Total $$$$ to heat heat your home all winter?????

[pepster]

Any idea as to what it cost you total $ to heat your home this winter?

Me?
Cost me $140 so far through the entire winter.
I have a total electric home except for heat.
I use wood for heat, and live 1 mile from a 300,000 acre wildlife management area, surrounded by 800,00 acres of National Forrest.

They sell wood cutting permits here for $20.
You get "supposedly" 8 "truckloads" for this $20.
I must admit, in the past, I may have exceeded that limit by a stick or two.
Two sticks at the most.:biggrin:
I bought the permit, and cut some wood this year, and ended up buying 3 ricks of wood @ $40/ea. only because my laziness has no bounds!:biggrin:

[ben62670]

Whats a rick of wood?

[danger boy]

depends on where you live.. since i live in the frozen tundra of the Pacific Northwest... not in Seattle.. i think so far. iv'e spent around $800 + with still a good 4 to 6 weeks of winter left. It can easily snow here till May. so winter is far from over here.. most of the US winter will have been over for many month's before ours is.

[TNRabbit]

I spent $850 in DECEMBER ALONE for propane.

4600 sq ft in a month of below freezing will do that to ya.

[Knucklehead]

I would say $350 just for heating, no higher than 70 on the thermo.

[maximillian]

Oil for a 2400 sq. ft. home. It takes about 2.5 tanks (275 gal) of oil to heat all winter long. So last year it cost me about $1200. This year it will cost me about $1800. Also have to add about $200 annual maintenance for the furnace and flue cleaning.

[bobman1235]

Oil for a 2400 sq. ft. home. It takes about 2.5 tanks (275 gal) of oil to heat all winter long. So last year it cost me about $1200. This year it will cost me about $1800. Also have to add about $200 annual maintenance for the furnace and flue cleaning.

About the same (though I have less sq footage). That 2.5 tanks is more like a full year since my boiler also does hot water.

I keep my thermostats at 67 all winter.

[mrbiron]

Holy cow Max, your McMansion :biggrin: doesn't seem to energy efficient. So far, this winter in my tiny 2000SF home, we just scratched the $1000 mark with the last bill so hopefully we can walk away not hurtin that bad....especially with the "warm" 40 degree days we've been having.

Like you bob.....67 degrees or bust. I break fingers when the thermostat is changed.

[Willow]

from Nov to end of March we are looking at about 300$ to heat a 2100 sqft home. We keep it set at 71.6 when we are at home and 64.4 when we are at work and sleeping (not sleeping at work:wink:). This is Natural Gas.

[VR3]

Spent $220.00

Heating bill was $100.00 lower than last year and it was far colder this year!

We added 24" of insulation to the attic

[bobman1235]

We keep it set at 71.6 when we are at home and 64.4 when we are at work

I put mine at like 58 when i'm at work, and I think I just chose that because it's as low as the thermostat goes. I refuse to heat a house I'm not in.

[nguyendot]

$90 a month in gas. That's water and heat.

[Willow]

I put mine at like 58 when i'm at work, and I think I just chose that because it's as low as the thermostat goes. I refuse to heat a house I'm not in.

I don't want the pipes to freeze, the dogs to get too cold, plus when the heat does kick in, it's going to take more gas to heat it up and longer as well. We are south facing and the back of our house is mostly windows, it is usually 2 degrees warmer on the thermostate then what we have it set at. the sun heats up our house so much (which is a bad thing as the upstairs and finished basement get get the right heat until we close the curtains)

[muncybob]

Whats a rick of wood?

A rick of wood is whatever length the wood is cut to depending on what the wood burner will accept.....and these sticks are stacked 4' tall and 8' long.

For me, I would cut my wood to 20" long, but many people cut them shorter due to size of the stove, etc. So, there is no actual consistent size to a rick...now a cord of wood is 128 sq. ft. of wood, normally seen as a stack 4X4X8 feet.

We will spend around $60(for saw gas and oil, etc) for heat and hot water since we use a wood burning boiler and the wood is right out our back door.

I read that in some places heating oil(which is waht we used up until a few years ago) is near $4.00 gallon...that's $1100 to fill up one 275 gallon tank....YIKES!
It's these savings for us that will allow me to finally upgrade our system sometime this year :)

[thuffman03]

I would say my gas bill was $400ish since October till last month. I have a small house and keep the temp at 62 for most of the day.

[Lasareath]

Electric 2009 - $1916.20
Gas 2009 - $1674.50

Total Heat, Cool & Electric for 2009: $3590.70


2010 Electric - $2272.44
2010 Gas - 1346.76 (may to Nov gas was only $344.00, So around $1000 for the cold months!!!)

Total 2010: $3619.20



Gas so far for 2011 is $565.37
Electric is hard to estimate because I am on a even payment plan of $189 a month

[DaveMuell]

With a 2980 sq feet @ 76 to 77 all day and night. $939 for October, November, December, and January. That's heating and cooling with electricity (DFW, Texas). The house has spray foam insulation and the attic storage areas are only about 8 to 10 degree different than the house year round.

No one can seem to prove why turning it down saves you money...the rate of heat loss is essentially the same within a 30 degree tempurature range and you have to heat it back up anyway.

[bobman1235]

No one can seem to prove why turning it down saves you money...the rate of heat loss is essentially the same within a 30 degree tempurature range and you have to heat it back up anyway.

I don't care if anyone can prove why, I just know that it works based on my fuel bill.

I used to live in an apt with natural gas (which was easier to track since it was just a monthly bill, rather than "fill up the oil tank twice a year when i need to"). I used to keep it at 68 or 70 all winter; I'd occasionally remember to turn it down as I left for work, but almost NEVER actually did so.

After one year, I bought a programmable thermostat, and had it at 68 while I was home and 58 while I wasn't or while I was asleep. My gas bill almost HALVED.


Also, keeping your heat at 78 degrees is f***ing insane.

[jimsvm]

To DaveMuell, as temperature difference between inside and outside increases the heatloss increases.I installed a 18 seer heat pump and it cut my gas bill by 1/3. I push it dowm to -20C.

[Lasareath]

A rick of wood is whatever length the wood is cut to depending on what the wood burner will accept.....and these sticks are stacked 4' tall and 8' long.

For me, I would cut my wood to 20" long, but many people cut them shorter due to size of the stove, etc. So, there is no actual consistent size to a rick...now a cord of wood is 128 sq. ft. of wood, normally seen as a stack 4X4X8 feet.

We will spend around $60(for saw gas and oil, etc) for heat and hot water since we use a wood burning boiler and the wood is right out our back door.


Very Nice! I'd love to put in a couple of wood/coal? Burning stoves this year.

[shack]

I heat around 2,650 sq. ft. with an all electric heat pump. Highest this winter was $350 which includes all power...not just heat. For that bill, outside temps for the entire month averaged 11-13 degrees. My average monthly power bill is around $230 for a typical winter of 4-5 months.

[muncybob]

Very Nice! I'd love to put in a couple of wood/coal? Burning stoves this year.

Ours is wood/oil. Nice to be flexible. Oil is a last resort of course...like when gone for a few days. Initial investment a few years ago seemed large but with the ever increasing cost of fossil fuel the system cost has paid for itself.

[maximillian]

I don't care if anyone can prove why, I just know that it works based on my fuel bill.


From my Physics classes... heat loss is directly proportional to the temperature difference. So turning the furnace down is the smart thing to do. I too keep my furnace at 68 during the day and use a programmable thermostat (definitely worth getting) to turn down the heat to 62 at night.

My house is not a Mcmansion. It's a typical 3 bed, 2.5 bath colonial in this area. It is only 15 years old but may have been built cheaply. Comparing heat costs is often not easy since it depends on how cold your winter is. Someone's heat bill is going to be different in VA compared to ME. Even within a state it may vary depending on how much snow you get.

[jflail2]

My monthly power bill has gone down rather significantly since moving into a condo from a house that was probably 80 years old, and hadn't been updated/re-insulated that entire time...

My average power bill for this winter so far has been in the $80 range, with a high of $100 in January.

I'm pretty pleased with that considering that's heat and all other appliances as well.

I usually keep my thermostat on 65 degrees day and night. I've gotten used to it being a pinch chilly, and don't mind it at all considering how much I've saved!

My old house saw electric bills in the $200/month area during the winter, with an additional $100 or so a month spent on gas to heat the house. So glad to be out of that energy hog...

[Theheadsn]

So far Ive spent... Id say... $0? Lucky me in California ha at night it really only drops to around 50, so a thick blanket will do. Now I cant go jumping in my pool, so thats kind of a bummer, but other then that Im lucky that Im not stuck having to heat my house all winter long.

Open invite to anyone that wants to come out and experience some decent weather, and hey you guys can even see that thing we call the "sun." Good luck guys :) lol

[shack]

and hey you guys can even see that thing we call the "sun." Good luck guys :) lol

Filtered through the smog of course....

[bobman1235]

Filtered through the smog of course....

What smog? There's no such thing as pollution.

[Theheadsn]

ofcourse lol gives it that lovely shade of orange

[pdxfj]

I usually run $150-$175/mo for gas heat and water. Although that doubled for around Christmas when my sister and her family came and stayed with me over the holidays.

Living in a 2000sq/ft+ house built in 1946 with no insulation in the walls and the original single pane wood framed windows. I did fill half the attic with R30, but haven't been able to do the other half because I have cut into the walls for access (finished attic). I plan on buying the house in the next few months and will replace all the windows, insulate, etc before next winter.

[sda2mike]

you don't want to know:tongue: i ran the heat for maybe a week...on other hand, let's talk about cooling your palace...a/c season for me runs full time from mid april till maybe nov into dec...in the months we're not in a/c, we run the things once in a while...now is the best time of the year...i can go weeks without turning it on...my power bill this month was $99..height of summer: $325 plus

mike

[muncybob]

a/c...what a/c...we don't need no stinkin' a/c

Actually there are days we wish we had it, but shade trees along with an almost constant breeze is good enough for us elec= $60/mo in the summer.

As expected, seeing some high heating costs...what's to become of those that actually need gov't entitlement programs to keep warm if $$ is to be cut like they are talking?

[gimpod]

Don't want to know and don't really care, but it runs about $150-$175 a month in the winter and around $90 in the summer. But I also keep the thermostat at around 78-82 when I'm awake and off when asleep.

[inspiredsports]

Any idea as to what it cost you total $ to heat your home this winter?

Yes, we are pathetically spoiled . . . $Zero.

There's an oil well on our property and we contractually get 300,000 cubic feet of natural gas free each year (plus unused cubic feet carry over, so after 20 years here we have a bunch in the "bank").

Plus we get 5% of the net profits and in addition to gas sold, they take a couple tankers of oil out of here each year. That more than pays for the 220 VAC the motor use to spin the giant squirrel cage blower in the furnace/AC unit.

We keep the themostat at whatever temp we're in the mood for, and and don't worry much about window and door efficiency.

Heat, A/C, hot water, stove, dryer and hot tub net cost = free. I'm currently researching natural gas powered generators.

[gimpod]

Yes, we are pathetically spoiled . . . $Zero.

There's an oil well on our property and we contractually get 300,000 cubic feet of natural gas free each year (plus unused cubic feet carry over, so after 20 years here we have a bunch in the "bank").

Plus we get 5% of the net profits and in addition to gas sold, they take a couple tankers of oil out of here each year. That more than pays for the 220 VAC the motor use to spin the giant squirrel cage blower in the furnace/AC unit.

We keep the themostat at whatever temp we're in the mood for, and and don't worry much about window and door efficiency.

Heat, A/C, stove, dryer and hot tub net cost = free. I'm currently researching natural gas powered generators.

Cool, How the hell did you get so lucky to get your very own oil well you lucky bastard you .:cool::biggrin::cool:

[Demiurge]

I'm currently researching natural gas powered generators.

http://www.generac.com/Industrial/Bi-fuel_Product_Line/

http://www.generac.com/Residential/ :biggrin:

[Mike Reeter]

Into the second Winter with Geo-Thermal heat pumps,I have no way of knowing the heat cost as we are all electric with exception to the water heater.

My best guess for heating is from Oct.1 thru March 1 would be about $250.-300.

We have had another colder than normal Winter also...4000 sq.ft. finished,thermostats set at 71 night and day...I have no complaints when it comes to heat/cool costs.

[cnh]

This thread is embarrassing...don't any of you live where it is ACTUALLY COLD!! How about some evening temps that don't rise above 20 for 4 months and are usually well south of that number...how's that sound! And snow and ice that don't melt till almost late spring?

How about 1400-1500 gallons of no. 2 heating oil a winter at premium prices? How does that sound....$3,600 dollars so far and winter is not over till April--IF WE ARE LUCKY? So shall we say $5,000 for this year if oil stays below 4 dollars/gallon? Our water is heated off the furnace so heating continues through the summer--about a 100+ gallons to heat it.

But that's not all folks. Because us Northern New Englanders...wealthy bastards that we are with our lack of industry and preponderance of old folks and the unemployed/underemployed, get to help out the MASS. power grid which we 'share' so our electricity costs, seem HIGHER to me than what my son pays in Boston! Try 150-200 a month on top of the over 5000 in heating oil. Now let's multiply 175 (average) by 12 = 2100 + 5000...we might as well say that we spend 600 dollars every month on ENERGY! In a POOR state? Internal temps are maintained at 66 degrees.

And we NEVER use air-conditioning??

Ah, cheap energy! Where is it?

cnh

[bobman1235]

What do you live in, a drafty barn?

[cnh]

I have a 111 year old house that was renovated in 1978. It's two stories and is on top of a hill where it gets the full force of the winter winds. The furnace was put in in '78 and is fairly powerful but inefficient and I have 3 levels to heat or about 2500 sq ft. But the unfinished part of the basement also receives heat through bleeding from the finished part so let's say the amount heated is 3600 sq. ft. When your evening temps often drop to single digits or less and the insulation is not entirely up to code. Well, there you go.

I'm also a good 100 ft. from any other building on all sides. It's not unusual to have wind-chills well below ZERO from the 25 or more mph winds. I guess I should put up some windmills. They'd certainly NEVER stop turning. lol

cnh

[Mike Reeter]

Hey man,It never reached freezing here for over seven weeks straight...tons of snow and blowing cold...just had a fresh six inches last Friday.

[Earthy]

We spent a lot to make our house energy efficient. We have geothermal heat pumps. Payback will take a few years, but attention to details during construction keeps our monthy heat and summer cooling to about $80 in the colder/warmer months. Unfortunately we went with Climate Master geo units and the cost to repair them several times has blown any savings so far. Just goes to show that you only as good as the weakest component.

[Jstas]

I just eat alot of beans and fart alot.


Lesee...a case of beans has 36 cans. That's about 10 and 1/8th cases a year. 3 meals a day, that's about 30 and 3/8ths of a case. 30 x 36 = 1,080 + 15 = 1095 cans a year. I buy my year's supply at Shop Rite's yearly "Can-Can" sale. So 79 cents a can times 1095 is $865.05. No tax 'cause it's a foodstuff.

Those leap years, they really wreck my budget though. I have to buy 3 extra cans at FULL PRICE! Can you believe it? Highway robbery, I tell ya! Highway robbery!

[Gadabout]

I have a small (1600 sq ft.) 3 year old, energy start certified house. It's all electric. The total power for October, November, December and January was about $190. I haven't seen the February bill yet.

I pay sewer, garbage, water and electric all in one bill. Highest bill for the winter was $132.

Of course, down in Texas our highest power bills come in the summer.

Scott

[inspiredsports]

Cool, How the hell did you get so lucky to get your very own oil well you lucky bastard you .:cool::biggrin::cool:

Blind luck. In 1990 we lived in a nice home on a nice 1/3 acre suburban lot, but we wanted more land and for our kids to be in the better school system where I grew up. A friend of a friend mentioned a nice home on 8-1/2 acres around the corner that really was not for sale yet, and it literally touched the back border of my Mom and Dad's property where I grew up.

It was a divorce/distress sale, etc. and we never really even focused on the fact that the oil well and storage tanks were in a remote corner of the property.

Looking back on 20 years of free energy, I'm sure we've covered at least two of the four kids college educations.

Now all I need is a cheap way to convert our cars to run on natural gas and a fill spigot in the driveway :biggrin:

[codyc1ark]

I say my house is about 1350sq/ft. I run on average in the cold months here (they don't know what cold is here in N.C.) is about $200.00. I will say this, my HVAC system is about 5 years old, and is an electric heat pump, which also does A/C. We have our power through Duke Energy, and since we are an all electric house, we get about a 15% discount. If any of you are on an all electric system I'd check with your power company about rates, most of the time from what I understand, if you are on an all electric high eff system, you'll get a discount. Ours saved us about $400.00/year.

[Ern Dog]

My main source of heat is a wood stove. I bought 3 cords of Madrone (hardwood) firewood for the cold season. This was $500 and I do all the splitting myself by hand. I really enjoy splitting the wood.

[Rivrrat]

See above.

My a/c hasn't run in a couple of months, and gas heat is cheap.

[timlitton]

Into the second Winter with Geo-Thermal heat pumps,I have no way of knowing the heat cost as we are all electric with exception to the water heater.

My best guess for heating is from Oct.1 thru March 1 would be about $250.-300.

We have had another colder than normal Winter also...4000 sq.ft. finished,thermostats set at 71 night and day...I have no complaints when it comes to heat/cool costs.

Mike, what brand geothermal heat pump do you have? I know Earthy said he had Climate Master.