Oil prices are spiking in todays searches: fill the heating oil tank now, or wait for a dip?
Oil prices today is one of the top trending searches in the US, and my heating oil tank is sitting around a quarter full with cold weather coming. I hate overpaying, but I also hate the idea of running low during a cold snap and paying an emergency delivery fee. For people who heat with oil: do you fill up as soon as prices jump, or do you wait it out and bet on a pullback? What actually moves the price week to week?
1 answer
- Fill half now, half later
I heat with oil too, and the half-and-half trick has saved me from the worst timing mistakes. Fill to about half a tank now so a cold snap cannot catch you empty, then watch the weekly price for two or three weeks before topping off. You pay a little more in delivery fees, but you never buy your whole winter at the peak price, and you never pay an emergency fee either.