Here comes Irene!

Hurricane Irene is fast approaching and we are here to help in any way. Both Propane Gas and Diesel Fuel are available for generator fueling and we have been running around the North Shore the last few days topping off tanks at places ranging from Hospitals to Fire departments to regular homes to help our customers prepare. Call Holden Oil for delivery of fuel to keep your generator running.

Please remember that if your if your heating oil or propane gas fired appliances get wet, have a service person check them out before attempting to use them. Water will damage the controls and can create a safety issue. If your oil or propane gas tank is damaged or in danger due to the storm, please contact us as soon as possible. We have propane tanks in many locations that have already been secured but the fury of nature is very unpredictable. If you have concerns, please call us.

At this time of year, we frequently are asked what we think the price of heating oil is going to be this winter. My honest answer is no one knows. Heating oil, gasoline, and diesel fuel are now a financial instrument traded by speculators causing huge swings in wholesale prices every day. The prices of these products are determined more by hedge funds and investment houses than they are by supply and demand.

The Easy Pay budget program for the 2011-2012 season will be rolled out on August 1. We estimate your annual consumption and use the US Department of Energy projections to estimate your heating expense and break it into monthly payments beginning in August and continuing until June. The last few years we have had to adjust the monthly payments both up and down to reflect the actual cost of fuel during the year. If you have any questions or concerns on the EASY PAY BUDGET, please give us a call.

What happened to the warm weather?

It is the middle of June and here we are with long sleeves and sweatshirts! The heating season is supposed to be over but many people are turning on the propane fireplaces to take the chill off. Don't let the cool water of your pool keep you from swimming- Let Holden Oil help you keep swimming with a pool heater.

The Easy Pay Budget plan for Heating oil and propane ends this month with settlement statements having been mailed out on the First of June. The new Easy Pay Budget will start in August as it does each year. If you have been on the plan in the past year, we will automatically calculate your new plan. If you have not been on it and wish to be, just give us a call in the office.

The Easy Pay Budget is a way of spreading out your heating oil or propane gas payments out over eleven months. We estimate your usage based on the past several years and we estimate what your cost for the year will be based on government predicitions of the average cost of oil or propane. It is an inexact science and that is why some years we have either asked you to lower or raise your budget payments during the year with the hope that the final June payment will be as close to your actual balance as possible. Do not hesitate to call us if you have any questions.

Memorial Day is Grilling Time!

The weather has finnally warmed and now it is time to get out those propane gas grills and start cooking! Holden Oil's propane gas filling station is open 7 days a week during the summer to get your tanks full for the grill or the RV.

Be sure to print out the coupon before you fill your 20 pound propane gas cylinder!
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Thanks for Reading our Blog!
$5.00 (Five Dollars) off the price of a 20 Pound Propane Refill when this is presented

Coupon Good only at:
91 Lynnfield Street Peabody
Expires June 26, 2011
No Cash Value- One per person

Earth Day

Holden Oil was represented in the Riverfest-Earth Day celebration on the Rose Kennedy Greenway in Boston last Friday. We helped man the Bioheat booth and explain the benefits of bioheat and biofuels from an oil dealers prespective. There were thousands of people and great music!

On Saturday April 30th, Holden Oil will be displaying a Dixie Chopper propane powered commercial lawn mower at the Peabody Green Fest being held at the Peabody Community Life Center on Central Street. Propane powered mowers and lawn equipment are environmentally friendly and are very economical. Come on down to see what is considered the best propane powered mower on the market along with other displays of environmentally friendly products offered by North Shore companies.

Equipment Rentals

Rental bills for Propane tanks and equipment have been sent out, as they have for over twenty years. The rental allows Holden Oil to maintain, and replace when needed, your propane tanks and regulating equipment. Just as the electric utility and the natural gas utility charge a minimum fee each billing cycle to keep you connected to the grid, Holden Oil must insure a minimum return from the very expensive equipment that is provided. We have worked to keep the rental charges among the lowest in the industry, despite the huge increases in the cost of the equipment.

End of another winter

Yes, even us heating guys are ready to head into spring! With the snow this weekend, you get really antsy for the grass to start growing and the trees to bud out. In the oil and propane business, a system called degree days is used to help figure out how much fuel oil or propane you consume. If this year seems as though you may have used more than last year, you probably did because that is what the degree days are telling us. From September 1 until March 31, there has been roughly 4.25% more degree days than last year. For the average home in the northshore area, that amounts to about 35 gallons more heating oil consumed. Unfortunately, the price of heating oil is just about one dollar per gallon higher than last year and propane is about thirtyfive cents higher so that increase in consumption feels even worse.