Ohio heating oil and propane prices per gallon this week

Propane in Ohio

Last winter Ohio propane averaged $2.586 a gallon from November to March, ranging from $2.411 to $2.750. The highest week the survey has recorded in Ohio is $3.908, on February 3, 2014. The EIA's wholesale price for the state this week is $1.285, so delivery, storage and the dealer account for $1.362 of every gallon. Filling a 500-gallon tank from 30 % to 80 % costs $662 at the average.

Heating oil in Ohio

Ohio's heating oil households paid $3.780 a gallon on average last winter, between $3.346 and $4.806. This week's average of $6.031 is $0.035 below Pennsylvania's and $0.223 above Michigan's. The wholesale figure for Ohio, $5.125, leaves a dealer spread of $0.906. A 275-gallon tank at a quarter takes up to 206 gallons, $1,244 at the average; the oil tank calculator takes your own gauge.

Which fuel gives cheaper heat

A gallon of propane holds 91,452 Btu and a gallon of heating oil 138,500, according to the EIA. At ENERGY STAR efficiencies and this week's Ohio averages, a million Btu of delivered heat costs $32 from propane and $50 from oil. The comparison page puts an electric heat pump on the same basis.

An Ohio winter

NOAA's normals give Ohio 1,043 heating degree days in December, 1,177 in January and 982 in February, weighted by population. Those months carry 68 % of the November to March total. The winter budget spreads the season month by month at this week's price, and the LIHEAP page gives the federal income ceiling for heating help in Ohio: $70,686 a year for a family of four.

Fixed price or market price

Ohio dealers, like dealers elsewhere, may offer propane at a fixed or capped price for the season, sometimes against a pre-payment or a minimum volume. The record since 2013-14 shows how the Ohio winter average compared with the mid-October price each year; the lock-in check replays those winters against the price you are offered and the gallons you expect to buy, and says how many of them a lock would have won.