the contract for delivery but wouldn't even let them do that this year because prices were so variable. Meanwhile, our delivery last month was 5.20 a gallon! Plastic film has helped somewhat, but I have cats so you can guess how long that lasted lol

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brewski t1_jcm1wja wrote

If you are paying the bill, you should be making the contracts. Find the cheapest supplier and make your own contract.

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[deleted] t1_jcmf4ym wrote

Standard basement oil tanks are 275 gallons.

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CousinLarry211 t1_jcmg5km wrote

Maybe for a one or two bedroom. Pretty sure standard size is higher. I'm almost positive mine was 340 in a 3br/2ba. My buddy next door had 2x 340gl tanks. I don't know anyone with one as small as 275. Would only be about 250 useful in that tank.

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mattyro78 t1_jclqye1 wrote

Im in CT. Been a very nice winter yet Eversource is telling me I have more than doubled my use of gas which is impossible. We have kept the heat off and the avg temp has been like 5 degrees higher than last year. They do say my meter runs on a battery which has to be replaced within a month plus im on the winter no shut off plan. Either way they are ghouls and should be nuked.

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crymeariver_a t1_jcl10r4 wrote

Mine was about $1,000 and I refilled three times 😭

I will never take gas for granted 🥲

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allonsyyy t1_jclcopo wrote

I swore off oil heat after renting a floor of an old, drafty three-family building in around, I want to say, 2008ish? Oil was crazy high, gas was like $4/gallon. I spent over a thousand on a tank of oil and it ran out in less than a month. We kept the house hella cold and used electric space heaters, we weren't cranking the thermostat or anything.

I thought there must be something wrong, maybe the tank is leaking or something, asked the landlord to have it checked out. He sent some maintenance jerk who said nothing was wrong and sent me a $100 bill for the service call. Moved out as soon as my lease was up.

My gas bill to heat my house and water was $138 last month. It's an 80 year old house, but I added insulation and new windows because I maintain my house, unlike slumlords who rent out the same building forever and never do efficiency upgrades cuz fuck it, tenant pays utilities why should they care?

It does seem like it should be illegal. We've got some old-ass housing stock that is owned by people with no monetary incentive to do any energy efficiency anything. There's rebates, tax incentives, financing available to switch to gas. But they can't be bothered, carrot don't work. Get the stick.

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neverknows9 t1_jclta8l wrote

You’re not alone! I didn’t renew my service contract with Petro at the end of the season last year because their delivery fee would have been locked in at $6 a gallon. I’ve been using this website (https://www.cheapestoil.com/heating-oil-prices/Connecticut) to find the cheapest oil and then ordering the minimum amount when I get below half a tank (usually 100 gallons) because I can’t afford more. We’re also keeping the heat at 64. It’s been a tough winter despite it being relatively mild, temperature-wise

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Extreme-Cupcake5929 t1_jckldub wrote

Everything is electric in my apartment so I get screwed year round , but I started only putting heat on as I need to and put a rolled up towel against my apartment door so no heat escapes . Same with my ac until those super hot consecutive days then I leave it on low & I don’t leave the heat on 24/7 , I get up an hour early and put the heat on so my bathroom isn’t so cold .

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buried_lede t1_jcp516n wrote

If you’re paying for oil deliveries compare the price to Forbes Fuel or one of the other companies that are known to be cheaper. I don’t know how your landlord can make you use Standard. Landlord probably contracts with them for furnace servicing but too bad

Also look into Eversource weatherization program. I’ve never used it but I hear renters can use it and it might be free. I hear they can add insulation and seal things up. It’s part of a state mandated program

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CatSusk t1_jck7p90 wrote

Living in a drafty apartment raises your expenses significantly. I used to live in a very drafty apartment built in 1900 and paid 300 - 400 monthly for gas. Now I live in a small well insulated house and so far I’ve paid about 1200 for oil this winter.

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