[GuatMommy2Be]

We're thinking of moving... to a beautiful old farmhouse which has oil heat. I've only ever dealt with gas so I'm not sure what to expect. I imagine it's very expensive. Would space heaters in our main rooms work, while keeping the heat down?

[Mindybeth6]

DON'T DO IT!!!! My parents, the house I grew up in, was a farmhouse, beautiful, and they renovated it. Truly, I grew up in a beautiful home. However, they heat wil fuel oil and what is their bill for JUST this winter?? EIGHT THOUSAND DOLLARS. YES! OMG. And my mom said it may go a tad higher. Just depends on the currect market. And after paying all that, the house is freezing cold all the time because it is old and drafty. THey do bring in a kerosene heater but it stinks I think. Just be prepared to pay a ton. I pay about $900 total for all winter for my gas bill. And we live an hour from my parents. Just really make sure you figure in that price when deciding.

However, farmhouses are beautiful!!!!! Love my parents but it has needed a TON of work over the years.

[angel_bayou]

WOW I have never even heard of this kind of heating!! Maybe it's because we never seem to get cold here in Louisiana!

[JoshGuat]

Oil heat is dirty and very expensive. Space heaters will not save you money as electric is high too. Old homes are a lot of work and money pits. They are charming if you want to put the money into them. It's a never ending money pit for maintenance. JMO

[DeeVee]

We had oil heat in our first house. Oil was a LOT cheaper then (I am still flabbergasted at the $8000 bill a previous poster mentioned!). It can be dirty (stains around the heating vents will show you just how dirty). Find out if it is possible to convert to gas heat. The gas company offers incentives to do it (if available in your area).

[DianeScraps]

WOW $8000? We have oil and we are under $2000 and that includes our hot water year round.

What you can do is ask for documentation of their heating costs for the last few years, your real estate agent can ask how many years is a reasonable request - perhaps 3?

Also see if the system has different zones. My parents lived in an old house, but each floor had it's on zone and they were on timers so costs were kept under control.

[aniles]

My brother lived in New Hampshire and had oil. I don't recall him ever saying it was all that expensive - it was more of a pain to have it delivered and the tank was in their basement so it took up some space. I would agree that if the option is available to switch to something else you should do it. I do believe that he also used space heaters on occassion on cold evenings in their room or in the living room while watching TV.

You could also talk to people in the area and call the companies that sell oil to get an idea of how much it costs and generally how much is used per year for similar sized homes as I imagine the size of the house will affect your annual cost. Also, is there any information from the sellers of the house on how much they use? Your realtor might be able to get that info so you can make a better educated decision.

Good luck!

[Stormster]

We have oil heat. There are websites where you can find local companies with better prices than the big companies depending where you live. For us the key is INSULATION. Some other tips, fireplace makes the house COLDER, ceiling fans help recirculate the heat and Keep the house at 68.

We have automatic delivery and yeah it was expensive last year but mostly because of the baby I kept the house at 72. We use space heater in babies room as well. Helps a lot in there but I wouldn't start putting space heaters in every room.

We were going to convert to gas just last week we had someone here but it's thousands of dollars (like at least 5) plus about a thousand to take out the old oil tank (though the guys that do it usually buy back the oil).

Our plan is to get a pellet stove ad put it in the fireplace. It's about 2K and should keep our bills WAY down. The pellets are apparently re-usable and burn very clean. If the house you're thinking about doesn't have double glazed windows and good insulation I would think twice ....! But for us we found the solution.

[SmileLaughLearn]

We live in New England and have oil heat. We looked at many, many houses in our area before choosing one, and most had oil heat. We have automatic delivery and we've never had a problem with it at all. I have no idea what the cost is compared to gas, but it's far cheaper than the electric heat I grew up with. We have 3 zones in our house, so we're not heating the parts of the house we're not in. We do cover the windows with plastic in the winter and run the ceiling fan in the family room-- other than that, we don't do anything special. We also joined a local co-op that negotiated a lower rate with the oil company, so we save about 25 cents a gallon.

I agree with other posters who suggested finding out how much the current owners have paid, and researching oil prices in your area.

[letsgo]

We live in an old farmhouse in PA and have oil heat. Our bills have never approached the 8000 limit...not even close! We do have 2 zones, run a space heater in the baby's room (the rest of us like to sleep "cool"), and generally keep the thermostat at 69 - 70 degrees during the day.
Oh...and the oil heats our hot water also.
We have old radiators and I haven't noticed over the 14 years we've lived here that there is any real dirt accumulation (dust bunnies, yes!).
Good luck with your decision, but I think the $8000 is a bit out of the ordinary.

[JoshGuat]

My FIL budget for oil heat is $400.00 a month.

[GuatMommy2Be]

Originally Posted by JoshGuat

My FIL budget for oil heat is $400.00 a month.

That is my sisters budget as well. I am going to get some more info on the house. It's absolutely beautiful... and would be perfect for my business.

[JoshGuat]

Originally Posted by GuatMommy2Be

That is my sisters budget as well. I am going to get some more info on the house. It's absolutely beautiful... and would be perfect for my business.

Sounds like a great charming investment for you. Older homes are my favorite !!!! Happy bidding

[Mindybeth6]

It's really not that out of the ordinary. I know a ton of people planning on these prices for winter here in Ohio and surrounding areas. However, they were not expecting oil prices to drop. At one point in the late summer prices were around $7 a gallon of fuel oil here. My parents have a 300 gallon tank. They fill up 3-4 times per year. 1200 gallons x 7.00 a gallon is more then $8000 a winter/year.