The temperatures are really starting to drop and homeowners know that winter is in full swing. Some have sealed their windows, added weather-stripping to their doorways, and have serviced their heating systems. Despite any preparation made for an upcoming winter, budgeting for the fuel costs involved with these heating systems is difficult. In this article, we will cover aspects that homeowners need to be knowledgeable of when using natural gas.
To decide the steps that you need to take to prepare for the winter, it is advisable to check with the experts to review their winter predictions. This will enable you to better understand what to expect throughout the course of the winter season. For homeowners who heat their houses with natural gas, they need to know that industry professionals expect that home heating costs are going to increase for them. This means that there is a possibility that the supply of natural gas could be interrupted during the winter. Of course, this means that homeowners who utilize natural gas for heating could go without heat in the 2016-2017 winter. The American Energy Coalition shares information about the increasing prices of natural gas:
Strong demand has driven natural gas prices to their highest point in 20 months, and traders are finding encouragement to bet on higher prices ahead, according to a recent Wall Street Journal article.
“Historic heat has caused record demand for gas-fired power at a time of declining supply growth, persuading many to bet that the [natural gas] glut will ease and lift prices just ahead of the high-demand winter-heating season,” The Journal wrote. “That could cause prices to keep shooting higher if winter produces strong demand.”
“The United States must grow supplies from a virtual standstill at the present time and begin a sharp acceleration by the early 2017 at the latest, if it is to avoid major shortfalls in storage by the end of March,” FirstEnergy Capital Corp. in Calgary, said in a note to clients quoted by The Journal. “It expects prices to rise steadily from mid-October.”
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Homeowners who utilize natural gas will definitely have to look towards paying higher costs to heat their homes over the winter. In addition, meteorologists forecast that this winter, compared to the previous year, will be much longer and colder in the eastern part of the United States. Therefore, homeowners can expect a much colder winter this season to go along with the increasing prices for natural gas. Further, the article above highlights possible deficiencies in storage. This suggests that the supplies may not be sufficient to sustain consumers throughout the winter season.
This Winter Is Expected To Be Colder
How much natural gas a homeowner needs to heat the house is determined strongly by the weather. Homeowners can benefit from lower heating costs when the winter is light and short. In addition, there would be a lower demand for natural gas to be used for heating. Unfortunately, the opposite is also a true because a colder and longer winter season causes higher costs for heating. This means an increased demand for natural gas. The following article from the Farmer’s Almanac shares the predictions for the 2016-2017 winter:
While winter officially starts on December 21, 2016, the Farmers’ Almanac predictions point to some snow and cold conditions in mid-November in the Northeast, Great Lakes, and Midwest.
Get the snow blowers ready in the East and umbrellas in the West! An active storm track will deliver above-normal precipitation to the Southeast, Northeast and New England states throughout most of the winter, especially February.
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The Wall Street Journal published an article which also discusses the weather outlook for the 2016-2017 winter season:
Commodity Weather Group LLC in Bethesda, Md., this week updated a cold winter outlook with even colder temperatures, the article states. “Nearly the entire eastern half of the country is likely to get temperatures averaging 2 to 3-degrees-Fahrenheit-below normal in November, it said. Extreme cold is likely to linger in some parts of the North through March, pushing the need for heat up 8.2 percent over the 10-year average, by the metric of heating-degree days.”
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Compared to last year, the heating costs are expected to be much higher for homeowners who use natural gas to heat their homes. This projection is based on the predicted higher prices for natural gas, in addition to the forecast of a frigid winter season. This increase in demand will, in turn, force an upward growth in the natural gas prices this year.
Oil Supplies for Heating Are Available
No shortages are expected to occur with heating oil because supplies are abundant. Compared to homeowners who use natural gas, homeowners who use fuel oil are not expected to face shortages in supplies. While everyone expects this winter to be frigid and this increases the costs of keeping homes heated, homeowners who use heating oil can look forward to a better winter season than those who use natural gas. This can be attributed to the oil dealers not having to face any interruptions in the supply because of high demand. Fuel Oil News shared a recent article which gives more details:
The abundance of inventory is due to the fact that the U.S. has been producing very large quantities of crude oil, Levine said. Even though U.S. crude oil production has fallen by roughly one million barrels a day, “we’re still producing a huge amount of supply,” Levine said. Further, “demand has been very strong, encouraging refiners to continue to create more product,” Levine said. “but I want to point out that eight and a half million barrels a day production is still a lot of production.”
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During the winter, those homeowners who utilize heating oil to keep their homes warm will not have to face any shortages. Additionally, homeowners who use fuel oil can lock in on the oil prices now, and this further assists with decreasing the costs of home heating. This presents a great opportunity for homeowners. Therefore, everyone should order home heating oil to take advantage of the current oil prices.
Better Home Heat Council strides to educate consumers about the economical and efficient use of heating oil. We also specialize in helping homeowners attain improved energy efficiency in their homes to reduce home heating costs. We support local oil companies in the Lehigh Valley that provide a range of services and products. Click here to search for a high quality and professional home heating oil supplier in your area. Our oilheat dealers also provide heating and cooling system services such as HVAC system tune-ups which help keep your home much more comfortable.