By Elna Seabrooks
Special to the Pioneer Times
Fluctuating oil prices may provide temporary relief, but fuel and gasoline are still two to three times what they were just a few years ago.
Anxiety over home heating oil and gas prices echoes along corridors, on sidewalks and behind closed doors. As sultry summer days gradually surrender to cooler nights, reminiscences of last winter leave some families contemplating the uncertainties of the volatile oil markets and worried about what lies ahead.
Finding and losing their first place
A V.A. loan ushered Mr. and Mrs. H and their two teenage children into their first home. But the great American dream took on nightmarish realities last winter when record-breaking snowfalls, high oil prices and a streak of bad luck pushed the family’s back against the wall. Mr. H, a diabetic, became the sole breadwinner after an accident at home put Mrs. H out of work. She had no medical or disability insurance. Then, a car accident put additional strain on the family’s finances when their vehicle was totaled.
“We went several months without fuel,” says Mrs. H. “We used space heaters in the basement to keep the pipes from freezing … and we let the faucets drip so they didn’t freeze.”
Mr. H says they didn’t qualify for assistance from Maine Housing because: “At the time we were two to three hundred dollars over the limit of income for a family of four.”
The town of Patten, where they were living, helped with $50 in emergency funds for oil and former Massachusetts Congressman Joseph Kennedy’s non-profit group, Citizens Energy, provided $100. Still, not enough for a steady supply of heat and hot water. As for food, “It was very tight. We ended up just buying from Swans … because we could charge up to two weeks,” said Mrs. H.
Little by little they had to make tough choices about mortgage payments, electricity and car insurance. Family and friends helped as much as possible. But with the high price of oil, they ran out of options and lost their home. Their electric bill went through the roof and service was cut off about a month ago.
In spite of their adversity, Mr. and Mrs. H seem philosophical about the experience. And Mr. H expressed a certain amount of pride in the way his children “understood and dealt with it.”
Mrs. H eventually went back to work. “With the price of gas, you have to choose between going back and forth to work or stop working,” she said.
The couple continues working at their respective companies in Houlton. If Mr. H gets any big pay raises, he risks losing the Maine Care coverage that provides medical treatments for his heart and diabetic conditions. Over Labor Day weekend, the family moves into an apartment where they will pay for their own heating oil.
Filling the oil tank; five gallons at a time
Michael and Tess LaReaux moved to Aroostook County in February, 2005. He works in the Danforth school system; she in the Houlton office of a New Jersey-based corporation. Even though they drive a Toyota hybrid, the commute for two people with conflicting work schedules in only one car is expensive. Gasoline alone takes about a $600 bite out of their combined yet modest paychecks.
Then, there’s home heating oil. Filling their 500-gallon oil tank that also fires up the water heater is basically out of the question. “We have no mortgage, no credit card bills, no car payments, no Saturday nights out … we’re not being frivolous.” Neither has health insurance, except for a small flexible spending account she set up at her job. “It’s been very tough, to tell you the truth.”
Mrs. LaReaux says they keep the thermostat at 50 degrees in the winter so the pipes won’t freeze. Her mother sent them a gift of $500 for oil. They supplement the heat from the oil burner with the fireplace (wood came with the house) and a pellet stove they bought this year. “We were over the limit for heating assistance and didn’t qualify … At times, it’s infuriating that we have to do without and people who don’t work can have heat.”
After they ran out of oil, one co-worker told the LaReauxs they could buy 5-gallon containers of fuel and another showed them how to bleed the fuel line to the furnace. Since they live in a remote area, fuel deliveries are only on certain days with a minimum 100-gallon load. Their oil company also charges an extra $75 for an emergency, non-scheduled delivery. “I wouldn’t be surprised to see people quit their jobs to get help,” says Mrs. LaReaux.
Last Christmas, they turned the heat up from 50 to 62 degrees for about an hour so they could open presents around the tree. Mrs. LaReaux’s mother sent them flannel sheets.
Although they have good windows, Mrs. LaReaux is hopeful that her church will use her house as a demonstration project on how to winterize your home.