Saving $ on Heat

[digitS']

In the single digitS' outdoors, again ...

DW and I have our Christmas presents. Delivered during those days when it was well above normal temperatures - new sofa and loveseat. I took off the front door to get the old ones out and, the next day, to get the new ones in! You can bet I was pleased with that warm weather .

But, I'm not talking about the outside doors . The inside doors ..!

I won't be closing the furnace vents in any room. I tried that one year while DS was traveling on Christmas vacation. Mold grew on the outside wall on the other side of his bed!

No. There are 2 vents in a bedroom. We've had company the last few days. There are 2 vents in the living room. These vents are fully open but the bedroom door has been closed the last few days. I had no idea that there was as much difference in the temperatures of those 2 rooms.

With the house thermostat in the living room, DW and I spending most of our time there or in the kitchen - we are saving $$ closing that bedroom door!

This discovery, new with that bedroom, isn't new with how I deal with the "south room." That thing only gets up to "room temperature" during midday when the winter sky is clear. That will be important to me as I'm growing plant starts in a few months.

Do you have $-saving and fuel-saving tips for the heating season??

Steve

 

[Nyboy]

My mother would have summer curtains and winter drapes. I assumed she just liked the change. Years later I found out the heavy drapes in winter was to stop drafts from windows. The curtains in summer let in more air.

 

[Rhodie Ranch]

We got Solar from Solar City. But we could not afford to buy it outright nor lease it, so we took their third option - power purchase. We buy the elec at a fix rate that only goes up 3% per year, vs Pacific Gas & Electric that has had numerous kW increases so far this year. We "bank" the kW and then use them in the winter. Why this long explanation? We are on propane and got killed last year trying to keep the home barely comfortable due the price of propane. This year we're turning on the furnace in the a.m. for an hour, and then we'll rely on the space heaters around the house to keep occupied rooms warm. Using those banked kW's.
p.s when it got to 100 on numerous days here this past summer, we turned on the AC and wow, was that bill low! About 1/3 of what it was monthly as compared to last year!

 

[NwMtGardener]

Our main living area is on the 2nd floor of our house. So...we stay warm upstairs with a wood stove, which i'm really appreciating this weekend, WOW it was brutal cold yesterday!! In the negative with 25-30 mph wind!!! Most people say wood is the fuel that warms you twice, well I say it warms me 3x!! Once when we cut it, again when i haul it in from the pole barn and UPSTAIRS, and my favorite, when we burn it.

All our rooms have individual electric cadet heaters built in, so if we're both heading to work for the day, we just turn the thermostat on those up in the morning while we're getting ready for work. We also keep the downstairs ones set around 50 or 55, chilly but fine to take off your coat and shoes, then head straight upstairs to the warm wood fire!

 

[digitS']

I saw something in a recent power bill about this, @murphysranch . It may not be quite the same option. There is a lot of natural gas brought down thru the mountains in a new pipeline. Hydropower is huge in this region. (If California wasn't such a big customer ... well, maybe we can cycle those $ around another way.

I commented on NyBoy's thread about fireplaces that in a previous home doors installed on a stairwell made great difference. My alternative was to heat every room with electric baseboard heat. Ouch! Actually, those doors were so helpful that I still used the baseboard heat upstairs on the coldest nights. Meanwhile, it stayed nice and comfortable on the first floor. No Sitting Room upstairs in that house.

But, banking kW's ... I need to be a more savvy consumer.

Hmmm, NyBoy -- I'm not sure if I should share this idea with DW! She has been happy with heavy window coverings and good about opening and closing. Shopping for a complete change-over would be her and DD's forte.

Steve

 

[majorcatfish]

living in a all electric house we watch every kw... summer and winter shades and curtains are shut except on a nice day, set the thermostat to 72* summer 68* winter and dress according to the season. spring and fall every window is wide open and the thermostat turned off.
last winter was brutal for everyone, our heat pump had a workout heck the power company had to come out and grease the meters bears it was spinning so fast
there was a time when we thought about putting in a woodburner and thats as far as that idea got.......

 

[Smart Red]

@digitS', ya'll know what my plans for saving heating costs is -- geothermal -- not a easy choice considering the initial cost. Still nursing an ailing furnace and still awaiting the geothermal crew to get started.

Seriously, if you can get outside air to your fireplace it will cut your heating expenses.

 

[baymule]

Do you have $-saving and fuel-saving tips for the heating season??

Steve

Sure do. I live in TEXAS!!!!

just don't ask about the AC bill...................

 

[so lucky]

We are having a new heat and AC unit put in this week. After procrastinating for years, DH finally was forced to make a Decision. Whew! Hard work!