North by Northeast

It’s that time of year again – it’s gotten cold, and the fuel oil is getting low. In previous years, I’ve bought from Burke Oil, in Chelsea, Mass but a call this morning confirmed that Burke will no longer deliver BioHeat to a residence. Not good, as last time I checked, they were the only company to deliver to Medford.

Good news though, Mass Energy, a non-profit consumer’s alliance now does deliver (or rather an associated dealer does) to Medford. I’ve signed up this morning ($20 fee to join), and hope to talk with the oil people soon. I’ll let you know how it goes.

I posted a request for alternative bioheat providers on Craigslist, but that was also before I called Burke, and learned they no longer deliver to residences.

Update: The Oil people who work with Mass Energy called. They only run a truck with BioHeat irregularly. As in rarely. I had to buy 100 Gallons (minimum delivery) of all-petroleum #2 home heating oil just to keep the house warm. However, going through Mass Energy saved me at least $0.10 per gallon. They had no idea when the next truck would roll with the BioHeat fuel. Also, their BioHeat deliveries are strongly tilted towards their automatic delivery customers, so being a will-call customer is difficult.

It looks as though I will sign up for auto-delivery for BioHeat soon.