Home heating bill shocker. How high are your bills?

[prolesunited]

I thought I was prepared for the sticker shock, but apparently not according to my reaction when I opened the bill.

This past month for gas and electric: $282 :shocked:

I live in a very modest brick, 2-story house with only 1,200 square feet IIRC. We have good insulation, newer double-pane windows, steel doors, and a programmable thermostat. I've been freezing all winter and at the highest setting before bedtime, I go up to 68 degrees. During the day, I've been letting it go down to 58 or 59, and at night, it goes down to about 55, and I have flannel sheets and three blankets on my bed. I don't know what more I can do.

I've been practically torturing us, and still the bill is this high. If I were a Chicago landlord, the tenants could have filed complaints against me for not meeting minimal heating standards. And, my bill is still this high.

To compound matters, I'm on the budget plan. I'm paying $150 a month now, but they are readjusting it to $279 per month, starting next month. (I already had been putting in an extra $50 to keep from getting too far behind.) Excluding my escrow account, that's just shy of my monthly mortgage payment.

And, of course, we make too much to qualify for assistance, but hardly enough to pay these kinds of bills. I don't know how people are going to do it. No wonder there has been such an increase in those using food banks.


So, now that the bills are coming in, how are you doing? Any other strategies to try? And, unfortunately, I think I will be turning the thermostat even lower. :-(

[Lars39]

1. That's horrible!

Only thing I can suggest is a woolly hat and a foot warmer filled with dried beans or rice that you can nuke to keep your feet warm at night. I wonder if we'll ever really know how many old folks have died from lack of heat this winter. :(

On edit: are your pipes and water heater wrapped?

[Gidney N Cloyd]

2. Land Beyond O'Hare here.

The gas bill I just paid, basically the November bill, was about $78. Yer basic 1000 sq ft 1960-ish ranch with original windows but a new furnace (80%+ efficiency) so I thought I might break even over last winter with more efficiency vs higher prices. Looks like I'll be wrong.

[bicentennial_baby]

3. last oil bill: $385

for only 125 gallons! :o

not my house, it's my parents...sigh. i can't get them to switch to something more efficient, i just write their checks every month and furrow my brow some more. x(

[cssmall]

4. My landlord pays ours.

We live in a 1336 sq ft home, with double paned windows, thick doors and the like. But, I think he's takin' a bit of a bath on this. I mean, last year when I lived in an 1100 sq ft townhome, our gas rates were like 195 bucks a month.

[Wcross]

5. My bill was 65 dollars for November.

That is my entire utility costs as I heat and cool with electricity. My bills were higher in July and August than they are now.

[MadHound]

6. Holy Moly, and I thought mine was bad

I heat with propane, and already had the whole sticker shock attack a few months ago when I did my pre-buy at $1.60/gal. Electric isn't going to go up until next April, and even then the price hike is going to be modest thankfully.

It sounds like you own your house, so yes, you do have a few options. Have you ever thought about either an internal or external wood stove? Internal stoves are cheaper, but generally jump up your insurance rates. External stoves are more expensive, but they don't jump up your insurance rates and you can use them to heat your water also, thus saving money there. I don't know about where you live, but out here in Missouri you can buy three cords of wood(more than enough to last you the winter) for around $300. Or you can go out and cut it yourself if you are of that inclination.

You should also check your local zoning laws and see if they allow you to put up solar panels or a windmill. If so, I would suggest doing so. I imagine that the solar panels wouldn't be a problem, but a wind turbine probably would, at least in city limits.

This is going to be our last winter of heating with propane. We're picking up a wood stove next summer. They run from $4000-$5000 for external models, cheaper for inside models. Then we're going to take the money we save on heat and gasoline(I'm riding a scooter for the daily twenty six mile commute) and roll that over into a wind turbine.

Good luck, and try to stay warm.

[tjdee]

7. Not to be dumb, but how do you know if you're heating with electric?

And am I correct that electric won't be doing what gas is, in terms of price?

I'm pretty sure I have electric heat, but I'm not sure. I mean, I get a bill from an electric company, but I figured it was all the same, when you come down to it. :dunce:

I don't know how people do it.

[MadHound]

8. Go take a look at your furnace

It should state somewhere on it whether it is gas or electric. Other than that, do you hear a big "Whoosh" sound when your furnace fires up, or does the blower just start up? If you hear the "Whoosh" sound, that is the sound of gas igniting. If it is just your blower that comes on, then you are on electric heating.

[tjdee]

13. Thank you....I don't hear a whoosh sound, it just comes on.

And now that you mention it, I do remember living in a house once, where we turned on the heat and we heard that sound.

Too dark and cold to check now, but I'll check that out too. Thank you!

[Radio_Lady]

34. My husband opened the bill and couldn't believe it!

The bill for one month was over $200 for gas and over $80 for electricity. And we're living in Portland, Oregon, which usually doesn't get that cold. We tried to reprogram for a lower setting, but my husband suffers with the cold.

[lildreamer316]

9. Last oil bill for 100 gal.=$279.

Fortunately my mother had gas logs (propane) installed in the fireplace so I have a second heating source--but it also needs fuel and to fill it up + tank rental is running me a bill due of $149--but that is survivable.
Best of luck and for some money-saving advice; please stop by the Frugal and Energy Efficent Group here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topics&forum=353
Couponing is your friend! If you don't do it already; you should start; you can stockpile food as well as save money on your monthly grocery bill. If you need more help feel free to PM me!

[Broken_Hero]

10. hmm....

Not so bad....so far. I put in 100 gallons of propane in the tank in mid september, the same day i heard that propane would be 2 bucks a gallon....as far as electric goes, its lower during the winter, cause of our woodstove/fireplace....so its not so bad...

Gas, is still a very high bill for us...my wife commutes over 90 miles a day now...and its hell. We are borderline broke...this past year, my wife was in a car accident and our insurance company screwed with us a lot, plus the mini van we got to replace the lost car was a complete lemon, and cost us big bucks, and now we got a newer program car...and that just means:going deeper and deeper into debt...

my wife and i live alone, no kids, and what not...and we are barely making it...the car accident/lemon car/gas has screwed us over...we can't save money to save our lives....

[tjdee]

11. The car thing is *exactly* what happened to me.

Except I'm not at the "program car" stage (what is that?).

That screwed me. That was supposed to be a downpayment on an apartment and moving expenses. Just last month I poured $550 into this POS--Merry Christmas! :grr:

[Broken_Hero]

16. Program car

is a car, that use to be a rental car, or a previous showroom car, that has accumlated over 30,000 miles, but the car is still in good condition and has the support of the car dealership that is selling it...that is a program car.

We got a candy red 04 dodge intrepid program car, for 8,000, and it had 37k miles. So, far the car is treating us great, the car that was in the accident this past february was a dodge intrepid also, my wife and i have a lot of faith in the dodge intrepid.

We paid 4,000 for the mini van, and we used a loan from the bank, because our insurance company was dragging its knuckles and my wife needs a car for work, so we knew we were going to get 2,000 from tax returns, and 2000 from our insurance company, so we knew we had 4,000 for a car, we decided to gamble with used....we got a worthless 95 ford windstar. Cost, over 8,000 before we found out, it was in a previous wreck, but because it wasn't on Carfax, we had no legal standing...to go after the car saleman.

We also had a limited warranty on that mini van, and the warranty company flat out refused to help us pay for anything...we had to twist their arms to cough up money, and to this day, they still owe us, but my wife and i have given up on them....we traded in the worthless mini van for the dodge intrepid, and got the intrepid for 8,000, instead of its sticker price of 10,900.....

[hfojvt]

12. You turn the heat up at night?

That is probably what is costing you. Buy three more blankets and turn the heat all the way down at night. Wear PJs. (Okay I was reading that wrong, but wow 59 is cold in the day. I think I go down to about 48 on cold nights which is as low as my thermostat will allow)Then you can run it higher in the day when you are up and about (but even then I think long underwear is a sensible idea). Turn it down if the house will be empty for a few hours (or let the dogs and cats fend for themselves. They'll be okay.) Do lots of baking. Maybe close off a couple rooms if you do not need them or can do without them.

[tjdee]

14. I turn up the heat at night too.

I can't sleep if it is too cold--doesn't help if I bundle up, because my ears/face/hands are cold, then I sweat and am hot/cold....and then I feel all heavy with all those clothes on under those heavy blankets. :scared: It's gross, I end up feeling disgusting and cranky. The heat at night in my house is at 60-65. 48 would probably kill me, LOL!

Plus, if she's got it down that far during the day, wouldn't it even out?

[hfojvt]

21. no, it does not even out

although I would prefer to be comfortable during the day. Perhaps the way my parents raised me. My grandmother used to open a window in my dad's room at night, even during Wisconsin winters.

It does not even out because it is colder outside at night, and heat transfer rates depend on the temperature difference. So it takes more energy to maintain 65 degrees during a 10 degree night than it does during a 40 degree day.

[prolesunited]

30. No, not at night

Just around the dinner hour from like 6 to 10. At, night, it's only about 55, but it's set to turn on about 30 minutes before people start taking showers so the don't freeze and goes back off at 8 a.m.

[Susang]

15. Heat - $229

Electricity - $105

Our house is even smaller than yours. I've kept the heat at 60, using electric space heaters to compensate. We're still freezing our asses off.

Sometimes living in Chicago sucks. :-(

[prolesunited]

38. You're right!

That sucks even more. Sorry.

I think I might go buy a couple of space heaters and dial down even more.

[Lars39]

17. Some people are diverting their dryer air to heat their house:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=353x353

[Ouabache]

43. That puts WAY too much HUMIDITY in the house

or so I was told by a builder who said people were crazy to pump heat that moist into the house. He said don't do it.

[purr]

18. Last electric bill - $275.35, Last oil bill - $635

I love it.. and I make too much money for any type of energy assistance. HAHAHHAHAHA

[Scooter24]

19. This past month, to heat my 2-bedroom condo,

the bill was about $195.

My parents have an 8-bedroom house, their average bill is around $850 a month.

[sbj405]

20. Gas for Nov - $130

That heats a 900 sq ft brick ranch with new windows and a new furnace. DC so it really hasn't gotten cold yet. BF refuses to do anything to conserve gas. :mad: We can afford it, but I hate being wasteful. He'd have the thermostat set at 70+ if I would let him.

[supernova]

22. November = $56 here in NC

I use all electric and have a heat pump. I just started turning it down at night to about 65. I sleep under a warming blanket at night.

I don't cook or use much hot water (for instance I run the dishwasher 2x/week) I basically confine my big oven cooking to the weekends.

But my biggest winter bills are coming up in January and February. Those can be about $125, same in the hieght of summer.

[Dukkha]

23. last month in Ohio $75 all electric

2 bedroom condo approx 1,030 sq ft

[tigereye]

24. hmmm

I just opened the gas bill for November out of curiosity, and with some trepidation, but it was only 84 dollars! I suspect it was only for part of the month, though.

BUT the electric bill I paid early this month was for 300 plus, partially since we were using the electic heaters in Oct. and part of November ( mistake) because we thought we would save by not turning on the furnace. Wrong.

[benny05]

25. Same in Central Illinois

Ours was about the same, although our place is a bit larger. The natural gas futures have "spiked" so I'm not surprised. I keep fleece around for an extra layer--either as a jacket, pants, or an afghan--and I wear socks almost all of the time except when bathing.

If you can pick one of two windows, here's something my housemates in Boston and used to do:
(source: http://ask.metafilter.com/mefi/15436--describes this better and faster than I can type)

You can get this stuff at just about any decent hardware store, I think, and it's basically a big roll of what looks like Saran Wrap, and another small roll of double-sided clear tape. You use the tape to mount the film across the inside of the window, and then run a blow-dryer across the film to shrink and tighten it.

If you do it carefully, you really don't even notice the plastic, since you can get it pretty taut and smooth. (It takes a couple of windows to get a feel for how to use it, though, so start on some windows where you don't care so much if there are wrinkles.)

The main thing I found is that while you have to be careful not to melt a hole in the plastic with the dryer; you've got to keep the dryer very close to the film, or it'll take _forever_ to tighten up. What I found works best is to keep the front edge of the dryer snout actually touching the plastic, but with the dryer held sideways to the film, so it's not blowing directly at it but across it. You have to be very careful, and move the dryer up and down constantly, but it's the quickest way, and it gets the plastic very tight and clear.

Generally, that sort of system is going to work better than anything inexpensive you can apply directly _to_ the window glass, since it traps an additional layer of air between the film and the glass, and that's a big part of the additional benefit. Anything you could apply right to the glass has got to do all the insulating on its own.

We found it kept our bills down by 75 bucks at least. You have to pick which windows and just keep in mind you cannot open them for three months, possibly 4. We picked ones that faced east and north.

I'm considering doing this with a couple of windows in the back of our house since we seldom open them in the winter--and they are double paine also.

Yep, these are Dickens' or Darwinan times...take your pick. I'd like to hear other strategies too for energy savings for those of us who live in temperate climes.

[MidwestMomma]

26. Run a hot steam vaporizer or boil water on the stove

The hot moisture can really make a difference in the temperature. But if you do the water on the stove thing, set a timer so you don't boil the pot dry.

I'm anxiously awaiting my gas bill. :(

[benny05]

27. Someone mentioned an electric blanket

I've used an electric mattress pad--dual control. That way, if you sleep with someone, and the other person is warm-natured, you can keep the mattress pad warmer on your side. They don't use a lot of electricity either. If you turn it on about 10 minutes before retiring, your bed is nice and warm. Now I need to find mine. or get one..:-)

[seemunkee]

28. We got an oil delivery on Sat. Waiting for the bill to come

Not looking forward to that. We have a mother in law suite that has it's own heat pump so we have high electric bills plus the oil. Our electric bill last month was $236

[geniph]

29. Crap, nearly everything you wrote applies to me!

I'm in the same sort of house - modest little brick, decent insulation, newer windows, programmable thermostat set way down during the day and at night - and my bill this month (I'm near Seattle) is over $200. Horrible! It's never been anywhere near that high before.

[Beware the Beast Man]

31. We've been using the heat sparingly.

I have the thermostat at 66 degrees; no higher. I don't mind because I'd rather be cool than warm anyway. As for the bill, it's modest so far.

[SW FL Dem]

32. You have my sympathies

We pay that to cool our modest tract home in the summer even though we keep the A/C at 80 and drop it to 78 so we can sleep. Our electric bills are small now, but we will pay the price next summmer.

[LSK]

33. Chicago burbs here - $158 for December

Last year in December - $80
2 years ago in December - $89

[benny05]

36. but about 4-5 yrs ago?

When there were spikes then too?

[barb162]

35. DO you keep the lights on a lot

or do you have outside air coming in from the basement or something ... the dollar amount doesn't seem right for your size house.

[prolesunited]

37. No to both

The electric alone is $64 for 605 kwh, and I've switched almost all of the bulbs to compact flourescent. I do think we could improve a little on this, but not a huge amount.

The natural gas was priced at 1.2019 per therm for 135.7 therms. Unfortunately, they were able to lobby for this stupid plan that lets us chose alternate suppliers (most of which that are their subsidiaries or have gone belly up) so that they can charge a delivery service fee of $45.70 and interstate pipeline charge of $7.

They sold it a being better for consumers, but the bills have been higher ever since, naturally. Whenever you have a monopoly lobbying for something as better for us, they are LYING!

I have glass block windows in the basement, and the vents are turned off down there. All of the rooms are used on a regular basis, so I can't close the vents on any of them.

[seemunkee]

39. Oil Bill came $450 to fill the tank

I'll have to do it 2-3 more times this winter.

[SofaKingLiberal]

40. $108 - FL n/t

[maveric]

41. I haven't lit my furnace in almost 7 years. Guess where I live?

Sweaters and extra blankets do the trick when it gets below 62 degrees.

[Kat45]

42. I just got an oil bill for $404!

Boy, was I shocked when I saw it. And I don't even put up my heat until I get home at night. But my hot water is also part of the heating bill, and I have a feeling the temperature for it is turned up too high. I'm just afraid to ask them to lower the temp, because then I might end up not having water hot enough to take a shower in winter.

[me b zola]

44. $0000000.0000000

We burn wood here in the middle of Portland. We pay for the wood. We keep our eyes open for someone to fell a tree that they want removed and we do it for them ;)

It's a lot of work, but FUCK CHENEY & HALLIBURTIN!!!!!!!