When Is The Best Time Of Year To Purchase Heating Oil in Pennsylvania?
If you are looking for ways to save some money, it is recommended to know when is the best time of year to purchase heating oil in Pennsylvania. Buying in bulk can also save you some cash in the long run. Heating oil is used for water heaters and broilers. It is used to heat the space in your homes and business establishments during cold and snowy seasons. Compared to other gas, heating oil is cheaper to produce and burns cleanly. You can rely on heating oils to keep your heating system running efficiently come winter time. You can count on Bucks County Fuel to provide current heating oil prices in PA.
What’s The Best Month To Buy Heating Oil?
The demand for heating oil is usually high during winter or cold months. You may have experienced having to spend a big amount of your paycheck just for your heating oil during freezing winter months. Although it is a challenge to determine how much the price will go up during cold months, one can easily understand that when there is a huge demand for a commodity such as heating oil, the price shoots up. This is why it is best to purchase your supply during summer when only a few of us are mostly thinking about alfresco meals and basking under the sun. According to Economy Oil, the peak season when the prices are high is from late September and April. So don’t forget to mark these months!
The demand for heating oil is lower in summer thus the price is cheaper. Another benefit of stocking up early is making sure you have enough supplies to use. When winter kicks in, you may experience some delay in delivery due to harsh weather conditions or the number of orders which need to be delivered. Filling up your tank early on does not only save you some money but free up your mind from thinking about it. However, keep an eye on the crude oil price.
According to Smart Touch Energy (STE), looking into the regional trends is also important in deciding when and where to buy the heating oil. The U.S. states which are mostly consuming heating oils as reported by STE are New York, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Maine. Another thing to look out for is the price of crude oil. Heating oils are refined from crude oils so any spike in crude oil prices in the global market could also affect your heating oil price.
Helpful Tips In Buying Heating Oil
Making sure that your fuel tank has enough oil reduces the possibility of damage. Moisture is trapped in a tank low in fuel. When your tank has more air than oil this causes corrosion which could damage your heater. Make sure that you check your tank. Unwanted repair requires funding which you could avoid by keeping your tank well oiled.
What Causes Heating Oil Prices To Be Unstable?
There are several reasons why you can experience some fluctuations in heating oil prices. First, the supply and demand of crude oil is a factor. Crude oil has a variety of uses. It serves as a gasoline and diesel base too. Supply could also be affected by factors such as wars, changes in policies, transportation delays, taxes, global pandemic and others. When the pandemic hit, there was a lot of crude oil produced but due to the limitation of movements, transporting this product was delayed. There was plenty of supply but demand was low and so the price of crude oil and heating oil took a deep dip.
Second, the local supply and demand in the area where you live. If you are from an area with a high purchase of heating oil it is more likely that prices are higher since there is a huge demand compared to a community that does not require a huge supply of heating oils. Another factor that could also affect the price is the number of heating oil suppliers in the area. If there are few players in the community, they can monopolize the price. But if there are plenty of heating oil suppliers, they will compete in terms of marketing their products through pricing, discounts, or promos.
Third, the manner of your purchase could also be a factor. The price may vary for online delivery and in-store purchase. So if you are looking into saving up, compare how much it cost to have it delivered vs going to the store.
The Convenience of Buying In Bulk
Buying in bulk is ideal so you won’t have to make a call to your local heating oil supplier more than you need to. Heating oil could last up to two years so you don’t have to think about it being spoiled. There are also some shops which offer discounts and promos during summertime since the demand is low.
For those who are planning to store heating oil in advance. There are few things to consider. First is the storage space to store your supply. Make sure that your space is safe for storing heating oils otherwise it could cause problems. Second, make sure you devote enough time to check on your supply. Though heating oil can last up to two years, you will have to take time checking whether the containers are still in good condition. Third, it would be beneficial if you do some reading about storing heating oil before actually making huge purchases. There is no harm in having enough knowledge to prepare you. Fourth, before storing the heating oil in your tanks, make sure that you did a maintenance check or had a professional look into it for checking.
Do not wait for winter before you fill your tank with heating oil, if you do you might encounter higher prices. Also, chances of a frozen pipe are much higher. Repair and maintenance checks for this could cost a lot so take time to check your heating system before winter kicks in.
We hope these tips on the best time of year to purchace heating oil in PA has been helpful. If there are any issues we may have not mentioned in this article, feel free to let us know! We love to provide as much helpful information that we can for our customers!
