Keeping warm in California

[John P. Cooper]

I got a monster ass gas bill from the gas company this past 2 months.

I called to check it out and the woman there said it is running about $1.25 an hour to heat your house with gas heat! I don't know how they determine that b/c I would think the size of the dwelling and the temp you run it at might matter.

I only run it a couple few hours a day. I asked her what do people with families who need to run it lots more for kids and older people and whatever...what do they do if they have to run it 8 - 10 hours a day? They'd wind up with a 300. plus gas bill each month.

Basically, she said they suffer and set up payment plans.

[claude]

Originally Posted by John P. Cooper

IThey'd wind up with a 300. plus gas bill each month.

Basically, she said they suffer and set up payment plans.

$300 plus is bad?? Around here heating for most households peaks at around the $500 to $600 mark (even after exchange that's $400 to $500 in US$). This has been a pretty easy year heating-wise but the cost per unit keeps going up so we aren't seeing much of a break in the bottom line cost, I'm dreading the costs when we have a cold winter. We are trying to make our older house more energy efficient by adding insulation putting in new windows etc, but there's only so much you can do.

[Jimmy Cantiello]

December's gas bill was $468.00 but we use gas for heating, hot water, cooking, and the clothes drier.

The last kid moved out recently (finally) and our gas bill dropped $144.00 last month even though gas prices continued to rise..........

[moneyp]

Smartest thing I did was to get a fixed two-year rate when I moved to Atlanta. It was slightly higher than the going rate, but that changed pretty quickly. Gas prices raised to the point where the gas company called me up in an attempt to renegotiate to a higher rate for a longer period of time. My lease only runs through the second year though, so I declined.

[Noj]

At my house, "turning on the heat" is what is more commonly known as "putting on a sweatshirt." We're frugal folks.

[Scott Dolan]

Originally Posted by Noj

At my house, "turning on the heat" is what is more commonly known as "putting on a sweatshirt." We're frugal folks.

Nice!


We tend to be the same way. Filling our propane tank can be a painful experience.

[Surfer]

It snowed (just light flurries) at our house last night.

[kedoane]

I wish that I can be frugal but with my mom complaining of being cold all the time, the heater is turned up to 75 degrees and roommate, hubby and I are all sweating.

I have just paid the gas bill for last month and it was $200. OUCH!

[Chris D]

It's 15 below this morning. Crisp.

We use a budget plan that spaces out the utilities (gas and electric) over the whole year. We had been paying $195 a month, until the spike in natural gas. Then we got adjusted to $250 for four months. (That's for a four-bedroom house.) A mild January, and we got the yeard-end settlement: a $30 bill this month. Bonus!

Wonder what next month's yearlong budget rate will be.


One thing that works marvelously is a programmable thermostat. We keep it at 68 during the day, 60 at night (and when no one's home).

Stay warm, peoples!

[Enforcer]

We're in single digits right now, which might be the first time this year. Really strange, since we're normally experiencing single digit and sub-zero temps routinely in January and February.

[Squaredancecalling Steve]

Originally Posted by Surfer

It snowed (just light flurries) at our house last night.

We had some snow on the hilltops, too -- snow-level's down to 1,000 feet. Did 5 miles on the treadmill in the gym yesterday. I MUCH prefer the sunshine and fresh air, but past a certain point I go indoors.