Total Energy News and Insights

This is Going to be one for the Record Books We've been experiencing a wide arrange of extreme weather over the past few years, from a year of monthly global temperature records, to record setting cold last winter to record setting warmth this past winter and a relatively mild summer last year.  This summer looks to be a more traditional hot summer for us in New England. The Weather Channel has published there 3 month temperature prediction for June through August and as you see above, we're in for a hot summer.  That will mean a lot of fans and/or AC's running to keep you cool. This could also mean a lot of time in the pool or by the beach. When it comes to keeping cool inside of your home, it's important to make sure that you're mini-split and central AC's are properly maintained. Like your heating system, your cooling system needs to be properly maintained to keep running at it's optimal level. Having your cooling system running at it's o...

We Could Experience much Warmer Temps this Summer Last year and even the year before that we talked about El Nino and boy did it come, we saw one of the mildest winters this past winter. Now what, El Nino is the warming of the waters in the pacific, but what happens after the water has warmed? After the warm has warmed, it naturally cools off this is called La Nina. Traditionally La Nina follows El Nino's and present the opposite effects of El Nino. Of course La Nina don't always follow El Nino's, in the past we've seen El Nino's that extend into the next winter or La Nina's that extend for several years. For this year most weather outlets are predicting that we'll see a La Nina arrive around Fall or Winter. To understand what we might see this summer we have to look at last year. For 2015 we didn't see the real El Nino until mid fall and it continued through mid winter, but its effects were seen during the summer.  It brought us unseas...

Only in New England Spring is rhere and it has felt like we've been in Spring off and on for the past couple of weeks. It sure has been an odd winter, like last year it was one for the record books. This winter we had the most days at 50 degrees or above during December, January, and February, but only in New England could you have a 50 degree day followed by negative 15... As for this Spring it is shaping up to be warmer than average, just like our winter.   While this is the average temperature is suppose to be higher than what we're use to, this doesn't mean that winter is going anywhere. We've seen temperatures this winter, since March is still winter, range from -14 to 75 here in New England. This weekend, as winter comes to its official end we could get a Nor'easter dumping a foot of snow on us.  Only in New England could we have one week where we see two days in a row in the 70's and most days in the week in the 50's and 60's and the fo...

How to prepare for the cold Starting this afternoon, Friday February 12th through this Sunday the Northeast will see the coldest temperatures of the Winter. Temperatures will barely make it out of the single digits and feel like temperatures could reach -20's by Sunday morning due to powerful wind chills.  This can lead to a wide range of issues from frozen pipes, fuel run outs, and broken system due to over working. It is also important to understand the damage this kind of cold can do to your body with prolonged exposure. It is important to keep your home's thermostat set to at least 65 degrees through this weekend. This is the best way to keep your pipes from freezing inside of your home. The most vulnerable pipes are those that are in external facing walls, this walls will be hit with extremely strong wind burst. You can buy insulating covers and temperature activated heating tape for your pipes at your local hardware store. These shouldn't be an issu...

As an Oil or Propane Customer what should I do when snow is in the forecast? This weekend, parts of New England could see a considerable amount of snow. What does this mean for Oil and Propane home here, well not much is changing temperature wise.  However, snow in most cases worries customers and leads many to request an additional or quicker delivery of fuel. In some cases it's enough to push those that have been holding off on getting a delivery to get a delivery. When you see snow in the forecast and you are an automatic delivery customer, you can rest assured that your company should already have your next delivery planned. Most good fuel companies use a program that determines how much fuel your home uses a season. That means that when you get a delivery there is a good chance that your company will have an idea of when you should need another one.  This can change with temperature fluctuations as they normally use the average temp, but they will monitor...

How low can the price of Oil go? For many home heating oil customers the price of oil is a major factor when it comes to picking a company to use.  As the price of oil here in New England continues to trend downward as the global market receives more and more supply, now is a perfect time lessen the weight price contributes to picking a heating company. Think back to 2012-2013 when the price of home heating oil was about $2.00 more per gallon then what you can find today. Now think about what the average home burns per year, which varies around the region but usually is about 800 gallons. That means that two years ago could have spent 1,600 more than what you would pay now. That's a vacation or a couple of payments on a car, or a service plan for several years or another seasons worth of heating fuel.   With the price of heating oil as low as it is compared to past year the difference between a full service company and cod company is as vast as it always h...

Can your Oil Company Make Their Delivery As we get closer to Winter and snow begins to fall there are a couple of things your home heating company would like you to know.   We will work as hard as we possibly can to make your delivery regardless of the weather, but there are some conditions that make it nearly impossible for a delivery to be made. In the event of snow we would greatly appreciate a path to be shoveled or plowed to the fill pipe.  The hose that is used to make delivery weighs around 50lbs and is around 150ft long, walking through snow with the hose can make deliveries impossible or could lead to inquiry.  You also need to make sure that your fill pipe is clear of snow and ice, if the driver can't see or doesn't know where the pipe is they can't make a delivery. Another thing is that the delivery truck is wider than most vehicles. If the driver usually makes the delivery from the driveway, it would greatly help to have the driveway clea...