Monday, August 4th, 2008...6:07 am
How Not to Pay More for Heat This Winter
My friend Jen Miller, awesome blogger and expert on the Jersey Shore, recently wrote a truly helpful article for Interest.com on how not to pay more for heat this winter (or at least try not to pay more.) Yes, I know that it’s still 90-plus degrees out in the Northern Hemisphere, but with oil prices the way they are, you’ve got to start planning ahead for those out-of-control heating bills that are sure to come.
Regardless of what kind of heat your have–gas, electric or oil–you can expect that your home heating bills could be up by at least 50 percent this winter. So take Jen’s tips to heart. You may be using some of these energy-saving tools already, such as weather stripping your windows and doors. But you will likely learn something, too. For example, I didn’t know that you could use ceiling fans in the winter. I thought they were for summer only.
Oh and did I mention that she quotes me as one of her experts? Yeah, that’s pretty cool–I mean hot–too!
This has me worried. Our old (and leaky) house is tough to heat. It’ll be a year of extra blankets and sweaters, programmed thermostat, at the very least.
We just filled our oil tank with 176.9 gallons at $3.869 a gallon for a whopping cost of $680.oo. This was the cheapest price I found now after calling around to all our local oil companies. I live in Bucks County. That use to be the cost of one whole heating season for us. I did not spend that much last year for the winter. I told my husband that needs to last the whole winter. I did buy an electric heater like I used last year and did not use that much more electric than normal. So its going to be a long cold winter and we will wear just extra layers of clothes. But I feel for the seniors who don’t have that much income and a lot of people will have to make hard choices this year. The oil and electric company don’t care they just want there money or else they cut you off.
Gail
Gail:
If there’s any chance that you’re following up on comments, would you mind letting me know which company you used? Thanks.
Leah