How does gas at $4 and higher impact you?

gagrice

We have not seen gas that cheap in San Diego for well over a year. Today RUG is selling from a low of $3.86 to $4.49 a gallon. It looks like we are headed to the highs we had in 2008. Must have something to do with Leap year.

stever

We're going down that direction for a change like we did last year in April. Will try to plan the gas stops for your neck of the woods. :-)

dieselone

Yeah, pay attention to illinoisgasprices.com. Last summer Springfield was about 20 cents cheaper than Champaign area. Currently we are about the same.

I drive up to Chicago and Northwest Indiana often. I always fill up here before heading there. If I don't do to much driving while up there, I can do the whole trip on a tank.

gagrice

CBS2’s Kara Finnstrom reports that a gallon of self-serve regular unleaded gasoline is $4.93 a gallon at a Shell station in the Miracle Mile district.

http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2012/02/20/gas-prices-soar-due-to-tensions-with-i- ran-refinery-closures/

motorcity6

Venice, Fla,filled last Wednesday, mid-grade $3.82, and noticed the premium price today was @$3.96, so will go for the good stuff this Thursday..Sunoco card gives another nickel discount, big deal!!! Put my Shell card on idle when they withdrew the 5% discount and offered a dime/gallon rebate if you did $500/mo on gas purchases..

Lots of games being played...Used to fill the 1958 and 1959, 356 Super Porsches up at the Army PX in Mannheim, Germany, $0.18/gal..

gagrice

I am not sure for all areas. The Costco AMEX card I have gives 3% at all stations that are not part of a discount plan, such as Safeway or Sam's club. I also quit using my Shell Card when they ended the 5% discount. So at least I get to jab them every time when I use my AMEX card to fill up.

lemko

...gas was $3.63 for RUG at the Sunoco at Rhawn and Verree in NE Philly. Came back two hours later and it jumped to $3.65! Wassup wit' dat?

fintail

Was that 1959 price a fair market price or something subsidized by the taxpayer?

gagrice

Gas was usually between 19 cents and 25 cents a gallon in 1959 here in San Diego. That would be like paying $1.44 to $1.90 a gallon in today's dollar. So buying power today is much diminished from 1959. I was making minimum wage $1.25 an hour. So I could buy at least 5 gallons with an hours pay. At today's price of gas you get less than 2 gallons for an hours work at minimum wage. If minimum wages had kept up with inflation they would be at $9.48 per hour today. Still not very good buying power.

berri

Well Lemko, Iran has cut off Britain and France. Nevermind that Britain doesn't import from Iran and France currently only gets 3% of its oil from there and is in the process of reducing that to zero. Forget that oil is fungible and very difficult to track to its ultimate destination once it leaves port. Wall Street and London at it again and most of the media is too dumb in financial and economic matters to see through it, instead whipping up the frenzy to the speculators delight.

fezo

Good post. If Iran stopped exporting all together it would not make oil that much more expensive if it were not for the panic attacks of traders. The old perceptio is reality trick.

xwesx

Absolutely. It has always been that way: Control through fear. Sad, but effective. :sick:

gagrice

Stopped at Costco gas today. The lines were horrendous. Seems they have the cheapest gas in town at $399/9. The ARCO close by is usually close in price. They are at $4.14. We took the trolly downtown for lunch. With four of us it cost $10 roundtrip. Saved us about $8 in gas and $7 parking.

stever

Try Disney World. :sick:

I'm planning a drive to the Tampa area in a week or so, but I wasn't impressed with Epcot last trip down so hanging out in Orlando isn't an issue. If we drive over that way, I'll fill up in Lakeland or somewhere. :shades:

Florida Drivers Shelling Out Nearly $6 A Gallon At Some Gas Stations (CBS)

It's getting a mite expensive getting my catfish and BBQ fix.

gagrice

I wonder if FL has gouging laws? That is purely the case with the over $5 gas. You need to stop in Panama City and fill up for less than $3.50 a gallon.

gagrice

lemmer

You can buy it all over Orlando for well under $4 a gallon. This is just a stupid sensationalist story.

stever

But it sells papers (and generates forum posts, lol). Whatever, we're ready for a road trip. In the old days we'd camp free to defray gas costs. Hard to find a patch of grass to pitch a tent for under $25 these days.

dieselone

Man, gas has jumped up 50 cents a gallon here this week. We're not at 3.79.

explorerx4

Paid 3.979 for RUG. Heading to Indiana early tomorrow morning, back on Sunday.
Probably will pay less per gallon on subsequent fill ups.

gagrice

This is just a stupid sensationalist story.

Where stupid comes in is anyone that would buy gas at a station that is higher priced than the average. I watch here in amazement all the time people paying 50 cents more per gallon, when it is a whole lot cheaper right across the street. Brand loyalty is only worth so much. Our local Shell today was at $4.25 for RUG and $4.49 for diesel. Down in town the Shell stations had already kicked it up to $4.49 for RUG.

Just checked Gas Buddy. Shell has a range here from $4.09 right at the Mexican border to $4.69 up in Del Mar where the fat cats live. You can risk your life and cross into Mexico and get gas cheaper with no ethanol.

fezo

Brand loyalty is OK up to a point. I stick with major brands except for Gulf (used to wreck havoc on my Volvo - that was 40 years ago - maybe they've changed), Exxon (just on general principles as a representative of what's worst in the oil industry) and Lukoil (they took over a bunch of the former Mobil stations out here but are Russian. Thankfully they seem to have disappeared). For some reason that I cannot logically explain I prefer Sunoco and Shell.

All that said, if the price difference becomes more than a couple of cents I'll go to who is cheapest even if it's Exxon. I suppose almost anything is the same nowadays but I know back in the 60s and 70s Exxon had rusty tanks (my mechanic back then advised against them on that issue), and Gulf sucked. There did seem then to be differences. That Volvo was finicky as hell.

gagrice

I think it depends more on the state than the company. In CA the blend is tightly controlled by the State. I have not really noticed any difference between high priced Shell and cheapest Costco gas. My mileage on my Sequoia jumps significantly when I fill in AZ. And Colorado gas which is 86 octane gives me the very best mileage. I think it is the 10% ethanol in CA that knocks me down about 2-3 MPG. I suppose I could buy a tanker truck and go fill up in AZ. On a 1000 gallons I would save $750 less $130 for the round trip. I would look for such entrepreneurial enterprises as the gas price heads North. It is the same reason so many people drive across the Mexican border to fill their diesel trucks and auxiliary tanks.. Same as money in the bank.

fezo

The ethanol is such a mileage killer. I know I've seen people post the lists a stations where they sell real gasoline with no ethanol but the nearest station is always 100 miles or more away.

I will say that any of the cars I have had of late have been much more tolerant on gas. You can put pretty much anything in them and they perform well. That Volvo was a piece of work in that respect.

lemko

I put $3.95 in the Inflation Calculator and it show the equivalent of 90 cents for 1974 when we suffered through the first fuel crisis. I can't imagine ANYBODY paying 90 cents a gallon for premium in 1974. There would've been riots! They were going nuts over 50 cents.

gagrice

When I was in HS gas was usually about 21 cents. Gas wars brought it down to 19 cents. And some high fallutin stations would charge 25 cents a gallon. A quarter in 1959 is equal to $1.90 today. So we are getting screwed BIG TIME. :sick:

PF_Flyer

It would be nice if prices at the pump had SOMETHING to do with actual supply and demand, but they are no longer connected to that. The effect of what some speculator thinks MIGHT happen to supply or demand based on what other people think might happen is the determining factor now. And all the reporting of EVERYTHING doesn't help

Here's how the "logic" seems to go...

Tuesday: Global warming alarmists say that left-handed scissors use is going to cause a warmer and drier than normal summer. The price of energy futures rises in response because there will be more demand for cooling and people will be using more AC in their cars.

Wednesday: The National Weather Service reports a possible shift in the jet stream may be in the works that might cause more rain and cooler temps across much of the country. Oil prices jump in response since the heating season will now last longer and driving on wet roads kills mileage.

It's insanity

gagrice

The artificial oil run up led by George Soros in 2008 was supposed to be a turning point in the oil commodity market regulations. If I remember Congressional leaders were going to pass laws on margins and ability to accept oil speculated on. 4 years later nothing was done and we are getting the same knee jerk market. I do think the finger is many times pointed at the wrong people. Oil producing countries and states make out on higher prices. Oil refiners and retailers take the brunt of abuse. Oil rich states like TX, ND, OK and AK are rolling in dough with $100 oil.

Speaking of subsidies: I have noticed on my last 3 tanks of gas a distinct up tick in gas mileage. I am wondering if the distributors are using less high priced ethanol in the mix now that the ethanol subsidy for them is gone? They are allowed by the mandate to use from 2.9% up to 10%.

lemko

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama says there is no easy answer to the problem of rising energy prices, dismissing Republican plans to address the problem as little more than gimmicks.

"We know there's no silver bullet that will bring down gas prices or reduce our dependence on foreign oil overnight," Obama said Saturday in his weekly radio and Internet address. "But what we can do is get our priorities straight and make a sustained, serious effort to tackle this problem."

Oil prices are approaching last year's highs as tensions increase over Iran's nuclear program. The rise pushed gasoline prices Friday to a national average of $3.65 a gallon, the highest ever for this time of year. A spike in gas prices is normal in spring, but it came earlier than usual this year in large part because of world fears that the growing confrontation with Iran will crimp oil supplies. Iran is the world's third-largest crude supplier.

Rising oil prices weigh on the economy, pushing leisure and business travel costs higher. Every 1-cent increase in the price of gasoline costs the economy $1.4 billon, analysts say.

Obama said Republicans have one answer to the oil pinch: Drill.

"You know that's not a plan, especially since we're already drilling," Obama said, echoing his remarks earlier in the week. "It's a bumper sticker."

Obama is pushing what he calls an "all-of-the-above" approach to the problem of limited energy resources, meaning an attempt to seek out alternative energy sources while reducing consumption of traditional fuels.

In the Republican address, Texas Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison blamed the rise in gasoline prices partly on the Obama administration, which she said has blocked some potential new sources of oil and gas.

"We can't slow down global demand for oil and gas, but we can do a lot more here at home to assure that we have the energy we need and to halt skyrocketing costs," she said. "President Obama's policy has resulted in an unprecedented slowdown in new exploration and production of oil and gas."

For all the political claims, economists say there's not much a president of either party can do about gasoline prices. Certainly not in the short term. But it's clear that people are concerned — a new Associated Press-GfK poll says 7 in 10 Americans find the issue deeply important — so it's sure to be a political issue through the summer.

The price of gasoline, which is made from crude oil, has soared with oil prices. The national average jumped by nearly 12 cents per gallon in a week, with state averages above $4 per gallon in California, Alaska and Hawaii.

At $3.65 per gallon, gasoline is still below last year's high of $3.98 and the record $4.11 set in 2008.

imidazol97

>"We know there's no silver bullet that will bring down gas prices or reduce our dependence on foreign oil overnight," Obama said Saturday in his weekly radio and Internet address. "But what we can do is get our priorities straight and make a sustained, serious effort to tackle this problem."

OBama doesn't want to attack the problem. He wants it to be a campaign issue to blame Republicans and he wants prices to go higher. He wants to use this as an excuse to push green energy to win votes from the green folks. More Solyndra anyone?

imidazol97

>"We know there's no silver bullet that will bring down gas prices or reduce our dependence on foreign oil overnight," Obama said Saturday in his weekly radio and Internet address. "But what we can do is get our priorities straight and make a sustained, serious effort to tackle this problem."

Drilling on our own oil lands instead of saying, "but it would take 5 years to get oil out so let's not drill at all." They've been saying that for 30 years, so we would have had 5 new sets of drilling efforts if they hadn't been obstructionists in the "green" and antioil groups.

>The price of gasoline, which is made from crude oil, has soared with oil prices.

The oil price in 2008 was up to $150 and the gas price was $3.50 nominally. Now the oil price is $100 and the gas price is $3.50. AND it was peak spring season for pricing at refinery change over back then when Bush was criticized relentlessly for "his" oil price problem. Now only 1/3 the articles have been run in the last couple of months and we're not even into peak price season.

They make excuses, excuses, excuses.

gagrice

xwesx

Oil rich states like TX, ND, OK and AK are rolling in dough with $100 oil.

The State of Alaska may well be "rolling in dough," but much of its population is about to go broke! 1000+ gallons of heating oil a year at $4 a gallon, combined with electricity at $0.22/kwh and climbing, makes for a challenging cost to maintain. :sick:

The folks around here like to cite wood energy as the answer, but they seem to forget that it takes 50-80 years to replace that one spruce or birch tree they just felled for firewood.

Kirstie_H

Did you recently purchase a compact or subcompact at least in part because it had very good fuel efficiency as gas prices continue to climb? A reporter is interested in speaking with you. Please send a brief description of your experience and contact information to pr@edmunds.com by Wednesday, February 29, 2012.

gagrice

You are correct that heating oil is expensive in AK. Most of the state now has natural gas for heat. Living in CA I would consider 22 cent per KWH electricity cheap. Ours is on a tiered basis and anything over 438 KWH per month is 28 cents and after 556 KWH it goes to 30 cents per KWH plus tax and distribution. I paid $3.29 a gallon for Propane in January. I am down about 125 gallons today. So about $225 per month to heat in San Diego. We are headed into a mini ice age down here. I also burnt a little over a cord of oak since the beginning of 2012 at $240. I loaded, hauled and unloaded it using my truck to save $150 per cord delivery charge.

Speaking of gas prices. My local Shell station went up to $4.33 over the weekend. diesel still at $4.49.

In 2008 with the last oil price run up, then Governor Palin kicked in an extra $1200 in the Alaska Permanent fund check to help with the high cost of fuel. Every man woman and child in the state the prescribed length of time received a check for $3269. A family of four would get a nice $13k that year. Enough for a vacation to Hawaii and a lot of heating oil.

fezo

Speaking of Hawaii, you still have the place there? HAven't heard about that in a long time.

gagrice

I sold my flower farm the end of 2010. Someone came along and offered us a handsome profit and we took the money and ran. Still have an acre lot in a very nice subdivision near Pahoa, HI. Kind of a tie to the state. No plans to build on it or sell it.

Gas Buddy shows our Hilo gas station selling RUG at $4.43. Not a lot more than here. Sales tax in Hawaii is half what we pay. No income tax on pension earnings. Much lower property tax than most places.

explorerx4

Paid as low as 3.519 in Ohio. Filled up back home @ 4.039 today.

xwesx

Yeah, that $1,200 "energy rebate" was poorly executed, but it was well-timed for my family. I generally prefer to send my childrens' PFDs into investments for future educational expenses, but that year I seized the opportunity and used those funds to install low-e triple-pane windows in the house. That was a good investment.

I need to get my boiler, which I self-installed last February, calibrated by a professional with a Bacharach tool. In the last year, I ran through about 700-gallons of heating oil, which is more than ever before and a surprise since I expected to use less than before. Still for 2,200 square feet, most homeowners go through over 1,000 gallons. I don't think I could survive here if I was dumping that much money into heating fuel. Actually, calculating it out based on the #1 heating oil price when I last filled ($4 on the nose), 700 gallons works out to about $225 a month. That's less than my electricity bill, but I'm not sure if I should be happy or infuriated.

I turn off my heating system in early May once daytime temps start getting into the 50s, and don't turn it on again until the Fall and the house temp is below 60F.

For cryin' out loud.... 28/30 cents a kilowatt?! I really don't understand why people live in California, but I'm sure glad they do.

lemko

@ 28/30 cents a kilowatt, I'm buying a generator, solar panels, and my own windmill.

michaellno

28/30 cents a kilowatt, I'm buying a generator, solar panels, and my own windmill.

And a stationary bicycle to power the blender!

I'm paying .10999/KwH here in Colorado. Yet another reason why I'm happy to visit my family in California but won't ever move back.

xwesx

I grew up in northeastern Oregon, so coming to Fairbanks was a bit of sticker shock even when electricity was about $0.08/kwh during the last half of the 1990s. I am having a hard time remembering now (after all, I didn't have to pay the bill!), but I want to say that the price was about 3.5 cents when I left. From that perspective, hydro power (and nuclear) is good.

I filled the car up last night and we are back up to $4/gallon. I was surprised, given that it was twenty cents less only a week ago when I last filled! Heating oil is $4.20... highway robbery!!!!

michaellno

Not to make anyone angry, but the price of RUG at my local station has jumped about 20 cents in the past couple of weeks ... it now stands at $3.159 a gallon.

Yeah, I know I'm lucky. Colorado has the second lowest average gas prices in the nation - only behind our neighbor to the north, Wyoming.

andre1969

For cryin' out loud.... 28/30 cents a kilowatt?! I really don't understand why people live in California, but I'm sure glad they do.

OUCH! Now I feel kinda guilty for all the groaning we did in Maryland back in 2007 when they started jacking up electric rates. They phased it around June 1. For 2006 I averaged 9.1 cents per KWH. For all of 2007, it averaged out to 11.3, and for 2008, first full year of the jacked up rates, it was 15.6.

I remember home heating oil spiking at around $5.62 per gallon in the summer of '08, so I made the decision to get an all-electric heat pump. I only averaged about 450 gallons per year in home heating oil, but I was getting sick of it.

Well, as soon as the cold weather hit and it was time to fire that sucker up, oil prices started dropping. And, electric rates went even higher. In 2009 I averaged 16.4 cents per KWH.

Thankfully it's come down a bit since then. 2010 was 14.9 and 2011 was 14.2.

I think the last time my grandmother got oil, a few weeks ago, it was around $4.30 per gallon. Plus all the fees and taxes they throw on top. I'd love to get her house off of the oil, but in her case I don't think a conversion would be cheap. Her house has an oil boiler and baseboard heat. And it heats her hot water, too...no separate water heater. So I don't think converting her to all electric would be as easy as it would be if she had forced air instead.

xwesx

How does the electric heat pump work? I have noticed similar water heaters advertised lately, but I admit the concept eludes me. There is some traction with geothermal heat pumps, but I doubt this is the same thing since it would be more than a little bit of work to retrofit a house for a geothermal system.

stever

Had an electric one in Boise and it worked great. No humidity there which helped its efficiency. Great for desert climates, less so for other places. Much cheaper than geotherm (no wells). It just moves heat either in or out. If it got below 20 in Boise, there was less heat in the air to extract so the electric burners would come on as supplemental heat. Same unit and compressor worked for the AC; just reverse the heat flow.

The ground source ones work better in Alaska than the "air exchange" electric ones, but digging the trenches is expensive. There are some up there but not many.

larsb

Heat Pump Water Heater: Rather than clutter up this forum with an off-topic issue, see my experience here ------>>>>>> Hot Water Heat Pump Review

graphicguy

Good article from the WSJ....

http://www.cnn.com/2012/02/28/opinion/sanders-gas-speculation/index.html

andre1969

Had an electric one in Boise and it worked great.

How bad do Boise winters tend to get? I would think that, that far north, an all-electric heat pump wouldn't be all that efficient, but like you mentioned, perhaps the low humidity helps out?

Oh, for all intents and purposes, I got to experience $4/gal gas today. Filled up my Park Ave at the local Crown station. Premium was $3.999/gal. 89 octane was $3.899 and 87 was $3.699.

xwesx

Very nice, and just posted today, no less.

I am not sure that this is off-topic here, given that we *are* discussing how expensive fuel is affecting us.

I can see how your water heating setup is ideally suited given your location now that I understand how the AirTap works. I am considering the replacement of my current water heater with a Marathon before too much longer. I was considering tapping it into my boiler for hot water in the winter months. I might instead be able to do an air-based heat pump system, given that the water heater and boiler are in the same room. That room tends to heat up during the winter, while during the summer it is quite cool (basement location, 10x10x11(high) room), probably 80 and 55, respectively.

Right now, my electric heater is on a timer that activates for two, two-hour intervals daily. We generally have all the water we need for the day unless we let things (like laundry) pile up for Sunday, but we only use about 1/3 the electricity we did when it was wired straight into the breaker. The Marathon is appealing because of its heat-loss efficiency. My current one is a cheap GE unit with an insulation blanket wrapped around it.

How hot does your garage tend to be, on average, at different points in the year?