Every year since I’ve been living in Maine I’ve tried to implement an active strategy for saving money on oil heat.  I’ve set the thermostat low. I’ve added layers of fleece and sweaters. I’ve added expensive wicking thermal underwear. Two years ago I added wood heat in the form of a Vermont Castings wood stove chimney insert. It seems I’ll spend thousands on anything and everything so as not to pay thousands on oil.

And while I have achieved a substantial reduction in oil consumption, I have not reduced my oil furnace TCO  one iota. (TCO=total cost of ownership, as the wonks might advise you.) Every year while I’ve been penny-wise, my oil furnace and hot water baseboards have  found a way to make me pound-foolish.

It started with baseboard freeze ups, caused first by my stingy thermostat settings. Then, with the thermostat set higher, the freeze ups were cause by the wood heat skewing the temperature of the the centrally located thermostat with respect to the peripheral location of the baseboards.

So I physically cut out the most exposed areas of the heating zones and grudgingly went with electric space heat. That allowed me to heat the house with wood from April to November. So I starting shutting off the furnace during that time. (The furnace burns a gallon a day just to stay lit, so I saved 200 gallons, or about $500.)

And it got me again.

And just this week, my furnace started billowing black smoke. The furnace guy shook his head. The furnace combustion chamber has corroded from disuse. He advise me, “You have burn 24/7/365 (!) in order to keep the fuel lines from sludging up.”

It seems that clogged arteries change the pressure in the burner, which changes the spray velocity and ends up coating the combustion chamber with oil. The sprayed oil burns inefficiently and erodes the integrity of the chamber.

The total bill to replace the chamber: $250. So I’m ahead by about $250,  right?

“There’s more,” he said. Stationary water in the iron piping has corroded the pipes from the inside. Most valves also need replacing. “Could be another $500 in plumbers charges,” he said.

Of course.

I’ll pay the $250 now and watch the plumbing for leaks. After the heating season, I’ll do what most Mainers do at least once a week all summer long: think about how to heat my house next winter.