How to Save Money on Home Heating Oil

Do you live in one of the approximately 5.5 million homes that use home heating oil as the primary heating fuel? It’s an effective home heating fuel, but the bills in the winter can eat up a lot of your budget.

Simple changes help you save money on your heating oil, starting with how you purchase it. Updating your home and changing your habits in the winter can reduce your consumption, which slashes your costs.

Keep reading for tips on how to save money on home heating oil.

Prepare for the Cold

Lowering home heating oil bills starts with anticipating your needs. Don’t wait until you need your heat to get a home heating oil delivery. By then, demand is already increasing, and you’ll likely pay more for it.

Plan ahead with your first delivery of the year during the summer. You’ll be primed and ready to go when the temperatures drop. Plus, you’ll get lower summer pricing since the demand is lower.

Monitor your heating fuel levels throughout the season. Don’t wait until the last minute to schedule a delivery. You might have to pay extra fees to get same-day delivery if you’re in urgent need of more fuel.

Fix Your Home

Making your home more energy efficient is another tip for reducing home heating oil costs. It locks in more of the heated air, which gives your heating system a break. When it runs less or doesn’t have to work as hard, it uses less heating oil.

Look for obvious things that decrease your home’s energy efficiency. Lack of insulation, drafty windows, and gaps in your home are prime examples. Correcting those issues costs you money initially, but it lowers your heating fuel consumption in the long run.

Installing Energy Star rated windows cuts heating and cooling costs by an average of 12%. The savings are even more if you live in northern climates and replace single-pane windows.

Adding more insulation keeps the cold air out and the warm air inside your home during the winter. Your heating system reaches your ideal temperature with less effort for lower fuel use.

Soak Up Natural Heat

Sunshine on winter days can help heat up your home naturally. Open up your curtains when the sun shines on your windows to let the heat come inside. Your heating system doesn’t have to work as hard if you can get some natural heat inside your home.

As soon as the sun is gone, close your curtains. They serve as a barrier to the cold and help hold in the warmed air. Install heavy thermal curtains for the most energy-efficient option.

If you have ceiling fans, reversing them for winter circulation can help your home naturally feel warmer. When the blades rotate the other direction, they push the heated air that rises to the ceiling back down toward you.

Tune Up Your HVAC System

Regular HVAC maintenance keeps your system running efficiently. Efficient operation consumes less energy, saving money on home heating oil.

Changing the air filter is a basic task that keeps the system efficient and prevents clogging. Look at your filter once per month to see if it’s dirty and needs to be changed.

Schedule a professional HVAC tune-up at least once per year. A pro inspection ensures everything is working correctly inside the unit. The HVAC technician can lubricate, tighten, and replace parts as needed to improve your system’s operation.

Install a Programmable Thermostat

A programmable thermostat lets you easily drop the temperature when you’ll be gone for long periods. It automatically raises and lowers the temperature at certain times of day based on your settings.

A temperature change of 7 to 10 degrees over an 8-hour period daily can save you up to 10% on your heating and cooling costs each year. That can perfectly align with your work day or your sleeping hours, when lower temperatures won’t bother anyone.

Set the thermostat to go back to your preferred temperature a little before you get home or wake up. This gives the system time to get to that target temperature to ensure you always stay comfortable.

Lower the temperature a few degrees from what you normally use even when you’re home. You likely won’t notice much difference, but it cuts down on your energy use a little. Pile on blankets, use flannel sheets, drink warm beverages, or layer up on warm clothes to stay comfortable at a lower temperature.

Use Budget Plans

It can be difficult to predict the exact home heating oil cost since it fluctuates based on demand. However, you know it’ll increase in the winter when everyone runs their heating systems non stop.

We offer a heating oil budget plan that makes it easier to anticipate your costs. We estimate your upcoming heating oil usage based on the previous year. We also look at projected fuel price changes.

Those figures determine an estimated heating oil cost for the year. You can divide that amount up into a 10, 11, or 12-month plan, spreading the costs out with even payments.

Look at all of the options available, including automatic delivery and on-demand delivery plus budget plan options to find what works for you. Call your heating oil provider once per year to see if there are any new discounts available for you. Every small discount helps you reduce your overall expenses.

Comparison Shop

It’s always a good idea to check around for different heating oil rates. Look at the different pricing plans and fees each company charges to find the lowest overall charge.

Don’t forget to take into consideration customer service and quality. Sometimes it’s worth a little extra to get reliable service and know you’ll always be taken care of when you need heating oil.

Review your current bills to look at the breakdown of costs. If your oil company charges lots of fees, look for an option with lower surcharges.

Reduce Your Home Heating Oil Costs

When you reduce your home heating oil costs, you can save money overall on your utility bills. Little changes can cut your bills significantly and still keep your home warm.