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The high cost of heat...and pass me another sweater

January 29th, 2009 at 04:00 am

One of the many, many benefits of living alone is possessing absolute control of the household necessities: TV remote, what and when to eat (Cheerios for dinner? why not!) and yes, the thermostat! With the cost of (electric) heating these days, I thought I've had it figured out: keep the temperature at 60 degrees day and night (unless family is visiting, in which case I'd up it to 65 or even, 66!!); invested in a brand new heated mattress pad; sleep in layers and running cap; a hot water bottle always handy to keep the feet warm; and for those super chilly days, a couple of timer controlled space heaters on hand. I've been feeling pretty proud of my frugal efforts...until THE BILL arrived. My heating cost actually rose to $600! What did I do wrong?!? What efforts worked and what didn't? I wish the electric company would add a section in the bill -- similar to travel websites -- to indicate effective cost saving measures: if you turned down the thermostat a degree lower, you'd save $10 per day...or if you used cold water to run the washing machine and the dishwasher (not at the same time of course!) you'd save $3 per cycle...Wouldn't that be nice?

Posted in Uncategorized | 5 Comments »

5 Responses to “The high cost of heat...and pass me another sweater ”

  1. Thrifty Ray Says:
    January 29th, 2009 at 04:52 am 1233204748
    1233204748

    I tried something funny the other night and it worked!! It was freezing in our room...my tootsie were cold and wouldnt warm up....so I got my blow dryer and turned it on under the covers for just a few seconds...it heated the sheets enough that my feet warmed and I was able to fall asleep. It was a quick fix to cold tootsies!

  2. sicilyyoder Says:
    January 29th, 2009 at 05:46 am 1233208017
    1233208017

    My bill was $200.00. I have hot flashes, and have to sleep with it on 65.

  3. mooshocker Says:
    January 29th, 2009 at 01:53 pm 1233237236
    1233237236

    $600.00???????????? Somehting is NOT right. Have the electric company audit your plan and hire an electrician to check for electric leaks.

    I heat a 2500 sf home housing five of us. The heat is ALWAYS at 68 degrees and this past bill was about $225.00 for the month.

    Get it checked out. If you are living the way you describe, somthing is NOT right. God bless.

  4. LuxLiving Says:
    January 29th, 2009 at 03:58 pm 1233244704
    1233244704

    Holy Killowatz Batman!@! I agree with mooshocker, get with the electric company and describe your sitation at least as see what comparable square footage home runs. Is your attic insulated?

  5. dmontngrey Says:
    January 29th, 2009 at 06:07 pm 1233252449
    1233252449

    I know what you mean. I got new windows last march. I've barely had the heat running. One turtle tank is down for repairs, so that's one large filter and light not running. A lot of things are unplugged vs. a year ago. My electric bill was $400 !! I didn't get a chance to take a look at the rates and such, but our usage was definitely up. It HAS been a colder winter than normal though. Not necessarily anything wrong. I'm just north of you (in MA) and it could just be the rough winter we've had!

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