When you’re a homeowner, it’s all too easy for expenses to pile up. Insurance rates, appliance replacements, electricity costs — it can often feel like there’s no escape from rising prices. And home heating oil is no exception. But like any commodity, heating oil has certain times in the year when it’s often less expensive than others.
At Roach Energy, we’ve been delivering heating oil and other fuels to homes and businesses in Martinsburg and surrounding communities since 1952. This gives us some considerable insight into what affects energy prices. In this post, we want to discuss the fluctuations that can happen with heating oil prices and when you should consider buying your fuel.
As a distillate of crude oil, heating oil’s price is subject to the factors that cause fluctuations in global oil markets. That means a military conflict, OPEC supply cut or weather event on the other side of the world can affect the price of heating oil in the Eastern Panhandle. And Wall Street speculation in the energy sector doesn’t help, either.
Supply and demand come into play as well. When you have an extended cold snap or blizzard in the eastern U.S. (where almost all heating oil is used in this country), prices tend to rise.
Then, there are the everyday costs of transporting, storing and delivering fuel that can cause prices to rise. You can rest assured that Roach Energy works hard to keep these costs low.
If you use heating oil to stay warm throughout the winter, you won’t always be able to time out your fuel deliveries to happen when prices are low.
Even so, you can do one thing to save some money on heating oil: fill your tank in the spring or summer. This time of the year is typically when demand is lowest and prices are reasonable. Heating oil has a shelf life of 18 to 24 months; you don’t need to worry about it going bad. Additionally, keeping a full heating oil tank through the summer helps reduce condensation, which in turn slows corrosion and extends your tank’s lifespan.
When you receive your heating oil from Roach Energy, we offer you ways to take control of your pricing and payments. This makes your bills more predictable and lowers your winter expenses. Here are two ways to avoid the roller coaster of heating oil prices!
Are you interested in enrolling in one of our pricing and payment programs — or free automatic heating oil delivery? Contact the Roach Energy office today.
