Heating costs
Can we talk about heating costs?
I've seen discussion threads on (non-LJ) frugal forums where people are posting how horrified they are at their (January) gas bills being $150 when they keep their house heated to 55 degrees. To me, $150 doesn't seem that bad for one of the coldest months of the year, and 55 degrees sounds like a miserable existence.
Now, to be fair, I'm a stay at home mom with a 4 year old who is happiest wearing as few clothes as possible. We keep our house at about 65 degrees during the day because we're home. We turn it down to 58-60 degrees at night. And our house is old (100 years.) We did have insulation blown into the walls and attic a couple of years ago, and new windows installed. Our (gas) boiler is only about 5 years old, and is supposed to be quite efficient. Our house is small (don't know the square footage.) We're in New England. It gets COLD here. It's not uncommon for our December and March heating bills to be $150-$190, and our Jan and Feb ones to be up close to $250. Our gas also heats our hot water, and in the summer months our gas bill is approximately $15-20 a month. We're on a payment plan that equalizes our payments, which are just under $100/month.
What's your heating situation like? I guess what I'm hoping for is some reassurance that we aren't being terribly wasteful, or something.
I've seen discussion threads on (non-LJ) frugal forums where people are posting how horrified they are at their (January) gas bills being $150 when they keep their house heated to 55 degrees. To me, $150 doesn't seem that bad for one of the coldest months of the year, and 55 degrees sounds like a miserable existence.
Now, to be fair, I'm a stay at home mom with a 4 year old who is happiest wearing as few clothes as possible. We keep our house at about 65 degrees during the day because we're home. We turn it down to 58-60 degrees at night. And our house is old (100 years.) We did have insulation blown into the walls and attic a couple of years ago, and new windows installed. Our (gas) boiler is only about 5 years old, and is supposed to be quite efficient. Our house is small (don't know the square footage.) We're in New England. It gets COLD here. It's not uncommon for our December and March heating bills to be $150-$190, and our Jan and Feb ones to be up close to $250. Our gas also heats our hot water, and in the summer months our gas bill is approximately $15-20 a month. We're on a payment plan that equalizes our payments, which are just under $100/month.
What's your heating situation like? I guess what I'm hoping for is some reassurance that we aren't being terribly wasteful, or something.