Dear Friends,
It was our great honor to meet with Connecticut’s 4th District congressman, Jim Himes, who visited our office on October 31. We shared the Westmore story with him, including our commitment to the environment, as demonstrated by the delivery of biofuels and the installation of high-efficiency heating equipment.
A strong advocate of renewable energy technology, Rep. Himes kindly accepted my invitation to visit and stayed much longer than I’d expected him to. The congressman, who lives in Greenwich, actually took the time to meet everyone in our office. I found him genuinely interested in learning about the many changes in our industry and how Westmore Fuel continues to make adjustments to ensure a bright future for our business — and for all of our customers.
Warmly,
Richard C. Bologna
If you have been a Westmore Fuel customer for 10 years or more, enter our longest-term-customer contest! We’ll draw three names at random from all contest entries and award three prizes: a new iPad Mini, valued at $299, and $100 in free heating oil for two other customers.
You can send an email to customercare@WestmoreFuel.com or post a message on our Facebook page.
The contest remains open until February 28, 2017.
We’ve been saying this for years: Our B20 Bioheat® burns more cleanly than natural gas! And we have new data that completely backs up this statement.
According to a comprehensive report conducted by Brookhaven National Laboratory and presented to Congress in 2015 by the National Oilheat Research Alliance (NORA), fuel blends of 2% or more biodiesel produce lower greenhouse gas emissions than natural gas!
The report also concludes that “Bioheat heating oil is a clean responsible alternative to natural gas heating systems and performs admirably against all other heating systems.”
This is great news and inspires us to keep moving further ahead with our commitment to the environment and to our customers.
To read the NORA report and learn more about the many benefits of B20 Bioheat, visit the Discover section of our website and click on “Cleaner Than Natural Gas.”
Heating-fuel prices have been on a roller-coaster ride the past few months. The good news is that prices are still much lower than they were a few years ago.
However, such volatility does present challenges for customers renewing their pricing plan. Depending on where prices stood when you enrolled, it’s possible that later on you may feel like you could have made a better choice.
If you’re unsure about what pricing plan is right for you, please call us and we will do our best to help. We usually advise customers to stick with their current pricing program because chances are that things will average out — no matter what plan you have.
Remember, price contracts give you cost certainty but may not always save you money.
This is the time of year when you want to stay comfortable, avoid problems and save money on heat. To help you keep from getting lost, we offer a few tips.
Oil heat continues to keep millions of homes warm and safe no matter the weather. What’s more, recent declines in heating oil prices and positive forecasts for stable prices in the foreseeable future have made oilheat an even more appealing option.
Additionally, the oil heat industry continues to undergo a revolution that is significantly improving oil heat’s efficiency and cleanliness, thanks to vast reductions of sulfur levels.
As a result, heating oil burns more cleanly, with lower emissions. You also benefit from better heating efficiency and easier maintenance, since low-sulfur oil creates fewer deposits on heat exchangers.
This is only the beginning. The quality of heating oil will get even better in the years ahead. And that’s good news for the environment — and for your pocketbook.
“ Continued improvements in the quality of heating oil will help it burn more cleanly, with lower emissions, than natural gas.”
We want to make sure you’re getting the most out of your heating system. Here are a few tips on how to keep it running safely and efficiently.
EXTRA SAFETY TIP
Install carbon monoxide detectors near all your bedrooms.
Note: In the unlikely event that an oil heating system is emitting carbon monoxide, you’ll usually see smoke as a clue that something is wrong. A gas heating system does not issue a visual warning sign. Most leaks can be prevented through regular equipment maintenance.
With all that you have to deal with during the winter, the last thing you want is to lose sleep over concerns that your old furnace or boiler is going to conk out and leave you cold.
When you purchase a new high-efficiency oil heating system, you’ll immediately eliminate those worries.
You’ll save a lot of money down the road too. A new system should help you save up to 20% on your annual heating costs. If you significantly improve system efficiency by upgrading from a really old system to a high-efficiency unit, your savings could be 40% or more! You’ll feel the difference in comfort. And you’ll also save on repairs, because you’ll minimize the potential of a breakdown, which is a common problem with older systems.
Continuing to heat your home with oil just makes sense. Today’s oil heat is cleaner, greener and more economical than ever. The latest oil heating systems are small, smart and super-efficient. And there are many different equipment options out there that can fit your budget.
Many of our customers now use their boilers not only to heat their homes, but to produce hot water for showers, hot tubs, washing machines, dishwashers — you name it. And they get it virtually free in the winter.
It’s called an indirect-fired water heater, and if you have a boiler, it can be a phenomenal option.
Anytime your boiler is heating your home, your indirect water heater works for free. It’s like having your cake and eating it too. A traditional stand-alone water heater has to use gas or electricity to keep that water hot. And that’s a huge waste of money.
If you have a gas or electric water heater that is 10 years old or older, check out an indirect — and less expensive approach — to heating your water.
A recent survey of heating-fuel customers attempted to determine which ones stayed the happiest over the longest period of time. Results from the survey showed that customers with the greatest level of satisfaction were those who had enrolled in a service plan, a price-cap plan, a monthly payment plan and Auto Pay.
And that’s not a surprise for us. These programs give you a level of protection that makes the heating season go much easier.
Help us welcome Doris DaSilva, the newest member of our customer service team. Doris, who previously worked in banking, says her goal is to always leave a customer happy by the end of a conversation.
Away from work, Doris enjoys family time with her husband, Denilson, and two daughters, ages 14 and 7. During her spare time, Doris enjoys photography and is an avid cook.
“I like adding my own personal touches to recipes so I can create new dishes for my family and friends,” says Doris, whose latest masterpiece was paella.
Stop — don’t look below just yet. Think of what you value most in a heating and cooling company and see if your answers match the responses below, which are based on a comprehensive survey of more than 40,000 homeowners who were asked what factors were most important to them when selecting a company for maintenance and repair.
Here are the top five answers:
These factors — and many more — are also important to us. We see ourselves as your partner in staying comfortable and saving energy, and our entire heating and cooling operation is designed around these values. When we install equipment, like the System 2000 boiler and indirect water heater, we stand behind our work 100% — because that reflects on our reputation and our commitment to quality.