OUCH!!! Just got my home heating bill...

[kellyinkc]

Hey Slick do you have insulation in the crawl space?? That would help.

Kelly

[RZ Autodetailing]

i have a 1800 sq ft house and mine was $260 and the avg temp for dec was 43degress

[escape]

Mine was $175 for 2600 sf with the temp set at 64F. Tried the supplement thing with the electric heater but the electric bill went up too much, so it was really break even. Would have been better off using the gas heat. I am now in the process of insulating all the pipes, ducts, and water heater, hope this helps.

[Godiva]

Originally posted by Slick
... Yes, Virginia... it DOES get cold in southern california! ....

I'm in So. Cal and in a way older home...like 1919 wood frame. I've got both an attic and a crawlspace. But at least I'm not on a concrete slab.

Unfortunately for the longest time (and when energy was cheap) So. Cal was considered a place where you didn't have to insulate houses. So now it's "what can you do"?

I not only have a gas furnace but also a gas stove, gas water heater and gas dryer.

And no fireplace.

I can't afford to do anything about the walls. I am not tearing either the inside or outside walls off to retrofit insulation, nor am I going to blow it in. But I did roll out insulation myself in the attic and installed a programable thermostat and both paid for themselves.

Now I'm looking at doing the floors/crawlspace. Unfortunately I'm not as young as I was. It took me a considerable amount of time to do the attic. I just don't think I can do the floors myself so I'll have to hire help. And I'll also have to buy the insulation. I did the attic a few rolls at a time over an entire summer.

But....if you haven't done your crawlspace or your attic/roof space (If you have access) I highly recommend that. And a programmable thermostat. Putting a "lid" on your house (doing the attic space) makes a huge difference.

I only have a floor furnace, no forced air, it just heats up and the hot air rises into the house. It's a big box in the crawlspace. I have ceiling fans set to reverse in the winter and I have a small electric heater in the bedroom for at night. I wish it was more programable. I can set it to go off after a certain amount of time...but I can't set it to come back on, say, an hour before I get up in the morning.

I may have to get another dog.

[rusty bumper]

My gas bill is $89.00 ($50.00 higher than this time last year), but the temps in our area were a little cooler than last year too.

I set my thermostat at 63* and use a 23'000 BTU kerosene heater to warm up the place with in the daytime.

The above combo has served me well over the years, but K-1 kero is now selling for $2.99 a gallon. (Ouch!) But even so, it feels better to have a direct heat source to warm up to than to rely on turning the thermostat up.

A gas furnace just doesn't feel all that warm to me, plus it tends to dry out the air and cause sinus problems and nose bleeds.

A word of advice to you that use a forced air furnace....Buy one of those $10.00 vaporizers at Wal-Mart to help keep moisture in the air. Moist air holds more heat than dry air and it feels better too.

Better for your skin and sinuses, and if moist air holds heat longer then it might keep your thermostat from kicking on as much.

Just a thought anyway.

[gb387]

Originally posted by Rusty Bumper
A word of advice to you that use a forced air furnace....Buy one of those $10.00 vaporizers at Wal-Mart to help keep moisture in the air. Moist air holds more heat than dry air and it feels better too.

Better for your skin and sinuses, and if moist air holds heat longer then it might keep your thermostat from kicking on as much.

Just a thought anyway.

I have been kicking around the idea of getting one of those for sometime, just haven't done it. I may have to peek around the stores this week.

[rusty bumper]

Originally posted by gb387
I have been kicking around the idea of getting one of those for sometime, just haven't done it. I may have to peek around the stores this week.

I like to use mine on a cold sunny day (when the air is driest), and on cold nights.

I used to have a lot of dry sinus problems when sleeping. This led to increased colds and bronchitis for me, but the added moisture really helps out some. My mother-in-law lives with us and she will have nose bleeds if the air gets too dry.

Now-a-days you can buy a furnace that will introduce moisture into the heated air flow itself.

[Five Star]

my unit is 1700 sq ft but i own a 3 family

total sq ft of the house is 5100.

Now I havent installed new windows in my tenants units yet because when I installed mine the casings and sills were warped and needed to be replaced, so I plan on using new construction windows rather than replacement windows, but prefer to wait until they move.

But the point of this is post I've done the following for my tenants.

The main things you should do is walk around the house check doors and windows for drafts.. caulk, weatherstrip, shrinkable plastic where you can feel the cold.

One of the biggest areas of drafts is through wall switches and electrical outlets.

They sell gaskets at home depot that you install under the cover plates that help eliminate the cold coming in through there and they are only $2 a package but makes a big difference.

[jfelbab]

Insulation is going to become a common word in the traditionally warmer states. LOL.

My home in Wisconsin has 2700 sq. ft. I used 200 therms over the last 34 days for heat and hot water. I keep the place at a comfy 68°. Therms cost us about $1.20 here now, twice what they cost last year, and likely half what they will cost next year. Plan ahead and insulate where you can. This is just a wake-up call as energy costs climb year after year.

Most heat loss in a home is through the root and then the windows and doors followed by the walls. Concentrate on these areas first. I have 20" of insulation in my attic and triple pane gas filled windows. Our average temperature over the last month was 24°.

[Accumulator]

Originally posted by Rusty Bumper
Now-a-days you can buy a furnace that will introduce moisture into the heated air flow itself.

Yeah, those are very convenient and distribute the moisture quite evenly throughout the house. You can almost always have one added to your existing forced air furnace too.

[kellyinkc]

We put a humidifier on our furnace. It helps. I also put those foam
outlet covers on. It's unreal how much air comes in. I also took off the trim around my windows. The roughin opening is bigger than the window. So there is a gap all the way around. Add up a half inch all around the window and you have a big hole. Wish I could remember this, I read somewhere that if you add up all the cracks in your house its's like a window open year round or something like that. Gonna be a long expensive winter.

Kelly

[gb387]

Originally posted by kellyinkc
I also put those foam
outlet covers on. It's unreal how much air comes in. I also took off the trim around my windows. The roughin opening is bigger than the window. So there is a gap all the way around. Add up a half inch all around the window and you have a big hole. Wish I could remember this, I read somewhere that if you add up all the cracks in your house its's like a window open year round or something like that. Gonna be a long expensive winter.

Kelly

I have had the same foam covers on for a few years... you are right, it is amazing how much air sneaks in around a little old outlet/light switch. This summer I also took all my trim off my windows/doors, re-polyurethaned the trim and filled all the gaps around the windows/doors with expanding foam, some gaps were quite large, I could reach in and touch the outside sheeting on the house. I know I can feel the difference around the window since I have done the foam insulating.

[kellyinkc]

Whoops should have added that I filled in those cracks. Could also see the exterior wall, but no insulation. After that wife noticed no air was coming in around the window. Better keep her happy!!

Kelly

[gb387]

Just got my bill:
- Natural Gas -
Used 84 Therms @ $.97927 a therm + all other fun charges = $117.87

Average temp: 24 Deg. F

1264 Sq Ft

[kellyinkc]

Your cost of gas is a little cheaper. Ours is 1.16771 per therm.
Plus as you say the "fun" charges. A bit of good news, natural gas prices have fallen 23% but we won't see it till next year.

Kelly