Lucky! We are paying $250/month (budget billing) for LP and $101/month (also budget) for electric. And I think our houses are comparable in size. The electric was supposed to go up about $20 sometime this summer because we signed up to subsidize green energy (wind, etc.). But it hasn’t increased yet.
We had been keeping it pretty toasty in here, around 70, but I think those days are over. Mr. S has been cutting firewood like a fool; we’ll definitely be using the woodstove more and keeping the thermostat set lower. We’re seeing if we can keep from turning the furnace on until November. So far so good! The other night, with the woodstove going, it was 76 degrees in here!
It also helps that most days it’s just me here in my small office, which is also the warmest room in the house. So if I close my doors and maybe run a space heater, I can roast myself pretty nicely while the rest of the house stays cool. And at night we have two 50-pound canine bed warmers (in addition to the flannel sheets, which I just put on the other day).
This will be the first year in the new (rental) house. Half the windows have been replaced with double paned insulated windows and the other half still have the original windows. The original windows are in the process of getting plastic coverings (they’ve already been hit with the removable putty-stuff to seal around the edges). So far, we’ve held off turning on the oil fired burner downstairs (which heats via hot steam radiators), and have used two electric radiator heaters downstairs. Downstairs has been a consistent 64-67 degrees with them so far (although we turn them off at night and when we’re not home). Turning on the whole house heat won’t change that, since the thermostat will be set on about 64 degrees when we’re home, and down to about 60 at night and during the day when we’re gone.
Since I also cook with electric, as well as hot water, my bill is running about $60 a month. Once I turn on the house heat, because it’s oil, I doubt my electric bill will change much, but because of the price of heating oil, I’ll use the portable electric heaters as much as possible. Even if my electric bill goes up to $100 or so because of the portable heaters, it’s still less than what I’d pay in heating oil (at around $3 a gallon.)
I wish there were a way to determine the efficiency of my current windows. I know my windows suck. They’re 20-year old aluminum, builder’s grade garbage with leaky seals (some are fogged up).
I’m buying new windows… they’re on order and will be installed in the next few weeks. But I don’t know how much I should expect to save, or how much better they will be.
FWIW, my peak summertime bills run about $300 for electric. Wintertime - $350 for gas.
Sadly, the only bedtime warmth comes from two furballs. One keeps the top of my head warm, the other sleeps on my hip.
My auntie is a quilter. She made us two beautiful quilts with heavy denim on one side, flannel on the other. They’re our favorites!
Maui Lion - I take it you wouldn’t want to live in Minnesota?
My home office is in the basement with so-so insulation. The first two years I lived here I would go take HOT showers during my lunch break and warm my fingers over candles a la Bob Cratchitt during the dead of winter. I would moan about never being warm again. Then summer would come. 100F/humid. I would look forward to cold days. For me the perfect weather is 60 - 70F with a good breeze.
Tomorrow the high is supposed to be 49F, so I decided to turn the furnace on when I get home. sigh Don’t wanna.
We will either be investing in decent blinds this weekend, or sealing the windows. I hate sealing the windows though - it means the Cold is here permanently. I know we will still have some days in the 60’s and I love having the windows open.
We do have a programmable thermostat and that has saved us money every year. During the winter I set it: 68F from 5am - 730am (when we’re getting up and ready for school/work), 730am - 4pm is set to 62F (if I’m home working I just deal with it), 4pm - 930pm is 66F, then 930pm - 5am it goes down to 58F.
I suggest Cuddle Duds. They keep you warm when you want to be warm, and cool when you want to be cool. I’ve tried other company’s silk longjohns and none work as well as Cuddle Duds. Very comfy, I’m sure you can sleep in them. Seriously, try them, and then turn the heat down!
The electric was supposed to go up about $20 sometime this summer because we signed up to subsidize green energy (wind, etc.). But it hasn’t increased yet.
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We signed up for that program about 8 years ago. I don’t remember what it has added. I think only $10 a month. But we didn’t sign up at the highest level. I just wish all of our energy was already coming from green sources, not just a small amount. Maybe then our bills would actually go down!
Hehe! Well, see, the cold would freeze me, but then you do have the Mall of America there, and I really would like to see it sometime. And shop. Until I pass out.
For those of you guys talking about old windows, how much did it cost to replace yours? For this winter, I plan on stapling a thicker mil plastic on my windows at my new house this winter. They have the counter weights and everything. I think I am going to have to put some putty on them too at some point, alot of it looks like it has chipped off. A few panes have cracked and the old owners put scotch tape on them. I plan to replace the current windows next spring if I have the money.
Foot heaters, electric or otherwise, are the magnum opus of Og. I have the relative fortune of living in the top floor of my building, meaning I get substantial underheating and together with the $300 I spent to reisolate the windows in my flat, the purchase of a gel/hotwater foot heater has saved my life.
How does it work? It’s basically a fur-padded thermos that fits around your feet which you can fill with warm water from the tap or boiler or re-usable and microwaveable gel packs. Keeps your feet warm and cost around $50.
ETA: Like this one, though that one looks a bit schlocky. Just by the way of illustration.
Ditto. Of course it also helps that we’re on the second floor of a fairly new three-story building, not to mention we spend most of our time in the same room as two mini-furnaces (aka the computer room). So the winters we’re pretty well set.
Summer though, it’s draw the blinds and stay the hell indoors. Grrr, I miss living by the ocean…
