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Frank Blankenship of Oil Heat and Burner Service in Front Royal reported that homeowners who rely on oil heat burned 25 percent more fuel this January than last year. Due to the cold, the average family will require the equivalent of approximately two weeks additional heat, he said.
Still A Normal Winter
“But in terms of what’s normal, we’re about average for the year,” Blankenship noted, adding that he’d checked records for the past four heating seasons. “Historically, we’ve had ups and downs in temperatures. This year is colder than last but last year was 20 percent warmer than average. Right now, we’re about level with 1982,” Blankenship said.
According to the fuel oil supplier, the price of heating oil has escalated sharply in the past month. “Our cost jumped about 22 cents a gallon in January," she reported, adding that the total increase has not been passed on to the consumer, “We didn’t raise our profit margin. In fact, it’s lower than it was last year at this time.” He attributed the jump to a temporary shortage caused by the unusually high demand that began with December’s sub-zero weather. But again, he pointed out, the price of heating oil, like the temperature, is about equal to what it was in 1982.
Even with January’s price increases, this season’s oil costs are lower than last winter’s, according to Aubrey North of Nish North and Sons in Huntly. He said that last year, he charged customers $1.30 some cents a gallon compared to today’s price of $1.23.5 per gallon.
North’s records show an even higher demand for heat this January than those of bigger oil suppliers or power companies. In the month of January, his trucks deliv
86.8%