Heating oil FAQ

EIA SHOPP residential national average is $6.14/gal for the week of 2026-11-02 (the survey publishes weekly October to March). The NY Harbor ULSD wholesale spot is $4.82/gal (EIA, daily).

Diesel pays road tax (federal $0.244/gal plus state $0.20 to $0.70/gal). Heating oil does not. But heating oil's retail margin and dealer cap-fee programmes can offset the tax gap, especially in winter.

Aug-Sep are typically the seasonal lows, 5 to 8% below the season peak. The pre-buy window opens here. See /seasonal-price-pattern.

Typical range: 700 to 1,000 gallons for a 1,500 to 2,000 sqft home. ME/NH/VT homes burn 1,000 to 1,500 gallons. See /annual-heating-oil-cost for sqft breakdown.

Depends on the forecast end-of-season price. If you expect higher, pre-buy fixed wins. If you expect lower, will-call wins. Cap (with a fee) is the compromise. Run the /pre-buy-vs-cap-vs-budget ledger.

Nameplate 275, usable ~225 (80% safe-fill). At national average $6.14: $1382 per fill.

Chemically, yes. Both are #2 distillate ULSD (15 ppm sulfur). Heating oil is dyed red to mark it off-road and untaxed. See /diesel-vs-heating-oil.

EIA SHOPP runs weekly Oct to Mar and in 2026 published nothing between the week of 30 March and the week of 5 October. Other sites quote the March number through summer. This site shows the NY Harbor ULSD wholesale spot (EIA) daily so the dashboard stays fresh.

A cap is a ceiling at today's price plus a non-refundable fee ($0.20 to $0.40/gal). You pay the lower of market or ceiling. Worth it in volatile years, expensive in flat years.

IRC §6715: greater of $1,000 or $10 per gallon. State penalties stack. Arbitrage almost never pencils.

ccASHP at ~$23/MMBtu effective edges oil at ~$32/MMBtu in shoulder months. Below 15°F, COP drops and oil wins. Dual-fuel is the cold-climate optimum.

K-1 runs ~$0.70/gal above #2 in retail. The premium buys cold-flow capability to -40°F. 80/20 blend reaches -10°F at much lower cost.

If a gas main is on your street and the hookup quote is under $5,000, the fuel-cost saving (~$400 to $600/yr) pays back in 8 to 12 years. Above $8,000 hookup, marginal. Above $10,000, skip.

State energy offices and EIA contact a stratified sample of about 1,000 retail heating oil outlets across 21 states and DC, by telephone or email, on Monday. Each reports the price offered to residential customers as of 7:00 a.m. local time that Monday, excluding taxes and excluding cash or high-volume discounts. EIA publishes the volume-weighted national and state averages about 1:00 p.m. ET on the Wednesday after collection.

EIA SHOPP for residential retail, the EIA NY Harbor ULSD spot for wholesale, state energy agencies for state-specific surveys. Each chip-cited number links to its source. Full manifest at /sources.