It will cost oil customers more to heat their homes this winter, experts said. But is there anything they can do to save money?

NewsCenter 5's Janet Wu reported that the Beckers just signed a locked-in rate contract with oil dealer Kerivan Lane, which they said has already paid dividends.

"Somewhere around $2.50, to be honest. It's a lot better than where it may be going," said Jules Becker.

Without the locked-in rate contract, customers are paying $2.79 a gallon.

"The prices are higher this year than ever before. Prices today are 30 cents higher than they were last year, which means if consumer burns about 1,000 gallons of home heating oil this winter, they're going to be spending about $300 more this year," said Michael Ferrante, of the Massachusetts Oilheat Council.

So what's a consumer to do? Sign a contract? Lock in a rate?

"For our customers and for us, it's a very stressful time," said Chris Lane, of Kerivan Lane.

Supporting the argument that prices will continue to rise this winter is new diesel fuel regulations, market speculation and the rising price of crude oil.

"You never know, they're also predicting a warm winter like last year. Last year, it started out high and it came right down. And there were people who did exercise the contract option, and they weren't happy about it," Lane said.

"Even if we have a warmer winter, it would have to be exceptional warm to depress the price of heating oil," said Ferrante. "It truly appears that people will be paying more this year to heat their homes with heating oil."

Right now, capped prices are running about 10 cents more than fixed prices. Capped prices allow customers to get a lower rate if oil prices drop later this winter. Experts said consumers can save money on heating their home by replacing old equipment, tuning up their current burner and conserving oil.