Middle-aged married mom looking ahead while enjoying today
We just received our gas bill and it’s $208.53 this month. Ouch!! I see from the usage chart that it’s about the same as last year so I really shouldn’t have been surprised. What’s more scary is looking at February and March – if this year is like last year, we’ll have another sharp increase next month.
In addition to the central air, we have a gas fireplace, which I love. It heats up the family room and makes it cozy and inviting. So I’m not willing to shut it off, but I’ll monitor the thermostat, open the curtains on south-facing windows, make sure the garage is closed, … what else?
Winter Utilities
January 22nd, 2020 at 01:49 am
January 22nd, 2020 at 08:49 pm 1579726165
A few years ago we paid to have an energy audit by the local power/gas company. It was worth every penny. He gave us a bunch of new light bulbs, changed out our shower head, and suggested areas we needed to put in more insulation. We had already replaced the original windows with more energy efficient ones. We saved the money and had more insulation blown into our attic and then insulated our crawl space. It did make a big difference in our gas/heating bills.
One thing you might consider if you work outside the home and everyone is gone for the day it to move the thermostat down a few degrees while you are gone. I know it saved us money when we both worked and no one was home. We also did weather stripping around our doors and I bought some of those things to go behind outlets and light switches on outside walls to keep cold air from blowing in.
January 23rd, 2020 at 12:53 am 1579740806
January 23rd, 2020 at 02:25 pm 1579789529
I work at a home office and DH is here during the day too, though he's not as cold-natured as I am and my office does have a separate (electric) heating system. BTW, this bill is just the natural gas bill - we also received an electric bill for $109. So over $300 this month for utilities costs. (not counting sewer, trash pick-up, and water which I also lump into the 'utilities' category) Only our heat, fireplace, and water heater are on gas. The dryer and stove are electric.
Our thermostat is on 68 degrees when it's on. I try to turn it off completely before bed, then kick the heat and fireplace on when I wake up. By then the house temp is in the low 60s. I heat it up to 70, then turn it off again.
CLL, I have heard several folks recommend the programmable thermostat. That may be something to look into as well. That way I don't have to remember and perhaps others won't feel the need to touch the thermostat. That's another aspect too: I don't always have the .. ahem.. cooperation of the other family members. Our thermostat is in the dining room.