Can we revisit the heating issue again?

[Broken Arrow]

I just got my gas bill yesterday, and I was shocked that it's $100!

To put things into perspective, I'm only one person (most of the time) and the month before that costed me only $25. To say that I am shocked would be an understatement.

Now, I already turn off the heat whenever I leave work, and I wear more than normal while keeping the thermostat low.

But with such a difference in cost, I'm open to... ahem... more radical suggestions. Any ideas?

What about some kind of large tent, and using a small, electric heater inside?

Again, it's just me most of the time, and I don't care about impressing any potential dates. I just want to save money. And if I'm going to be gouged by as much as $75 per month, I'm not opposed to "investing" a few hundred bucks if that'll solve my heating problem.

So, what do you think?

[threebeansalad]

BA- My only suggestions are things you're probably doing: turning the heat down / off when you sleep and weather proofing your doors windows, esp if you're in an older home (BTW- we put weather stripping on our front door and it's made a tremendous difference).

I'd like to ask a related question:
We have a small house ~950 SqFt. At night and when we're away, we turn the thermostat to 55. When we're in the house, we keep it at 64. Someone told me that by turning the heat all the way down to 55, we're using more oil (our heat source) to bring it back up to 65 and that we should not turn it down anymore than 5 degrees. Is there any validity to this? I could see this holding true in a LARGE house, but it only takes ~10 minutes (although I've never actually timed it) of the furnace running to bring the house from 55 to 65.

[lrjohnson]

I have used electric heaters to heat one room, part time, and have been hit with crazy electric bills. I am NOT a fan of avoiding using gas with electric heaters.

[Broken Arrow]

Originally Posted by threebeansalad

I'd like to ask a related question:
We have a small house ~950 SqFt. At night and when we're away, we turn the thermostat to 55. When we're in the house, we keep it at 64. Someone told me that by turning the heat all the way down to 55, we're using more oil (our heat source) to bring it back up to 65 and that we should not turn it down anymore than 5 degrees. Is there any validity to this? I could see this holding true in a LARGE house, but it only takes ~10 minutes (although I've never actually timed it) of the furnace running to bring the house from 55 to 65.

That's a good question. I would like to know as well. Currently, I turn mine off when I am gone.

[sarah]

Be careful. I don't know where you live but one broken pipe will more than erase any savings you may get from lowering your thermostat. Voice of experience speaking. Incidentally. I'd love a 100 gas bill. Mine usually runs 175 and up. I live in a 2400 sq foot house with 2 cats and a dog. I also keep my thermostat at 62.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

I'd love a $100 gas bill as well, we're looking at more like $500-$600 in the winter which averages to $300/month. Anyway we leave our heat at 50 pretty much all the time and when we're home it goes up to 68. But we only heat the top floor of a 3 story place. Unfortunately because the furnace is in the attic (strange I know), the 3rd floor is the easiest to heat. The bottom floor cannot get warm with the gas heat, so we have to use electric space heaters on the bottom floor. This is what happens living in 1880 victorian townhouse.

[tinapbeana]

BA: check the per unit cost and your actual usage in whatever they measure it in. chances are really good your rate just went up not your actual usage. bites, don't it?

as for the 900 sf house question, i moved out of one that size in july. i kept my house at 60 degrees and my gas bill one month was $256 (with an approximately $40 electric bill for a total of almost $300). obscene! conversely, i have heated previous houses of the same size with a single space heater (in the room of use) and my electric bill was about $150 per month. half what i paid using both gas and electric.

i despise the gas company here so much i will be outlaying a large chunk of change to get an electric heat pump next year if the money gods are willing.

[pjmama]

Gas prices are so high these days... makes me happy I have electric heat-- though my electric bill wasn't much better than your heating bill! It was quite the shock for us as well... we always keep the thermostat at 66. Always. The amount of energy to raise the temperature from 55-68 is pretty substantial.

[PRICEPLUS]

Lower the thermostat to 65 or 64 constant. It is amazing how you get used to this. Check into the unit BTU cost as it may have gone up as was mentioned above. Is the reading an actual or an estimated one? Have you thought about a billing plan?

[simpleyme]

well 2 years ago we left our gas on an even 60 all the time and the bill was about 225 ,last year we only turned it on at night for 3 hour and on weekends and the bill was about 175 so it may cost more to get back to temp but still cost less overall .

this year this months bill was only 135! i was shocked as we have been running the heat at 65 all the time except for the 8 hour when no one is home,i could not figure it out but DH pointed out that DS 20 lived with us last year and would take one hour showers 1 time a day 2 if I came home late (gas water heater) that is a crazy difference

Broken Arrow I saw a race car tent( also comes in barbie castle) you could put over your bed at walmart it hooks over the corners of a mattress ,that would impress any house guests LOL but paired with a electric blanket you may stay warm

[JanH]

LOL, my kids had one of those tents in camo! Did stay warm in there I think.

[PrincessPerky]

How high do you turn it up when you come home/ and how low does it get when you are gone?

If it is a dignificant raise, it might just be the initail cost of firing it up is raising the bill.

or it might be a sign of serious err...umm, sheesh I can't htink, brian is frying..stuff, stuff keeps in heat..you are a minimalist, not so much stuff..try a wall hanging to keep heat in...DSs room is the coldest in the house, but as we moved his little bro there, and added more furniture it isn't as cold..stuff keeps in heat.

[mom-from-missouri]

One big loss of heat sorce that people often over look is your wall outlets and recepticals that are on outside walls. Put your hand by them and see if you can feel the cold. You can insulate them for just a few dollars--they sell little foam things that fit in there, and you can use those to make your own cheaper by using the foam sheets from a craft store. I once read that uninsulated electrical, cable and telephone boxes can equal a hole the size of a shoebox cut into the north wall of your home. We also keep a door snake under the doors, and close off the ducts in rooms not in use. Also, keep closet and pantry doors closed (unless you have pipes in them)--why pay to heat your clothes?

[tinapbeana]

how many outside windows do you have? also, what do you have over them, just blinds? if so, i'm guessing you're loosing a lot of your heat there. if you're in an apartment you might not be able to film the windows or put up curtains, but you can probably drape a folded up sheet over the top (where the mechanism is) and tuck it in around the edges and bottom of the blinds.

also, where is your thermostat? unfortunately, ours is in a little used area of the house so if we were heating with gas our furnace would be working to bring this empty, little used room up to say 60 when the rooms we actually do use might already be around 65 (because they have stuff and people and cats in them). get a couple of thermometers and see what the temps are in various areas of your living space: you might be able to turn the thermostat down and still have it be comfy in the spaces you actually use.

[Broken Arrow]

Be careful. I don't know where you live but one broken pipe will more than erase any savings you may get from lowering your thermostat.

Hmm. That's a good point. Perhaps good enough to just leave it on, even if it's a low setting....

How high do you turn it up when you come home/ and how low does it get when you are gone?

My thermostat floats around 63. On really cold nights, I'll crank it up slightly, but never at 65 or above. When I'm gone, I would say the temperature is around 50 degrees.

Check into the unit BTU cost as it may have gone up as was mentioned above. Is the reading an actual or an estimated one?

No, it's actual. Yes, the cost did go up! I still want to find a way to lower that cost though.

makes me happy I have electric heat-- though my electric bill wasn't much better than your heating bill! It was quite the shock for us as well...

Yeah... I was afraid of that. That's why I was pondering getting around it by heating a space roughly the size of a large tent... with a large tent? Speaking of which....

Broken Arrow I saw a race car tent( also comes in barbie castle) you could put over your bed at walmart it hooks over the corners of a mattress ,that would impress any house guests LOL

A Barbie castle tent? You have GOT to be kidding me! *looks at his gas bill again* ... alright give me the tent.

[PrincessPerky]

Actually for cold nights there is a reason old beds used to have 'curtains'...dunno if you need the barbie one, but something to think about...

[tinapbeana]

don't know why perky's post got me thinking of the matrix, but it did! remember the part where they talk about how much heat/energy the human body puts out? if you can get yourself in a relatively enclosed space it should be pretty easy to keep yourself warm when the rest of the house is 50-60 (i call it cocooning). do you have a sleeping bag? maybe try sleeping in that...

[genmed]

Speaking of heating bills and windows -- if you have energy star windows how much does covering them with insulated curtains or other things vs regular curtains really save? (We have a lot of windows and gas heat).

[PRICEPLUS]

BA let us know how this all turns out!

[Fern]

Putting a space heater inside a tent sounds like a fire hazard to me.

I've heard that you shouldn't put your heat down TOO low during very very cold spells as it makes it more likely your pipes could freeze.

Don't know how the gas company determines your bill (do they read a meter?) but they CAN make mistakes; i caught an electric company mistake once when i called the utility after getting a very high bill; they had me walk outside and write down the numbers on the meter and becus my numbers were lower than those that appeared on my statement, they determined it was human error and adjusted my bill.