By the Gallon Method of Home Heating

In the great Northeast of the United States, most homes are heated with no. 2 fuel oil. Mobile homes are almost all heated with kerosene. As prices have increased so dramatically over the past couple of heating seasons, people have found it difficult maintain the same relationship with their energy product vendor. Usually a minimum delivery of home heating oil is 150 gallons. Over the past three years, the cost of the minimum delivery of home heating oil has shot up from about $262 to about $418. The cost of a minimum delivery of kerosene for home heating has ballooned from $300 to almost $500. Since mobile homes are usually heated by kerosene burning furnaces, it's a incredible irony to have their generally lower-income occupants so affected.

To put it in real terms, someone working a full-time position in a retail store like Wal-Mart or K-Mart and getting paid $8 per hour would need to pay around 30% of their monthly salary for a minimum delivery. And it's likely that in the coldest part of the winter, that minimum delivery would not be enough for a month. A second delivery would take another 30% for a total of 60% of their gross income, or 78% of their net income, leaving only 22% to pay everything else: rent/mortgage, groceries, gas, clothing, electricity.

This has given rise to the by-the-gallon method of home heating. The easy version is to get a few five gallon gasoline or kerosene cans at the department store or local hardware store. Go to the station with the fuel at the pump. In my small station wagon, I would place an opened plastic garbage bag down to protect the car from the fuel oil. When we took my husband's pickup, we put them in the back of the pickup and lashed them with bungee cords. Now this is a real hassle in the coldest part of the winter, and I don't do it then. I call for a delivery. I'm a wuss, I guess. Summertime or early fall is a great time, though. You can easily fill your tank by putting in 15 gallons a week. A full tank of about 200 gallons saves about $80. I've seen a lot of folks with 55 gallon barrels in the back of their pickups for the fuel and they do it all winter. I'm going to do some research on that, because it sounds like a good way to save some $$$. I'm just concerned about how safe that is. Anyway, store the cans outside for safety and use an approved self-venting gas or kerosene can. Ask your vendor for any their recommendations on safe storage.