Americans brace for brutal winter as heating oil costs rise

"If our homes freeze up ... our water pipes are gonna burst," a Maine mom said.

Americans who rely on heating oil to warm up their homes are bracing for higher costs this fall and winter.

“For our fellow Mainers, I'm worried. This is such a high increase and the overall effect that it's going to have on our community -- this is scary,” Worden added.

“I am predicting [paying] close to $5,000 to heat my home this winter. That's a lot of money,” she told ABC News.

Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, said the jump in heating oil prices is directly connected to the rise in diesel prices because they are "essentially the same product" and are made through the same oil refining process.

Global diesel prices have also been heavily strained by the war in Iran.

"We've seen the price of diesel skyrocket," he said, adding that heating oil customers could be "paying potentially $7 a gallon" in the next few months.

The president defended his plan in a social media post on Monday, saying it’s "the right choice for the American People."

“The situation amongst Ukraine and Russia is going to be very impactful for determining where diesel prices are during the winter,” he said.

According to a U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) report released last week, households that "primarily use electricity or heating oil for space heating are expected to spend more," though natural gas and propane costs may not rise as much.

Bill Morrell, president of Atlantic Heating Company in Portland, Maine, told ABC News the rise in oil prices “hurts everybody.”

Heating oil is primarily used to power furnaces, boilers and water heaters in residential or commercial heating systems.