Anybody else worried about home heating prices this winter?

[Gogi]

You can get along without air conditioning (for the most part) but not heat. Will we see people freezing to death?:-(

[FreedomAngel82]

1. I worry too

I definitley think it'll be more pricy this winter with everything happening now. *sigh* :( I'm very glad we have a fire place.

[Roxy66]

2. I am...I have natual gas heat. I'm worried

I know my heating bill was set to spike up about 35% after Katrina, now I can't even imagine what it will go up to. I'm scared...I have kids and am fairly tight on money already. I predict I wont be on-line much longer

[I_Make_Mistakes]

4. They reported last month (CBS I think) that gas heat will rise 71%

electric only 17%. If you search there are threads on how to weather proof your home. In addition, buy space heaters that look like radiators, with oil inside, the electric heats the oil, and maintains the heat until the oil cools (and then the electric kicks on again). I have one and it works really well, with little fear of fire.

[Rainscents]

9. It does work very well! I bought turbo oil heater. This baby throw out

heat!

[Rainscents]

7. I heard this today...

Say, your gas bill was $35.00, it will jump to $105.00 It will triple!

[karlrschneider]

3. I just signed up for a year of constant price for gas,

$8.39 per dekatherm (that's a million BTUs)...the current price as of our last bill was 6.93 so we're committed to paying about 40% more than right now but many predictions are for a 70% increase so we figured it was worth the small gamble. We shall see, I guess.

[IN-dem]

5. We will be burning the fireplace this year. nt

[karlrschneider]

8. Actually we might be relocating the wood stove in the shop building

into the house. Fortunately for us, we have gazillions of trees...
:-)

[rawtribe]

6. Time to bring back

The Jimmy Carter sweater.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Carter

To encourage Americans to conserve energy during the 1979 energy crisis, Carter once appeared in a sweater and urged citizens to turn down their thermostats. He also installed solar power panels on the roof of the White House, and a wood stove in the living quarters; his successor, Ronald Reagan, later removed the solar panels and the wood stove.

[Piperay]

10. No

cause my heater is broken so I will have to use the fireplace. Well, anyway I live in CA it can get cold here but not as cold as other places so I will tough it out with the just fireplace. :shrug:

[I_Make_Mistakes]

11. The heaters I am talking about are between $40 and $50. They

really are a good deal. I have a parrot, so I can't afford to let it get to cold. I would survive, she probably wouldn't.

[NNN0LHI]

12. I spent a LOT of money last summer on new windows, doors, and insulation

Cut my gas usage by less than half last winter. Nicor gas company changed my meter twice last winter because they thought I was pulling some funny business my usage went so low. I wasn't pulling any funny business.

ComEd changed my electric meter this summer because they thought something was up too. One meter change was enough to convince them. Guess I will get a good chunk of my investment back sooner than I thought.

Don

[I_Make_Mistakes]

13. Oh, yeah. Please check your local power companies. There are

lots of reimbursement programs (state and federal). My neighbors got a really good AC replacement and most was reimbursed by the utilities. The programs are there, we just don't take the time to look for them.