The winter heating season is approaching, considered to run from October through March. And if the Old Farmer’s Almanac prediction is correct it’s going to be a colder-than-normal one for much of the United States.
That means Americans will be using more energy to keep their homes warm when Jack Frost comes nipping. Depending on what kind of system you use to heat your house could mean a serious difference in your utility bills.
Which heating system will be cheaper next winter? Natural gas vs oil
The National Energy Assistance Directors Association (NEADA) released its winter heating price outlook for 2023-2024 covering estimated expenditures for various sources used to heat homes. The trend over the past four years has been rising prices across all sources with the weighted average going from $847 in 2019-2020 to $1,106 estimated for this winter. Three of the four sources are forecast to be costlier in the winter of 2023-2024.
The winners this year will be those who use natural gas with the expected cost to drop 7.8 percent. The forecast predicts a household expenditure of $726 compared to $787 last winter. Just under half of US households use natural gas for heating.
The big losers this year will be those who use heating oil with the estimated household expenditure forecast to soar 8.7 percent to $2,275. That’s a far cry from the $1,352 for the winter of 2019-2020. Prices have surged due to tightening of supply in petroleum markets as Russia and Saudi Arabia cut back on production.
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