#8 Postby Miss Mary » Sun Sep 25, 2005 9:05 am
Bear in mind this was the winter where gas prices really spiked. I want to say it was the winter of 2000-01? Or 2001-02? That was for January also, our coldest winter month usually, for utility bills. December and February were lower.
Our average highest winter bill after that was usually around $250. Same with either July or August. But this summer was very hot and temps were above 85, for weeks. Our highest summer bill so far has been $320. Last one back to the mid $250's. Several family members have allergies so we have to run the A/C. And we close off registers in rooms we do not use much. We also use the reverse winter temp thinking - we keep it on 78.
Meanwhile over at my BIL's house they used to keep it on 72 in the summer too! They've split up so he can now keep it much higher. Sometimes he doesn't even run the A/C (you can tell the wife moved out, when it's stifling hot over there!).
So it's not as bad as it sounds. Local utility companies predict very high heating prices this winter. I KNOW we'll lower the thermostat to 65 again. This is going to sound very odd but we really did feel better back then - the air felt cleaner, crisper, not too hot at times (when trying to fall asleep). That is going to sound very wacky!
All of this reminds me of an excellent article in a home decorating magazine I read years ago. I really wished I had saved it. Can't even remember the title now..........a single female home owner living out west, where summers are very hot and dry, and winters can get very snowy and cold, decided to custom build her retirement home. She was in her 50 by then, having never married. The entire house was less than 1,000 sq. foot, quite modest by size. Since she wanted to build an energy efficient home, it was decided it would be adobe. The walls were a foot thick. She intentionally placed the rooms in the back of the house, where she spent most of her time, facing south (like we did at our house). This is where she had her eat in kitchen (no formal dining room) and family/living room. Lots of big window. The front had an air lock area, staircase to the second floor (two modest bedrooms, 2 bathrooms). The entire front contained bathrooms, laundry room and hallway to the garage. With small windows. Best feature of all - she had radiant heating below her tiled floors (thruout the house). She stated the heated floors, where rooms are often the chilliest, were the warmest. And very comfortable. She had a backup heating system (baseboard heating I think), but rarely had to turn it on, even in brutal winters. The radiant floor heating heated the entire house. And the best part - her monthly bills were less than $60. Compared to her neighbors who had first of all huge homes and bills in the $200 to $300 range. For the flip side, her home was very cool in the summer, since the walls were a foot thick. I can't recall if she needed A/C. I know she had it for a backup if it was too hot.
Mary
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) just curious, what do you heat your house with?
We have propane forced air but THAT only runs approx. 10 minutes in the morning "IF" the fire goes out overnight, if it hasn't, the furnace NEVER runs, at $2.50 a gallon NOW (up from $2.00 a gallon 3 weeks ago) I seriously DOUBT the furnace will run at ALL, PERIOD. Now we cook with propane and our water heater is propane but a full tank, 250 gallons, will last us a year!!
We have a VERY efficent woodstove, load it before bedtime with 3 logs and it's STILL hot in the morning. There are times when we will cook a meal on the woodstove, really, beans, soups etc.
