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Hard-up families hit by oil costs
Householders resort to buying emergency drums
Tuesday, 29 July 2008
A worrying aspect of the current credit crunch emerged today with cash-strapped householders across Northern Ireland routinely resorting to buying emergency drums of oil to heat their homes because they cannot afford to shell out the cost of full refills.
The drums contain 20 litres of kerosene and cost between £15 and £20 — which mean customers pay up to £1 per litre. That compares to a cost of around 68p per litre if you buy in larger quantities.
Sold at most filling stations, the drums were traditionally an emergency measure if a householder ran out of oil in the evening when oil companies were not making deliveries.
But a trend is emerging of householders buying the drums to avoid the escalating expense of a full refill. The price of home heating oil has gone up by around 85% in the last year.
One garage owner in Co Down said emergency drums were growing in popularity among customers.
“I have noticed people buying the drums more and more. I would say to customers, ‘You’d be better off topping up,’ but they would say, ‘It’s just to keep it going’. They wouldn’t tell you it’s because they can’t afford it.”
A Consumer Council spokersperson urged customers “to think long and hard” before buying emergency drums as a regular way of heating homes.
“Smaller drums may be useful for emergency top-ups or for short-term use but they can also make for a much more costly way of heating your home compared to buying in bulk.”
David Blevings from the Northern Ireland Oil Federation also urged caution.
“The drums were only ever intended to be used as an emergency source with the consumer using one drum to provide emergency heating until a regular delivery could be made the next day.
“We are only too aware of the increased energy costs across the board and as a responsible industry we want to offer services and products that may help minimise the impact of increased prices on consumers.
“We are suggesting that oil consumers should consider using a pre-payment system such as direct debit/giro or PayPoint to help budget for their fuel requirements this winter.”
A customer service agent at a major Co Down supplier said people were ordering smaller amounts — an option which is less economical as companies have set costs to pass on to the customer, regardless of the size of delivery.
The price of home heating oil has gone up by around 85% in the last year, apart from a drop between mid and late January when prices fell from an average of £400 to £375 for 900 litres.The cost of heating homes by gas in the greater Belfast area has risen by 28%.
However, the price of crude oil has fallen in the last week to around $125 a barrel.
Paul Hackett, managing director of Maxol Direct, the main seller of emergency drums in Northern Ireland, said the sale of drums had crept up.
“I am surprised they haven’t been higher but I would expect them to go up more in the winter time, but we have found people are ordering in smaller and smaller quantities.”
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Sorry, I'm being realistic. Yes the price of fuel has risen dramatically; however, it is set to rise an awful lot more in coming years, as WE ARE RUNNING OUT. So surely it is wise to look for alternatives now rather than in 20-30 years when we are sitting at $500 a barrel?
It's all about making choices; I currently live in England, came back to NI earlier this month, and flew into Aldegrove, instead of my parents coming to get me from Omagh, I told them I would get the bus, it took a little longer, but it cost just £7. I appreciate that the public transport in NI isn’t the best, especially in rural areas, but surely this should be the time when we force our politicians to get better transport links, not just a short term fix by dropping the duty on fuel.
Ben, I’m afraid, global warming ‘hype’ as you put it is not that, it is very real and is affecting us all, refuse to accept this and the problems such as rising fuel prices will only continue to spirial
Posted by Robert Scott | 30.07.08, 13:54 GMT
Peter, I absolutely agree!
People who buy 'gas guzzlers' should reap what they sow. However, many home owners already have double glazing, cavity wall insulation, loft insulation, low energy bulbs etc, but they are now shafted with horrendous energy running costs. It's all very well telling how to build new efficient homes, but most of us are stuck with the homes we already have.
In the real world, people just can't afford to sell their home to buy a newer, more efficient one, and its an amazing stance that you can even advocate that we should all do that. Obviously, you are lucky enough to earn more than average, and the 'credit crunch' is nothing more than a news headline for you....
Posted by Stephen | 29.07.08, 22:45 GMT
I am now in a position where I won't be able to heat the house properly this year. The price of heating oil is made it very difficult to live comfortably towards the end of winter and with a young family to wash and keep warm it really is a worry. I just wish everyone would realize that the global warming hype has gone too far and that easy taxation is damaging all of us.
Posted by Ben Harding | 29.07.08, 21:34 GMT
I don't think Robert's being arrogant at all - he makes a very good point.
People who invest in making their homes and lives more energy are facing the future responsibly. We can all stick our heads in the sand and pretend there's an ever-lasting supply of oil, but there isn't! Oil will get more expensive. It's crazy to see people buying unnecessarily large cars, especially as ever more efficient alternatives exist. Likewise it is puzzling to see people build and live in ever larger homes.
There have never been more possibilities when it comes to making properties more energy efficient - eg ground source heat pumps, highly thermal efficient building blocks, etc.
In historical times it was the hard working people who patched thatched rooves and repaired stone walls in the summer, who kept warm through the winter.
Posted by Peter | 29.07.08, 18:10 GMT
Robert, what an arrogant stance to rejoice in the the price increases we are all suffering!
Ordinary people do not have the option to look at alternative fuels. To privately retrofit solar panels etc is hughely expensive. Alternative fuels is the remit of huge conglomerates, and governments. I would gladly stop using oil if a viable alternative was offered to me. I simply want a car to get to and from work (no public transport does my journey), and a fuel to heat my home.
I'm VERY conservative in the use of fuel, as I'm sure many poeople are, but this still won't stem for many the downward spiral of fuel poverty.
Posted by Stephen | 29.07.08, 15:51 GMT
Although I do have sympathy for families who are struggling financially at the minute, I believe that this day was inevitable and I am pleased that the price of oil has risen, mainly because it will hopefully see people make a conscience decision about their energy consumption, and hopefully will make people strive to be more efficient and look at alternative methods of generating energy.
However, I am annoyed that it is the poorest families who are been the worst affected. This is highlighted in this article by the extra 32p people are paying per litre for emergency fuel, this is also generally the case with prepaid meters for electric and gas, generally used by more financially strained households, but charged at a higher rate than other tariffs.
We all have to take a responsible attitude on this issue, fossil fuels are finite, so maybe this rise in price will truly make us start to look at realistic alternatives, let’s just hope it’s not too late.
Posted by Robert Scott | 29.07.08, 14:12 GMT
When I first set up home 15 odd years ago, 900 litres of heating oil was about £120, now its around £560. That represents a fair chunk of anyones salary. (My salary hasn't increased 5 x times in that time!). My central heating controls 12 radiators. 9 of them are now turned off, and its now only used periodically on the coldest of nights.
Strange that our parents strove to increase our standard of living, when there is an obvious continuing trend that our standard of living is now dropping.....
Posted by Stephen - Belfast | 29.07.08, 12:57 GMT