How much does oil heat cost in Milwaukee?
July 22, 2013 5:36 AM Subscribe
I'm trying to find information on how much I should budget for heat in an apartment that uses oil heating. If you use oil heat, can you give me an estimate of your bills for that service as well as how many square feet you are heating? I'm in Milwaukee, WI.
So much here is going to depend: on the age and efficiency of your furnace; on the quality of insulation in your apartment; whether you have energy efficient windows; size of your apartment.
I'm in a 1450 square foot house in the suburbs of Massachusetts (plus attic and basement), so, not as cold as Milwaukee, but the winters can be pretty cold -- and the heating bill can be pretty brutal. We have no bills all summer long (half a tank or less will cover hot water all summer long) and then we get sums that result in heating bills for the year being $2400 - 3K, depending on how bad a winter it was) -- which means we are being billed anywhere from $500-$650 every 1 1/2 to 2 months. Our furnace is a very new, very fuel efficient furnace. Our windows are new. Our insulation is decent. We are still getting hammered, and I still look with yearning at the heating bills of my friends with gas heat. The oil company sent us a letter recently offering to stagger the bills over the 12 months of the year -- their estimate for us was $240/month.
posted by instead of three wishes at 5:55 AM on July 22, 2013
I'm in a 1450 square foot house in the suburbs of Massachusetts (plus attic and basement), so, not as cold as Milwaukee, but the winters can be pretty cold -- and the heating bill can be pretty brutal. We have no bills all summer long (half a tank or less will cover hot water all summer long) and then we get sums that result in heating bills for the year being $2400 - 3K, depending on how bad a winter it was) -- which means we are being billed anywhere from $500-$650 every 1 1/2 to 2 months. Our furnace is a very new, very fuel efficient furnace. Our windows are new. Our insulation is decent. We are still getting hammered, and I still look with yearning at the heating bills of my friends with gas heat. The oil company sent us a letter recently offering to stagger the bills over the 12 months of the year -- their estimate for us was $240/month.
posted by instead of three wishes at 5:55 AM on July 22, 2013
Thank you, instead of three wishes, for making me feel very lucky.
I also live in a ~1500sf 100-year-old house in the suburbs of Massachusetts, 2 levels plus heavily insulated attic and cellar, with modern but not fancy windows, and an unexceptional furnace installed about 1995, but our heat bill is a lot less. We pay about $3.50 per gallon (we joined a non-profit oil alliance), and the oil guys come around to fill the tank about 4-5 times per winter at about $400 per trip, so $2000ish for the winter. We're pretty conscientious about it; we did the state's free energy-inspection to check our insulation, we've got a programmable thermostat, and my husband often runs an electric space heater in his office when he's working from home instead of trying to heat the whole house. The worst part about oil heat is the irrecular billing - it isn't there at all most of the year, and the first fall bill in early November is smallish because we haven't heated much, and then the next delivery gets postponed for Christmas, and then voila it's February and we have a bill for $650...
If your apartment is on one of the upper floors, and you don't have a door directly to outside, congratulate yourself for your wisdom - you'll be inheriting heat from your downstairs neighbors, and your bill will be noticeably less than theirs. Even if not, you've got more building around you than we homeowners do, so I suspect a 750sf apartment would be more like half of my bill than half of Instead's. Budget $1000 if you can, and with luck you'll be pleasantly surprised. The key thing is to put away some money now, so you're not caught flatfooted the first time the bill comes due.
posted by aimedwander at 7:04 AM on July 22, 2013
I also live in a ~1500sf 100-year-old house in the suburbs of Massachusetts, 2 levels plus heavily insulated attic and cellar, with modern but not fancy windows, and an unexceptional furnace installed about 1995, but our heat bill is a lot less. We pay about $3.50 per gallon (we joined a non-profit oil alliance), and the oil guys come around to fill the tank about 4-5 times per winter at about $400 per trip, so $2000ish for the winter. We're pretty conscientious about it; we did the state's free energy-inspection to check our insulation, we've got a programmable thermostat, and my husband often runs an electric space heater in his office when he's working from home instead of trying to heat the whole house. The worst part about oil heat is the irrecular billing - it isn't there at all most of the year, and the first fall bill in early November is smallish because we haven't heated much, and then the next delivery gets postponed for Christmas, and then voila it's February and we have a bill for $650...
If your apartment is on one of the upper floors, and you don't have a door directly to outside, congratulate yourself for your wisdom - you'll be inheriting heat from your downstairs neighbors, and your bill will be noticeably less than theirs. Even if not, you've got more building around you than we homeowners do, so I suspect a 750sf apartment would be more like half of my bill than half of Instead's. Budget $1000 if you can, and with luck you'll be pleasantly surprised. The key thing is to put away some money now, so you're not caught flatfooted the first time the bill comes due.
posted by aimedwander at 7:04 AM on July 22, 2013
For specific Milwaukee numbers, you'll probably have success asking in /r/milwaukee.
posted by Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drug at 8:28 AM on July 22, 2013
posted by Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drug at 8:28 AM on July 22, 2013
Are you paying for your own oil or are you paying for a share of oil that goes to a common heating system that everyone uses?
posted by seanmpuckett at 9:02 AM on July 22, 2013
posted by seanmpuckett at 9:02 AM on July 22, 2013
Also, ask your neighbours!
posted by seanmpuckett at 9:02 AM on July 22, 2013
posted by seanmpuckett at 9:02 AM on July 22, 2013
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by jon1270 at 5:54 AM on July 22, 2013