PDA

View Full Version : Power/Heat bills


shybx1969
01-22-2014, 03:19 PM
Gee guys i cant buy any speed parts. Just got my heat/lite bill 380.00 big ones.Got another below zero week...all week. Anyone wanta move south.lol :cry:

zipper06
01-23-2014, 06:15 AM
Gee guys i cant buy any speed parts. Just got my heat/lite bill 380.00 big ones.Got another below zero week...all week. Anyone wanta move south.lol :cry:

You might have to move to South America, to find warmer weather, i live in NE Louisanna, and have been waking up to 20*'s and colder, and expecting 20* or colder 4 out of 5 days this week. i got the largest natural gas bill this month, that i've ever recieved ($110.00 and that doesn't include elec. bill) in 8 yrs. of living here. Talking to my neice' husband yesterday, who has lived here all his life said this is the coldest winther he's seen in 15 to 20 yrs.

Zip.

TheRabbit
01-23-2014, 03:46 PM
My gas bill is a fixed bill at $49.19 a month. My electric bill last month was $69.48. Just me and the dog in the house so my utilities are pretty cheap.
I let the heat dropped to 64 in the house at night. I keep my bedroom door close at night and have an electric heater on a timer that comes about 4:00 am (turns off at 6:00 am) so it's nice and toasty in my room by the time I get up.
Been doing that for years and it really cut my heating bills down.

zipper06
01-24-2014, 06:34 PM
My gas bill is a fixed bill at $49.19 a month. My electric bill last month was $69.48. Just me and the dog in the house so my utilities are pretty cheap.
I let the heat dropped to 64 in the house at night. I keep my bedroom door close at night and have an electric heater on a timer that comes about 4:00 am (turns off at 6:00 am) so it's nice and toasty in my room by the time I get up.
Been doing that for years and it really cut my heating bills down.

Yep Rabbit if i amoritzed my gas bill it would probably be close to that per month, i have a gas furnace and hot water plus cook stove, on the other hand my light bill was only $32.00 last month and that with the furnace blower, lights 2 computers, 2 TV's, and electric dryer, Etc, but my shop is on a seperate meter from the house and it averages about $22.00 a month

Zip.

curtisreed
01-24-2014, 06:48 PM
Well we are on propane. Last month $2.80 a gallon, filled up today $3.80 a gallon for the 100 gallons it took. Yep, $380.00 gas bill. Supposed to be 5.00 a gallon by the first of the week. $285 electric bill last month. I'm ready for spring and warmer weather to get here.

Curtis

zipper06
01-24-2014, 06:56 PM
Curtis i know what you mean about propane, i hate those A-holes, my house in Ms. in on propane, and i ahven't been up there since sept. 30, evause i'm setting on a 250 gal tank that's empty and i can't heat 1840 sq ft with an electric heater in this kind of weather. I'm going to go to all electric if i get the chance both here in La. and in Ms.

Zip.

TheYellaBrick
01-24-2014, 09:19 PM
Curtis i know what you mean about propane, i hate those A-holes, my house in Ms. in on propane, and i ahven't been up there since sept. 30, evause i'm setting on a 250 gal tank that's empty and i can't heat 1840 sq ft with an electric heater in this kind of weather. I'm going to go to all electric if i get the chance both here in La. and in Ms.

Zip.


Hope ya drained all the pipes !

zipper06
01-25-2014, 06:20 AM
Curtis i know what you mean about propane, i hate those A-holes, my house in Ms. in on propane, and i ahven't been up there since sept. 30, evause i'm setting on a 250 gal tank that's empty and i can't heat 1840 sq ft with an electric heater in this kind of weather. I'm going to go to all electric if i get the chance both here in La. and in Ms.

Zip.


Hope ya drained all the pipes !

Yes when i leave the house, i turn off the water and flush both bathrooms and open the water taps in both bathroms and the kitchen including the hot water valves, the only thing running is the frig and a couple nite lites plus poarch lites, i do always have concerns of the hot water heater but have been lucky so far., the house is off the ground but very well closed in with skirting.

Zip.

markdunlap
01-25-2014, 06:44 AM
If you are considering heat alternatives, especially for your garage, take a look at FUJITSU Mini Split systems.

Heat and air conditioning in one unit. All electric. Very efficient. works down to -5 degrees.

One unit hung on wall inside up high. Power unit hung on outside wall.

2 refrigeration lines running vertical outside with cover over it. Unit is charged, so no gas has to be added at start up. ( Be sure to double check nut connections, had to change them to prevent leaks.)

Can install in one weekend with 2 people.

220 volts, 11 amps draw at max.

Inverter DC variable speed fan and power unit.

Remote temperature control, no wires.

Can get larger ones with up to 4 different heads and separate controls for each one for whole house use.

I already had a hanging natural gas heater, Reznor BULL DAWG, that is also high effiency. Fujitsu is more efficient, cost less.

Set it on AUTO, 70 degrees year round, and forget it.

Midwest location.

curtisreed
01-25-2014, 09:25 AM
Curtis i know what you mean about propane, i hate those A-holes, my house in Ms. in on propane, and i ahven't been up there since sept. 30, evause i'm setting on a 250 gal tank that's empty and i can't heat 1840 sq ft with an electric heater in this kind of weather. I'm going to go to all electric if i get the chance both here in La. and in Ms.

Zip.


Yeah Zip, mine is a 300 gallon tank but I never let it get below 50% because of the amount to refill. 2150 sq feet here. We use some electric oil filled heaters in the house to supplement when it is really cold. Just bought this house a couple years ago and have been working to get it more energy efficient, 100 gallons a month isn't cutting it. It's a crawl space house and I had the underneath shot with expanding foam. That helped quite a bit.

Got spoiled with the mild winter last couple years and the cheap gas prices.

Curtis

zipper06
01-25-2014, 08:10 PM
Curtis i know what you mean about propane, i hate those A-holes, my house in Ms. in on propane, and i ahven't been up there since sept. 30, evause i'm setting on a 250 gal tank that's empty and i can't heat 1840 sq ft with an electric heater in this kind of weather. I'm going to go to all electric if i get the chance both here in La. and in Ms.

Zip.


Yeah Zip, mine is a 300 gallon tank but I never let it get below 50% because of the amount to refill. 2150 sq feet here. We use some electric oil filled heaters in the house to supplement when it is really cold. Just bought this house a couple years ago and have been working to get it more energy efficient, 100 gallons a month isn't cutting it. It's a crawl space house and I had the underneath shot with expanding foam. That helped quite a bit.

Got spoiled with the mild winter last couple years and the cheap gas prices.

Curtis

Hey Curtis, do you by chance have a Tractor Supply store near you? The reason i ask is that they fill propane bottles cheap, i know you can buy a 100 gal/pound tank from Lowes for $127.00, and in Batesville Tractor Supply will fill any tank that you bring in for about $1.75 per gal, i know several people who are doing this. That's what the price was in late 2013.
I have a rented tank, and the people that it's rented from wanted $2.75 per gal. so i didn't put any into the tank. The only reason that i'm out is becase i rented the place to a friend of a friend and he screwed me over leaving a light bill and water bill, plus he burned up all the propane that i had (over 100 gal) and skipped town, screwing me over.

Anyway just food for thought, because winter is not over for you or me.

Zip.

curtisreed
01-26-2014, 05:37 AM
Zip, I have a tractor supply 3 miles from the house. I will check into that. Thanks.

Curtis

csx8506
01-26-2014, 05:58 AM
I know you've all heard and done this before, that is spraying expanding foam into cracks. But, if you have a crawl space, or an attic, go into those areas after dark, first turning on ALL the lights inside the house. You'll be surprised at how much light you'll be able to see. When you inspect an area for light, after your first look, go a few feet and turn around and look again, often you'll see light that you couldn't see before. Fill those spots with expanding foam.
When using the expanding foam spray can in the crawl space you'll need a small diameter hose to put over the supplied straw from the can. That way you'll be better able to get to the small holes and cracks that are in very awkward to get to places.
Hope this helps you. dgh

Harbone
01-26-2014, 09:16 AM
Glad I locked in my propane price last summer for the year.
I have a great fire place made by Country Flame that has 2 blowers built in and blows the heated air back through my houses furnace vents.
I can burn a fire all weekend and never have my furnace kick on once.
I have mountains of firewood stacked and covered out back. Clear out a few trees, cut and split every Spring.

TheYellaBrick
01-26-2014, 09:36 AM
Those oil filled space heaters are bigtime power suckers. A few years back I lived in a really small cabin with electric heat wall unit. Bought one of those oil filled jobs, didn't use the wall unit for one month, and my electric bill was almost twice what just the wall unit was. And it was a mild winter that year....

shybx1969
01-26-2014, 11:27 AM
Well im gonna embrace winter in feb wife/I going to lake morey big gun shootout ice sled drags for weekend...Just ordered my duck dynasty long undies.... :D 2 pair for weekend. 2/21-23...hopefully 2 more big bills. And all of us will be outta the woods.Weather channel said another artic blast is comin....but still cant wait for spring :D