Winter is coming!! Post your tips to keeping your heating bill down in costs!!

[LynneSin]

Ugh, I first moved into this house I ended up with like $300/month heating bills (I have natural gas from the city). I've worked at it but I've managed to get my costs down to around $250 a month but this year I want to do even better.

I've decided that when it's just me in the house I'm leaving the thermostat at 62 degrees - just so I don't have any pipes burst. My cats have their own fur coats so they'll be fine. So for me, I have electric heaters for my bedroom, bathroom and living room. When I'm not at home or in the room I'm turning them off.

Only time I'll turn the full heat on in the house (up to 70) is when I have company. I'm not that rude. But if it's just me then I'll be fine without the heat on blast!

[Rosie1223]

1. I can totally see you in one of these...

[LynneSin]

3. no and HELL NO

I have standards you know. i'd rather just put on an oversized Eagles sweater shirt and a scarf

[Rosie1223]

9. Oh, come on...

http://www.ecrater.com/product.php?pid=5250185

[begin_within]

49. Keep your hands and feet warm, then the rest of you seems ok.

[foxfeet]

2. Freeze in the dark.

It's all right. I'll be fine.

[Brickbat]

4. Plastic on the windows, shut off some rooms and don't heat them, thermostat around 60...

...we heat with wood, so our costs are pretty low.

[LynneSin]

5. I have no fireplace

and unfortunately the house is controlled by one thermastat.

But I do use the plastic on the windows the cats aren't near. I'm fearful that in my bedroom and the living room the cats would just see the plastic covering as a toy

[Brickbat]

7. When I said "don't heat them," I meant "close the registers in those rooms."

Also, I've never had cats go after plastic on the windows. YMMV, o' course.

[question everything]

37. Try to weatherstrip the whole house

You may be able to get tax credit for that.

[rurallib]

10. rope caulk arond the window really helps and is cheap

[KG]

6. live in FL

[Tommy_Carcetti]

35. Beat me to it.

I think we run the heat all of two or three nights a winter.

[LeftyFingerPop]

8. Whiskey.

Lots of it.

[Moondog]

16. Always a plan. n/t

[NJmaverick]

11. A humidifier will make it feel warmer at cooler temperatures

plus it will keep you nasal passages and skin from drying out. Space heaters can keep say a living room or family room warmer and comfortable while allowing other rooms to be cooler.

There is the federal insulation and window program one can look into

T-stat with timer to lower temperaturs at night and during weekdays (if you are at work) can be helpful

open up curtains and shades on the sunny side of the house, let the sun shine in

[Rabrrrrrr]

14. Yes yes yes, and absolutely yes!

A dry 72 can still feel colder than a properly moist 66.

[kentauros]

12. Live in Texas

or anywhere along the Gulf Coast :P

[ScreamingMeemie]

17. ...

:thumbsup:

On the slightly chilly days of January last year, I ran the fireplace in the morning to take the chill off and we were good. It is amazingly happy making to have a 32 dollar gas bill. :)

[Richardo]

33. Glad you're enjoying it down here, Meemie

:pals:

[kentauros]

43. How are y'all liking this "non-coldfront" weather?

Damn but that was some storm last night! Made me think of Ike during some of the windier moments. (I was awake, watching it.) :)

[tigereye]

45. sounds like a nice change from your up-north gas bill!

how the hell are ya? :hug:

[Richardo]

32. ...

:thumbsup:

[kentauros]

47. Where else but Texas (or the Gulf Coast)

can you get a "cold front" and end up with temps still in the mid to high 80s?

[Moondog]

13. Get and install a fiberglass insulation jacket for the outside of your H2O heater.

They're usually under $20 at Home Despot or Lowe's.

[kentauros]

15. For space-heating, I've thought of getting one of these:

Eco Convection Heater

Real Goods also sells them and has some products that might give you some ideas, too. They're prices are high, so look for similar products elsewhere if you can :)

[NMDemDist2]

24. we've had an ongoing discussion on those heaters here

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=353&topic_id=279&mesg_id=279

I still have 3 of them, and they really do take the edge off until the sun comes up and warms the house.

[kentauros]

28. That's quite the thread!

:D

I would get one if I had a single wall with nothing in front of it ;)

As it is, I have two oil heaters my landlord gave me when the furnace crapped out many years ago. Last year I started putting both of them in front of the air intake, turning them on high and running the fan. Does an adequate job of heating 950 sq.ft. and it doesn't dry out the air :)

Or you can have your pets sleep on top of you (like my cat is doing on my left foot at the moment...) :P

[wovenpaint]

50. I have one of the eheaters

it gives off a nice soft heat in my bedroom. I'm thinking of buying another one for the other bedroom,too.

[Nuclear Unicorn]

18. Get naked with someone.

[Moondog]

19. I _really_ like how you think. n/t

[Nuclear Unicorn]

36. I like how I think too

[tinkerbell41]

20. Last year I found some intersting stuff at Mother Earth News

They have articles about off the grid living. Also went to frugal living website.
I tried 3 suggestions I bought a pack of foam insulators for receptacles/switches for around 3 bucks installed those, then I got really crazy and made heat collectors. You install them on top of southern facing windows. Black construction paper, aluminum foil. Cut foil to fit window including frame, cut paper to fit 3/4 of foil all around. I taped it to frame of glass it did work to collect heat and I guess somehow it flows into room.
The next thing I did was bubble wrap. I bought a couple rolls and cut to fit glass on back door, and 3 windows in kitchen that I do not have insulating blinds on. You just run a damp rag on glass and the wrap will stick. It worked out pretty well.
I don't how much money I saved because my home was soundproofed and I had all new windows and doors installed along with more insulation in attic. But the areas around those windows were not as drafty and those heat collectors did warm up.
My heating bills are never as high as yours, even before the new stuff. I would die. I keep thermostat at 68 all day and 66 at night. Wrapping your water heater is a a great idea, i might try that this year. Good luck!

[texanwitch]

21. Houston never gets really cold for long.

Really don't need a heater, but I do have a wood burning stove.

I like a cold room.

I just wear sweat pants and shirt, that is enough.

[dembotoz]

22. the shower is in the bath tub. when i shower i put the drain plug in

the warm water will heat the bathroom.
when the water is cold, drain the tub.

bake more

[merh]

25. you should save your water to water your plants

sounds icky but it is a way to recycle water (the soap and dirty are supposed to be good for the plants, cuts down on bugs).

[dembotoz]

27. i can even kill plastic plants

[GOPisEvil]

23. If your water heater is also gas-powered, insulate it.

[RFKHumphreyObama]

26. No, winter is going

Now we have to worry about summer and bushfires

[bluedigger]

29. Visit relatives. And friends!

Until they throw you out.

[mgcgulfcoast]

30. i have electric heat

i barely useit and choose to be cold. i cant pay the bill. in the winter i will turn the heat on for 30 minutes in the morning and 30 minutes before i go to bed. inbetween i am at work or under alot of blankets. i dread winter coming and sometimes to be warm i stay in my car when the sun is shining in.

[LynneSin]

31. I can't blame you - that's pretty much what I do too

I had a 400sq. ft. appartment and it would run like $200 month to heat it with electric. After 2 months of trying to afford the bill I ended up doing exactly what you did. I just learned to deal with the cold. The worse was in the morning - my bathroom would be so cold I didn't want to take a shower so I put a small space heater in the bathroom so I could warm up the room.

So 15 years later I could afford the gas bill but I would rather not and my body is use to making due with the cold in the wintertime.

:hug:

[mgcgulfcoast]

41. yea, its no fun to be cold

oddly, my bill is less with the AC in the summer

[Deep13]

34. Be an Eskimo.

What do you mean it's not working?!

[tonekat]

38. OK, first, adopt more kitties, then...

...sprinkle catnip all over yourself. After they've gotten nipped and fallen asleep, you'll have a nice warm living purring comforter.

[LynneSin]

39. Until I fall asleep. I tend to toss & turn alot while I sleep

and I'm sure a few kitties will be smooshed in the process

:cry:

My cats are smart - one sleeps on the cat bed by the window and the other sleeps at the foot of my bed.

[unpossibles]

40. 3 words: fleece footy pajamas

they make them for adults too!

[doc03]

42. Don't pass Cap and Trade! n/t

[tigereye]

44. well we just bought a new 95% efficiency furnace (had to since the old one

went kaput) = so I'm hoping that will lower the bills.


Otherwise, I would say turning down the thermostat at bedtime or when people are at work and school, wearing sweaters with temps set lower during the day, and caulking or putting up sheeting over windows - that sort of thing.

[TheCentepedeShoes]

46. Electric blanket

Help cut the morning chill in the living room with the used-to-be-wood-turned-gas fireplace
Wood started costing too much (and we were using too much) and after the expense of rebuilding the firebox, decided to switch
Budget bill - doesn't cut the overall cost of the natural gas, but spreads it out over the whole year, more manageable pieces

[LoveMyCali]

48. Electric mattress pad

is even better, it warms the bed without being directly against you so you don't get sweaty and uncomfortable.

[applegrove]

51. Seal you windows shut with plastic and tape (or get those kits from the hardware store).

It really works.

[eleny]

52. I read a blog from Scandinavia a while back

It was some time ago but I think it might have been about Norway. Anyhow, they described how it was an old practice to use door blankets. They'd hang a heavy woolen blanket on a drapery rods inside the house over an exterior doorway. Rings were sewn along the top of the blanket and then it was hung from the rod to make it easy to pull it aside to use the front door of the house.

Not that you would need to do that where you live. But here in Colorado we can have some pretty cold stretches in mid winter. I was thinking of hanging a rod over the back door and doing something like this. It would help keep the mud room warmer. There's gas hot water heater back there. But there's also a couple of double paned windows and a window in the back door itself. A white coverlet with cheerful pattern would look nice and help keep the heat inside. There are no heat registers out there.

You've got a damp cold and I remember how biting that can be from my growing up in NYC. Brrrr...