Oil - how has it affected you?

Kilarney

Oil hit record highs this week, and even if it settles, analysts expect oil prices to remain extremely high.

Has anyone actually changed their behavior based on oil prices?

I hadn't until this past week. We heat our house with oil. My last delivery was $3.54 per gallon. I live in a very cold area, so we go through a decent amount of oil. I went ahead and bought a wood stove that will heat my home on all but the coldest of days. I expect my heating oil use to drop about 80%.

I just couldn't handle being beholden to oil anymore. You have to heat your house. So if oil prices continued to rise, I was a prisoner. Fortunately, I live in an area with abundant wood supplies. Wood prices aren't what they used to be, but they are about 25% of the cost of oil.

I still drive as much as ever, and I doubt that will change.

So what do people do differently now? How do you think this will affect the economy?

Apreche

I don't do anything differently. We have gas heat. I only drive very short trips around town, and the occasional convention trip.

rdrunr78

I would love to do something differently, but I rent an older house and that means that I can't do any energy-efficient upgrades,. The house is poorly insulated, and unless the heat is blowing directly on you, there's a slight chill in the air. I keep the heat between 68 and 70. As far as driving goes, I would like to get a bike and ride it to work because I only live about two miles from my job. The problem is that I work from 7pm until anytime between 1:30 and 5 am. While my job isn't in the worst part of time, I'm not so sure that it is a good idea for anyone to ride a bike during those hours.

kiwi_bird

The problem is that I work from 7pm until anytime between 1:30 and 5 am. While my job isn't in the worst part of time, I'm not so sure that it is a good idea for anyone to ride a bike during those hours.

Where do you live if I may ask?

rdrunr78

Hattiesburg, Mississippi. There is no public transportation if that's what you're wondering.

Kilarney

We average 7,806 heating degree days per year where I live.

Hattiesburg averages 2,024.

I'll trade you!

This winter was thankfully fairly warm. We only had one night get to about -25F. (A town about 30 minutes from me hit -36F that same night!) Usually we have a couple of those snaps where we get -20F to -25F. (and MANY other nights below zero) Each cold snap usually lasts for two or three nights, but often lasts longer. I remember a couple of winters ago when -15F to -25F temperatures at night went on for two weeks straight - and that happened a couple of times that winter.

The toughest part where I live is the spring. It's not at all unheard of to have snow covering the entire ground in April. We usually get some wet snow that month. I've seen snow as late as mid-May.

Zeehat

I can j-walk more with less cars on the road.

Zeehat

I would love to do something differently, but I rent an older house and that means that I can't do any energy-efficient upgrades,. The house is poorly insulated, and unless the heat is blowing directly on you, there's a slight chill in the air. I keep the heat between 68 and 70. As far as driving goes, I would like to get a bike and ride it to work because I only live about two miles from my job. The problem is that I work from 7pm until anytime between 1:30 and 5 am. While my job isn't in the worst part of time, I'm not so sure that it is a good idea for anyone to ride a bike during those hours.

Put some lights on your bike. That, or get a construction helmet with one on it.

Erwin

My college have a campus close by my house so Instead of driving a 45 minute commute I just take the free shuttle bus from the closer campus and I get there in 30 minutes. And I do not have problems with parking

Erwin

This is why I love Jon Stewart.

kage_rod

I don't specifically use oil, but I live in a rigpig city here in Canada. Riggers made a hella lot of money, but there were a lot of need for riggers, so if you could do it and had the will to pull the hours and work, you'd go and do it. For others who couldn't, that left us with every. Other. Job. Employers would fight over employees, and it was not uncommon for a kid (13-15 years old) to get their first job at 10-12 dollars an hour, two to four dollars above minimum wage. Gigantic benefit packages came with it, and so many little quirks and treats too. A lot of kids my age (16-18) thought that $11 was not enough and would go and get $13 dollar jobs. I myself held, for the most part, $12/hour jobs, with one $14.

At the same time, rent was astronomical because there was absolutely nowhere anyone could live. It'd be two hundred or more than most other cities on average for the same crappy little space, and I've heard stories of people paying 600 dollars for a small room in a family house with nothing else but a bathroom that they shared with the rest of the house; they didn't have internet, cable, kitchen, nothing.

I'm so glad everything is starting to slow down, even if it is kind of crazy. People still don't believe it's an $8 minimum wage - for some reason, they think it MUST be $8.50, at the very least, if not $9 or $10.

Sad thing is is that Ft Mac, a place a few hours away from here, is way worse. It's a slum town that's designed for and around riggers, and the service industry is hurting from lack of employees and the housing industry from lack of space. Their average wage is still much higher than ours, as is their rent, even as the oil rigs slow down a bit. It's not even that great of a place to live in...

rdrunr78

I would love to do something differently, but I rent an older house and that means that I can't do any energy-efficient upgrades,. The house is poorly insulated, and unless the heat is blowing directly on you, there's a slight chill in the air. I keep the heat between 68 and 70. As far as driving goes, I would like to get a bike and ride it to work because I only live about two miles from my job. The problem is that I work from 7pm until anytime between 1:30 and 5 am. While my job isn't in the worst part of time, I'm not so sure that it is a good idea for anyone to ride a bike during those hours.

Put some lights on your bike. That, or get a construction helmet with one on it.

It isn't the dark itself that I'm afraid of, nor the inability to see where I'm going. There are enough street lights that that isn't much of a problem. I'm more afraid of the type of people that may be driving or lurking around at 2 or 3 am. I'm not exactly the strongest or bravest girl in the world.

rdrunr78

We average 7,806 heating degree days per year where I live.

Hattiesburg averages 2,024.

I'll trade you!

I'm not sure what "heating degree days" means, but I don't really have a problem with the winters here. It really doesn't get that cold, and when it does, it doesn't stay that way for more than a week or two. If it rains, the temp shoots up to about 70 or 80 Fahrenheit. I'm not prepared for being cold indoors, though. I don't own many long sleeved shirts because every time I go someplace that isn't my own home, I wind up shoving my sleeves up my arms because it's too hot. It's easier just to have nothing but short-sleeves and a nice thick coat, but wearing a heavy coat indoors isn't comfortable. I've been meaning to buy some sweatshirts, but the few times I remembered, the store either didn't have my size, or I didn't have the money to spend on them. No use doing it now. Summer starts in a couple of weeks (Mississippi doesn't really have any distinct seasonal variations beyond summer and winter, and three-quarters of that is summer.)

Kilarney

I'm not sure what "heating degree days" means,

The number of heating degrees in a day is defined as the difference between a reference value of 65°F (18°C) and the average outside temperature for that day.

So if my math is correct, the average temperature where I live is 43.6 degrees. That just depressed me.

kage_rod

Ahhaha.. I had to just go through everyone's post and recalculate the temperatures. XD; Just so I knew whether you were saying it's cold or whatever.

Anyways, -40C (-40F...?? Says the converter!) is the only time school buses stop running, and only because they won't ...work... after that time. High school kids still have to go if they're anywhere near, as do teachers, but elementary kids go. It's dipped down to about that with windshield for about a week a few months ago. Thank God it's been warming up. XD

I think we use.. gas to heat up the house. Never heard of oil heating it up.

It isn't the dark itself that I'm afraid of, nor the inability to see where I'm going. There are enough street lights that that isn't much of a problem. I'm more afraid of the type of people that may be driving or lurking around at 2 or 3 am. I'm not exactly the strongest or bravest girl in the world.

Pepper spray is so much lurve! I used to work a night job, and I'd have to leave at 10PM and go home at 7AM, walking both ways. I was only 16 (don't ask) and of course, I'm a girl, so I bought this just in case... It may not be good enough for 2 AM though... >>;