Home Heating
Your furnace does not burn dollars — it burns BTUs, and then your wallet catches up. This is the no-nonsense version of rural home heating: oil, propane, wood, pellets, and heat pumps, what each costs to run in dollars per million BTU, and how to compare fuel prices fairly. Written for homeowners, not HVAC salespeople. More guides are on the way.
Know your system
How rural heating works — oil, propane, wood, pellets, and heat pumps — and the one number that compares them all.
How Home Heating Works for Rural Homes
Oil, propane, wood, pellets, or a heat pump? How each rural heating system works, what it costs to run in $/MMBTU, and how to compare fuel prices fairly.
Seasonal maintenance
Keep the heat reliable and the warranty valid: what a real pre-season service visit covers.
Get Your Heating System Serviced Before Winter
A yearly heating tune-up runs $150–$200 and keeps your warranty valid. What a real oil, gas, or propane service visit covers — and the jobs you can handle yourself.
Fuel contracts, decoded
Pre-buy, capped-price, and budget plans are three different products. What each one actually guarantees, what it costs, and what to ask before you sign.
Propane and Heating Oil Contracts, Decoded: Pre-Buy vs. Price Cap vs. Budget Plan
Pre-buy, price-cap, and budget plans do three different jobs. What each one actually guarantees, what it really costs, and what to ask before you sign.
When the heat dies in a cold snap
Gelling, sludge, and low tanks: why oil burners quit in January, what to check first, and the five moves that prevent the next no-heat call.
Cold Snaps Kill Oil Heat: Gelling, Sludge, and the January No-Heat Call
Your oil burner quit in a January cold snap? Wax gelling, a low tank, and sludge are the usual trio. What each one does, what to check first, and how to prevent the next no-heat call.
Free tools
Heating Fuel Cost Calculator
Enter your fuel prices and equipment efficiency — compare oil, propane, gas, heat pumps, wood, and pellets in $/MMBTU, side by side.
Propane Price Checker
Is your delivered propane price fair? Check it against the EIA weekly benchmark for your state — and learn what moves the number.
Heating Oil Price Checker
Is your delivered heating oil price fair? Check it against the EIA weekly benchmark for your state — and learn what moves the number.
Oil Tank Gauge Calculator
Gauge or dipstick reading in, days of heat out — with the honest dead-bottom math and an order-now verdict for will-call customers.
Propane Tank Gauge Calculator
Gauge percent in, gallons and days of heat out — with the 80% fill rule and an order-now verdict for will-call customers.
Pairs with
When the power goes out, so does the heat
Every electric heating option — heat pumps, electric furnaces, and even pellet stoves — dies with the grid. Know your backup power before the January outage, and get the house winter-ready either way.
Browse the Power guides →
How to winterize your well and septic system →