NH Gas Prices

[IrishEyes]

Let’s start some healthy competition here in the Lakes Region among the gas stations.

I too, was taken by the new Cumby’s (near Weirs Beach) and their 20 to 30 cent per gallon increase in gas prices the day after they opened. When I inquired about this, they told me the prices on opening day were a MISTAKE! Are you kidding me? You open a business and mistakenly post the wrong prices at the pump! BS was my response to that. The prices at Cumby’s on opening day are what people in southern NH and Mass are currently paying at the pumps. My only regret was not filling up on opening day.

Check out this website: www.nhgasprices.com

If you log onto this website, you can see that prices south of the Lakes Region are much less expensive that what we are forced to pay. Let’s help each other out and post prices of gas at the stations in the area to start some competition and reward the stations that are not gauging us.

So far, from my travels, it seems that the Irving Station on Rt. 25 in Meredith, has among the lowest prices. Citgo, right after the Weirs bridge, is among the highest. Unfortunately, my car requires premium gas, but I’ve been alternating between mid-grade level and premium. Does anyone know if this actually makes a difference in the performance of a car? Or is it just another marketing scam to get us to pay more at the pumps.

One last comment, the ethenol requirement in gas in NH is less than that in other states, which means we are getting less mileage per gallon.

November 15th - Irving on Rt. 25 – Meredith
Mid-Grade - $3.159 per gallon


Have a great day!

[wifi]

I think this site might be the one you meant to refer to:

http://www.newhampshiregasprices.com/

[IrishEyes]

Dear Wifi,

Yes, this is the correct website:

http://www.newhampshiregasprices.com/

Thank you for noticing and correcting that. The website is very informative.

[brk-lnt]

Unfortunately, my car requires premium gas, but I’ve been alternating between mid-grade level and premium. Does anyone know if this actually makes a difference in the performance of a car? Or is it just another marketing scam to get us to pay more at the pumps.



Depends on your car. When then engine requires premium it is because the engine is designed to run at a higher compression, and the higher octane gas prevents pinging. Many modern engines will detune themselves if you put in lower octane fuel. It is not a "marketing scam".

Often times your gas mileage will decrease slightly when you use the lower octane gas. Sometimes it decreases by enough that the cost savings are wiped out by decreased MPGs.

[IrishEyes]

Depends on your car. When then engine requires premium it is because the engine is designed to run at a higher compression, and the higher octane gas prevents pinging. Many modern engines will detune themselves if you put in lower octane fuel. It is not a "marketing scam".

Often times your gas mileage will decrease slightly when you use the lower octane gas. Sometimes it decreases by enough that the cost savings are wiped out by decreased MPGs.


Thanks for responding, this is good to know. I filled up in Mass a month ago at a Cumby's and used mid-grade fuel. Ironically, I got the highest gas mileage out of that tank of gas and the car performed well, no pings. That tank of gas lasted for 9 days - even after driving up from Boston. Now it seems, I'm putting in gas every other day - the mileage with NH gas is definitely a lot less.

Do you know anything about the ethanol requirements in NH?

[kjbathe]

Three thoughts...

1) I don't have the facts on this, but I thought the fuel mixture requirements differed between Northern and Southern NH -- different mixes require different refining, thus different costs depending on the demand. We may be seeing on a State level, one of the challenges we experience on a National level when refining capacity is impacted and along with it the ability to produce the various region-mandated boutique fuels.

2) Higher Octane fuels are often recommended by manufacturers to achieve better performance. For example, Volkswagen and Audi require(d) higher Octane (or delayed ignition) fuels to better match their intended valve timings. Not a scientific study at all, but in my experience the lower octane/cost fuels diminished my mileage by 1.5 - 2 MPG. In the end, it was nearly a wash in terms of cost per mile, so I continued to run the recommended fuel.

3) It's Fall, getting into Winter and folks may not have as much to do, but this willingness/desire to crank on Cumby's for changing their gas price at opening seems a little mis-placed. They're a business, and should be free to change or charge whatever their hearts desire. But that desire is also tied to what the market will bear.

I guess I had four points...

4) Citgo is a subsidiary of Venezuela's state-owned oil company, Petroleos de Venezuela S.A. Where it's under the influence Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, I try to avoid purchasing Citgo gas whenever I can. And for those that don't like the profits of Exxon Mobil, we're a free country and we get to complain about such things. But rather than complain about a false problem such as a company being too profitable, I choose to buy their gas and the stock. Win-win.

Happy Thanksgiving!

[brk-lnt]

Do you know anything about the ethanol requirements in NH?


Nothing at all. But the mixture of gas changes from summer to winter (and obviously back again in the spring). You get less MPG from "winter gas" vs "summer gas", and it's usually around this time of year. So, you might've gotten your first tank of winter gas.

[ITD]

Ethanol has less energy per gallon than gasoline, therefore your MPG will be lower not higher........

I've also heard, not sure if it is true or not, that ethanol requires more energy to produce then it yields, making it very expensive (requiring government subsidies to make it profitable).

[ACutAbove]

I filled up at Irving in meredith this morning for 2.99 a gallon which at 31 gallons well you can do the math.LOL and that is pretty much every 3 days .
My wife also filled up at BJ's over in Tilton today and it was $2.89 for member price. Not to bad if your in the area.

[dpg]

I filled up at Irving in meredith this morning for 2.99 a gallon which at 31 gallons well you can do the math.LOL and that is pretty much every 3 days .
My wife also filled up at BJ's over in Tilton today and it was $2.89 for member price. Not to bad if your in the area.

Every three days, what do you drive a sherman tank?

[Weirs guy]

IrishEyes, refer to your owners manual and it should very clearly spec which octane the engineers intended for your car.

Gas prices in my travels (Weirs Beach to Franklin through Tilton, Belmont, Laconia) shows me that usually Exit 20 gas stations are the cheapest, but occasionally either Franklins or Laconias will be lower.

Last week in North Anodover, MA, gas was about $0.10 / gallon lower then up here. :eek:

Remember to drive fast and take chances!

[Dave M]

Since most gas stations around the lake have no ethanol due to having it for the boats, isn't it a win-win. Higher mileage and no engine problems.

Dave M

[ACutAbove]

Every three days, what do you drive a sherman tank?

Nope just a Chevy 2500HD, I do drive quite a bit tho....and its mostly all local....

[Misty Blue]

ITD

Ecomomy in ethanol depends on how you make it. Let's start out with different fuels.

We pump crude from the ground and process (crack) it by heating it and distilling off the different fuels within the product. The heaviest are the lubricants followed by the fuels. The heaviest of these is known as #3 or bunker "C". It's the smelly stuff that was used for years in ships and power plants. It has the most energy of all at about 140,000 BTU per gallon.

As the fuels lighten up (Diesel 130K, K-1 120K, gas 112K, propane 110k) the available energy decreases.

Ethanol has about 85,000 BTU per gallon so if you blend E-10 (10% ethanol) you take that 114,000 gasoline replace 10% of it with 85K fuel and in the end up with a product with 111,100 BTUs per gallon for a net loss in energy availabilityof about 2.5%-3%. Since you are in a hurry to get up to the Lake you step on the gas a bit more and use more fuel! Energy decisions should be made by engineers not congress!

Now, how much energy does it take to make ethanol? That depends on what you make it out of!

In Brazil (as I recall) 40 percent of their fuel is ethanol. They make it out of sugar cane. They are lousy with the stuff. It is only good for cattle fodder and rum and the ethanol made from cane will produce more energy than it takes to produce it.

In the US ethanol is made from corn. We simply do not have enough of it (as of now) to supply what would be needed to supply 10% of the automobile fuel in the country. Unlike sugar cane corn is a vital part of our food chain. It is used for animal feed to stock the meat counters across the country and for many, many other human food products. This will clearly impact the price of food at the counter and the poor will be the most effected by it. Again, congress.

Now let's bring this home to the Lake. Boat engines work harder than automobile engines. You car uses 20 horse power to cruise up I-93. Your Sea Ray uses about 200 HP to stay on plane. That's why it get's 2.5 MPG!

E-10 fuel runs hotter, much hotter, than gasoline. This will affect your engins cooling system and is far worse if you have a 2 cycle engines. Now here comes the real killer for boats.

For years we have bought gasoline with the required octane rating to prevent pre-ignition (engine knock). Engine knock will wreck your engine in short time. When we worried about water in our fuel we added dry gas (alcohol) to the gas to absorb the water and burn it with the fuel.

In ethenol blends the octane rating is maintained by the ethenol in the fuel. If it comes in contact with water it will disaasociate from the fuel as it absorbs the water. This will lower the octane rating of the fuel with possible severe engine damage. According to Boat/US one gallon of water in a 100 gallon tank of E-10 (that's 1%) will drop the rating of 87 octane fuel to 84 and 91 octane to 87.

Since we all have one...

I think that ethanol is a waste to manufacture, a waste to burn, will cost money, will wreck your boat and starve the poor...Nice job Washington, you've done it again!

[fatlazyless]

:As John D Rockefeller liked to say...." Buying a gallon of gasoline is like buying a yacht. If you have to ask the price, then you shouldn't be buying any!"

And as President George W Bush has said; " If you don't like the price of gas, then don't be buying any!"


And as fatlazyless says; Anyone seen the free local bus from the WTA, Winnipesaukee Transit Authority. Where's it at, buddy? I need another 3x5' sheet of Durarock from Lowe's. Measured wrong on the first one!

[ITD]

:As John D Rockefeller liked to say...." Buying a gallon of gasoline is like buying a yacht. If you have to ask the price, then you shouldn't be buying any!"

And as President George W Bush has said; " If you don't like the price of gas, then don't be buying any!"


And as fatlazyless says; Anyone seen the free local bus from the WTA, Winnipesaukee Transit Authority. Where's it at, buddy? I need another 3x5' sheet of Durarock from Lowe's. Measured wrong on the first one!

Fat Lazy Less once again provides a quotation he can't prove was ever said. Once again Less I say BS, prove me wrong. You're a card Less.:laugh:

Misty Blue, speaking to the choir here, we should be looking locally (in the US) for more oil now, while striving for better methods of using what we have.

[LIforrelaxin]

Fat Lazy Less once again provides a quotation he can't prove was ever said. Once again Less I say BS, prove me wrong. You're a card Less.:laugh:

Misty Blue, speaking to the choir here, we should be looking locally (in the US) for more oil now, while striving for better methods of using what we have.

Yes we should be looking in the Us for more oil reserve they are there... the only issue to over come which might be by now is that it was at one time not economically smart for an US oil company to produce oil in the use as it cost more to produce then they could get for it. Of course with the increase in cost the last few years this should no longer be true.

Now as for FLL comment, I don't think he has gotten the verbage correctly but I do remember Bush making an off the cuff comment concerning gas prices that was simmilar to what FLL has been quoting.

[Rose]

Now as for FLL comment, I don't think he has gotten the verbage correctly but I do remember Bush making an off the cuff comment concerning gas prices that was simmilar to what FLL has been quoting.

I Googled "George W Bush quote 'don't buy gas'" and got the following result. It was said at the time prices were sky-rocketing after Hurricane Katrina.

"Americans should be prudent in their use of energy during the course of the next few weeks. Don't buy gas if you don't need it." --George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., Sept. 1, 2005

[ITD]

I Googled "George W Bush quote 'don't buy gas'" and got the following result. It was said at the time prices were sky-rocketing after Hurricane Katrina.

"Americans should be prudent in their use of energy during the course of the next few weeks. Don't buy gas if you don't need it." --George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., Sept. 1, 2005

Thanks Rose, so Less how does that statement turn into the BS you were trying to get by us??????;)

[Irish mist]

Last week BJ's was 2.89 per gallon, the first time in a long time that they were so far below the competition. BJ's & Sam's used to use their gas sales as a lose-leader to get you in the stores. Not so much any longer. They used to run as much as 20 cents a gallon cheaper 4 or 5 years ago.
________
Honda of Canada Manufacturing history (http://www.honda-wiki.org/wiki/Honda_of_Canada_Manufacturing)

[fatlazyless]

Not only did GW say it, but he had that smirky grin on his face too, you know about that smirky grin right. I think he must have taken some very expensive lessons as a young Bushie on how to make that smirk.....like....gasoline.....expensive.....no problem...."if you don't like the price then just don't be buying any, it's ok....I 'smirk' understand 'smirk!'

I saw him say it on the 7pm natiional tv news to a reporter at the south lawn portico of the White House (smirk!)..'

[ITD]

Not only did GW say it, but he had that smirky grin on his face too, you know about that smirky grin right. I think he must have taken some very expensive lessons as a young Bushie on how to make that smirk.....like....gasoline.....expensive.....no problem...."if you don't like the price then just don't be buying any, it's ok....I 'smirk' understand 'smirk!'

I saw him say it on the 7pm natiional tv news to a reporter at the south lawn portico of the White House (smirk!)..'

All the national news I ever watch is on at 6:30pm.

[Skip]

...when he said:

"...Oh what a tangled web we weave, When first we practice to deceive..."

:laugh:

...I saw him say it on the 7pm natiional tv news to a reporter at the south lawn portico of the White House...

[LIforrelaxin]

I Googled "George W Bush quote 'don't buy gas'" and got the following result. It was said at the time prices were sky-rocketing after Hurricane Katrina.

"Americans should be prudent in their use of energy during the course of the next few weeks. Don't buy gas if you don't need it." --George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., Sept. 1, 2005

Thanks for finding that Rose, That is indeed what I remember hearing and if my memorey is jogged enough it was around the time of Katrina that I remember it being said.....

[fatlazyless]

The signs are up.....two nice looking conservative dark green w/ red letter signs that say

GAS STATION
open 24 hours...self-serve...credit cards


Down at the bottom of the ski area road, in what used to be the one and only gas station in town, it's a gas station owned by the Town of Waterville Valley. Are there any other New Hampshire towns which run an open-to-the public gas station?

Used to be a Mobil with snacks and the only Mega-Bucks in town, and the last owner was very happy to be able to sell out to the town. The town has been using the garage bays for the DPW, or something, and now after spending like $15k for a fire suppression system, and pump-tank upgrades should soon be opening for business. I only know what I see?

What with 100's of skiers passing by, who know's if it's a good idea or not? Next closest gas station is eleven miles away.

Hopefully, it will have some nice low gasoline prices, and they can copy Wal-Mart and say "Live better- Buy Waterville Valley Gas......only 2.95!"

The sign on the two old pumps says 'closed until Dec 5."
...............................

In December 2000, a gallon of gas had fallen from 1.25 down to .95, and Exxon stock was at 30 dollars. As you know, today a gal of gas goes for 3.00 and Exxon stock sells for 90 dollars. It's the same gallon of gas, just costs more.


A gallon of gas, is a gallon of gas, is a gallon of gas....only thing that counts is the price, which is too much!

[nj2nh]

It seems that NJ really is good for something. Our gas is around $2.90 at the expensive places! The cheap stuff on the highway at the no-name stations is running around $2.75.

At least I can afford to buy the gas to get the heck out of here!

Hehehehe.

nj2nh

[Sal]

Is there any thread on this site that doesn't get turned into conservative v liberal situation? Very unpleasant to read. As if you're going to change a mind ... .

But, in keeping with one of the original questions, try this explaination: ....http://cartalk.com/content/features/premium/

[tis]

Yep, the one thing good old NJ doesn't tax as much, gas. I love buying gas in NJ!

[gtxrider]

It seems that NJ really is good for something. Our gas is around $2.90 at the expensive places! The cheap stuff on the highway at the no-name stations is running around $2.75.

At least I can afford to buy the gas to get the heck out of here!

Hehehehe.

nj2nh
We should get a break on gas here in NJ since we get to enjoy the refineries on the Turnpike. I love driving from exit 18 - exit 10!:rolleye2:

[Ropetow]

$2.93 in Rochester and holding steady for the past few weeks.

[John A. Birdsall]

Gee I don't see what you all are all fired up about, Gas prices in Conn. are very reasonable, 3.13 to 3.23 per gallon depending on whether you need it or not. I am told that is cheap compared to say England.

[GWC...]

Gee I don't see what you all are all fired up about, Gas prices in Conn. are very reasonable, 3.13 to 3.23 per gallon depending on whether you need it or not. I am told that is cheap compared to say England.
You seem to be forgetting that the US dollar is cheap in value compared to England's British Pound.

[Weirs guy]

Weirs Beachs new Cumbies is down to $2.85 yesterday, and exit 20's on its way to $2.80!

[cursereversed]

I shopped at Shaw's yesterday and received a coupon for 10 cents off per gallon at Irving...i believe they give 10 cents off per every $50 you spend at shaws and you can combine coupons when you go to Irving. Also, to help, it seems shaws in Gilford prices are starting to come back down to reality and be a little more in line with Hannafords.

[Tired of Waiting]

Gas prices, you talk about gas prices?

Lets talk diesel fuel for a second. Oh that's also home heating oil!! Same stuff. It's just the on road fuel doesn't have the red dye in it.

Someone please explain this to me. In 2003 I purchased my Ford F250 with the 6.0 diesel. Back then the price of FUEL was on average 10 to 20 cents less than unleaded regular GAS. back then about $1.29/gal. Now look around. Its 10 to 20 cents higher than high test gas.:(

What has made the cost of fuel go so much higher than gas? There is one factor that can account for part of this. The Federal Govt. has mandated that the fuel be “ultra - low - sulfur.” But this cannot be the whole reason.

As for fuel mileage? My truck gets, on average 20/gal. around town and 22 on the big roads. Not bad for a 7,000 pound truck. I get 17/gal. when I pull the boat. So I still get good mileage even towing.

This major increase does not just cost me but all of us as all the goods we purchase use FUEL to get to market. WE pay the transportation cost and therefor pay the higher cost of diesel fuel. We hear so much about the cost of gas but the cost of diesel fuel is also affecting us all. Why doesn’t the news media report this?

Just wondering????????


ToW

[Weirs guy]

I second you ToW on the diesel costs, not that I use it but I've wondered how it went from less then gas to more. :confused:

I'll make you feel a little better though. Your 17 MPG towing is about the same as my Ranger gets on gas not towing anything, but at least you have room for 4 normal sized humans!