Holy crap! I just got my home heating bill . . .

[CrispyQ]

I'm on budget billing -- they take my annual use & average my monthly bill for 12 months. September is the month they reconcile my account & update what my new charge for the coming year will be. I've been doing this for years & it has been a nice way to manage my monthly expenses.

Two years ago they upped me from $80 to $120 & the following September they issued me a credit for $360! Assholes.

Last year it went from $86 to $91. That was reasonable, so I stayed with the program.

This year? $91 to $209!! GASP!!!

I live in a little house -- 900 sq feet. We don't have air conditioning, just forced air heat. (And with global warming, our winters haven't been very severe.) Tomorrow I'm calling PSCO & going off budget billing. Fuck them. I read there would be 45% increases in natural gas. Then why are they billing me over 100% increase!

I'm curious what others are seeing in their home heating/cooling bills.

[Nickster]

1. YIKES! I just signed up for the budget billing and got in at 95

They say they only re-adjust every 4 months, so I should buy a little bit of time at 95. I'm going to be looking into space heaters and I'm going to try out 65 degrees in the house and see how that goes. I'm in the N. Burbs of Chicago.

[notadmblnd]

16. I'm seriously thinking about a wood burning stove

I just cant figure out where I'd put it.

[CountAllVotes]

20. prepared to pay $300+ a cord

and if you live in a poorly insulated place, a cord of wood will NOT last you all winter. I should know! I lived in a place for 10 years and it had little if any insulation and the main source of heat was the wood stove and ONE cord a month was burned in addition to still having to pay the electric bill.

We are running out of wood too in case you had not yet guessed! *ack!!!*

:kick:

[notadmblnd]

21. we have wood up the hiney

before husband died, he cut down two huge trees in my yard. It's stacked up by the fence. also parents have a lot of old standing trees and I have a chainsaw.

[CountAllVotes]

24. good with an axe are you?

If not, better hone your skills for splitting wood, not an easy task. Is the wood dry? If not, shelter is somewhere. It is useless trying to burn green wood.

Also ... wood burning stoves are not cheap. The installation is also not cheap. Be prepared to fork out close to a minimum of $1500 for a wood stove plus installation. Cheap woods stoves don't last long, so it is not the time to be stingy with the purchase of one. Believe me, I KNOW.

[notadmblnd]

25. husband died almost two years ago, wood is not green

and I've been keeping care of an acre of land by myself since then. Chopping, trimming, mowing. I have a 12 yr old boy that likes nothing better than to get his hand on a sharp instrument, he's big enough to put to work too.

on edit: I'm not a woman who is afraid to get her hands dirty and I'm pretty healthy too.

[catmandu57]

27. Don't use a sharp axe for splitting wood

You want it to drive through a sharp edge just sinks into the wood, also a sledge and wedges work much better than axes, I know I've split many cords of wood when I was young and healthy.
Your dry wood should split easier than green, the biggest problem with burning wood is waking up a couple of times a night to feed the stove, it can get pretty chilly by morning if you let the fire burn low.

[notadmblnd]

28. a wood stove would only be to suppliment the furnace

so I could turn it down low and use it to warm. But this thread has got me looking around and I found this http://www.portablefurnace.com/estore/test.html

It fits my budget and is supposed to use less electricity than a coffee pot.

[GreenPartyVoter]

2. Contact your congress critters asap. Price gouging could be going on

------------------------------------------------------
URGENT yet easy! Hold the government accountable for Katrina's aftermath
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4736062

[HockeyMom]

3. predicting 71% increase in natural gas heating costs

This is absolutely terrifying me, especially after the cold and very snowy winter we had last year.

[durablend]

17. Sounds like a self-fulfilling prophecy to me...

They "claim" that it'll go up 71% but when it only goes up 65% you'll say "Whew...what a bargain!" (while the gas company rakes it in).

[HockeyMom]

29. I struggled last year

We went out and bought electric heaters and moved them from room to room. Even a 25% increase will be a severe hardship for me.

[Rainscents]

38. I havd also have portable heater that I use. Mine dose it's job very

well. I shut my heat off at night and turn it on when I get up in the morning. Last winter, my heating bill was $120.00 every other months.

[Kazak]

4. Our first child is due in November, so...

we'll need to keep our house warm this winter.

:scared:

[NMDemDist2]

5. better install a wood stove and find some friends to go get wood with

a cord should cover a winter in a 900SF house pretty well.

[Dem Agog]

6. HFC!

My hubby pays the bills so honestly I don't know what they are...

However, we dont do budget billing and we bundle up in the winters. Around the holidays when people come to visit we crank up the thermostats, but otherwise we wear more clothes and such...

[Autumn Colors]

7. Thankfully, we locked our rate in June

We're on a set monthly rate, too. Last year, I paid in $150 a month (which included the annual furnace cleaning as well as the oil delivery). At the end of the year, we owed around $100. Prior years, we had always had a credit at the end of the year. This year, our monthly payment went up to $200 with the rate capped at $2.39 per gallon. We have a 1,500 sq ft house also with no A/C.

[tjdee]

8. Budget billing sucks, I see that now.

I went on it thinking it was a good idea, until I realized I was paying $179 for a month where I only used $59 worth of electricity.

Fuck that. I'm supposed to be going off in Febraury, but I'm somewhat concerned about that because knowing what the heating will be like this winter I don't know how much they'll charge me.

On the budget, even if I overpay, I don't get that many suprises (though my budget did go up some sixty bucks once which they didn't tell me it would).

[Autumn Colors]

13. You know you CAN call the fuel company

and request a lower monthly rate. They had said in our form letter at the start of the new year that our rate would be $220 per month. I called them and said that since we only owed $100 at the end of this year (after paying $150 a month) that I thought this was a bit steep. I knew we could end up using more fuel this year depending on the weather, so I also didn't want to end up owing next year... I requested that they lower it to $200 a month and they did it without any argument or "attitude" at all.

Call them and request that it be made lower and find out if there's a cap on the per gallon rate for the year and if there is, compare it to the rate they charged last year.

[tjdee]

15. But why do you owe money at the end of the year?

If they've estimated what your usage is expected to be, and you're paying that, I don't understand how they can charge you the $100 instead of using whatever extra you've used into the new budget.

They didn't tell me anything about possibly owing anything at the end of the year...unless that's why they upped my bill already, although my year wasn't up yet.

I'm slightly confused by the whole thing, I guess. I did call them and ask them about lowering it, and the best they'd do is for me to pay above my monthly bill and then negotiate a lower rate next time.

Because of course I have a lot of extra money sitting around for me to throw more than $200 a month at them! :(

[Autumn Colors]

23. Because what you pay monthly is an estimate

and an estimate is just that ... an estimate of what they predict your annual total to be (based on past usage) divided by twelve months. The advantage is that you're locking in the per gallon rate so if oil prices skyrocket in the middle of the winter, you're assured of being charge no more than the cap rate you locked in (if the rate is lower than the cap, you're charged the lower rate). At the end of the year, you either end up with a credit or owing, depending on how much fuel you used that year.

You can have them lower it if you want, but you might end up with a big bill at the end of the year.

It's impossible for them to know how much fuel you're going to use because who knows if it'll be a bad winter this year or not.

[Ice4Clark]

9. Just read mine. Going from 78 a mth to 129 a mth

My inlaws have oil. Can't even imagine what there's will be. The 129 a mth is only good if I sign up in the next 2 weeks.

We have a fireplace, but it doesn't really warm the house much at all. Wood is also going up as many are using these outside boilers, which are heated with wood. So, there really is no way to save, as whatever is the rage, supply and demand will dictate the price.

[Tess49]

26. Out of curiousity, what state do you live in?

ONG in Oklahoma has a lock in rate at 8.3/ decatherm. After looking at the futures market on the Henry Hub site, I think that may be a great deal.

[La Coliniere]

10. Watch'em try to make further cuts in the HEAP program

for senior citizens and those who are barely surviving as it is. A really cold winter could spell disaster for many.

[tedoll78]

11. This winter is gonna be brutal.

...

[Roland99]

12. electric heating here...shouldn't be over $60-70/mo.

3BR, 1300sq. ft. apt.

[notadmblnd]

14. my gas bill this month was 28 plus some change

but in the winter it's near 200. electricity is always high with the pool and hot tub and ac. this summer it's been averaging in the 130.00 range. finally after turning hot tub down and closing up the pool due to needed repairs that I ant afford, the electric bill is 99.00. my house is about 960 sq. but we do have an dormer upstairs and a finished basement.

[Coyote_Bandit]

18. Locked in my rates at $8.393 per decatherm

beginning in November. Last year I locked in at $7.15 per decatherm. That is an increase in cost of just under 18% assuming the same usage. Last year we had a mild winter. So I am expecting that I will use more natural gas *and* pay more per decatherm. Easily my heating costs this year will increase by a third or more.

[durablend]

19. I posted awhile back...

We have propane and are on their budget billing program. As it is now, we have a credit of around $750, yet the damn company STILL jacked up the monthly payment from $85 to $98. Even given a bad winter, we'd still only use a maximum of 350-375 gallons annually so they're either expecting prices to go through the roof (and they'd have to go over $4.50 a gallon for us to be in the hole given what they're holding as ransom) or they're just plain soaking the $$$$ in (and keeping the interest to boot).

You'd be be better off to open an ING account and pay YOURSELF (the account) the monthly payment (and make the 3+% interest) as opposed to giving the money free to the utility company.

[Ishoutandscream2]

22. Jeez, and I complain about my cooling bill here in Texas

I find myself quite fortunate, all of a sudden.

[Delphinus]

30. Hi CrispyQGirl.

My house is an 852 sq. ft. ranch - new ('04) furnace and central air. Three bedrooms, one bathroom, living room, kitchen/dining/washer/dryer area.

I do have gas stove, water heater, dryer. My vents are from the ceiling, not the floor, as I am on a slab. My house was constructed in 1948.

My gas, on budget, is $76 per month - last year it was $81 per month. I keep my heat at 67° during the day (because of my dog) and turn it down to 65° at night. We bundle up a lot - have afghans in every room of my house and a down comforter on the bed.

I live in NE Indiana, where the winters can be pretty cold.

[H2O Man]

31. $300 a month

X 10 months = $3,000 this year.

[converted_democrat]

32. Everything in our home is electric, we pay on average 480.00 a month

for it. If it goes up much further we will be paying more for our electric than we do for our house payment.

on edit- We have a 3,800 sqare foot home, and we have to keep it really cool in the summer, and really hot in the winter because of my father-in-laws health conditions.

[trof]

33. Whoa! In coastal AL, ours is about $120/mo. average. Heat pump.

Heat and A/C.

[Wcross]

34. Do an energy audit on your home. Maybe a coal burner?

Perhaps another layer of insulation in the attic would help. Caulking and sealing of windows would help. I would also consider a coal burning heater. There are models that burn multi-fuels such as wood pellets, coal and firewood. I know that they sell bagged coal in most of the northern part of the country.
My concern with a wood burner is the price of firewood. Many people will seek an alternative to heating with petroleum products and the first instinct will be a wood burner. If you make the investment in a heating system you ought to have flexability to burn a variety of fuels.
Lucky me, I live in the south. I heat with electric but the season only lasts about two-three months. I have plenty of wood for burning on my property but to pay for the wood burner and the time/effort to chop it all up isn't worth it at this time.

[SpiralHawk]

35. 'Tis the season to take action. Now. This week get started

October and November will be right along -- and it will be time to start heating.

Every action delayed now will play out later the same way Bush "commanded" in the hour of need for our Gulf Coast. Deeply regretable.

[Wcross]

36. You got that right!

You can strum on a guitar and ignore the problem or you can act.

[WePurrsevere]

37. We have dual furnace - wood/oil - VERY N NY

Wood will run us run about $50. per cord and that's dried, cut and split with delivery just a bit more.

For less then $300. delivered we'll have enough cords (of hard wood) to hopeully heat our 1700 sq foot house through the Winter.

Not crazy about using wood (I'm a tree hugger) but at least wood is a renewable source. It may not be as perfect a solution as solar, wind, bio or geothermal but until we hit the lottery and can afford to convert over it's sure a lot better and cheaper then oil right now.

A senior neighbor stopped by the other day and said they just had heating oil delivered at $2.87 a gallon (that's up over $1.00 from last Spring). Even being super careful, therm turned down to 65, etc we'd probably go through at least 1200 gallons of oil for the whole heating season (which starts very soon and goes through late April) if we didn't use wood. Unfortunately we can't afford to further insulate the house very much yet but we sure can't afford over $3000. to heat our (new to us) home with oil either. Thank goodness we have the dual furnace so we can use oil and/or wood. We'll get enough oil per month as backup for when we won't be here for a bit (can't have the pipes or furkids freeze) and heat with wood the rest of the time. Good thing we're home most of the time anyway.

[walldude]

39. I have half a duplex, small

3 bedrooms. I have 5000 BTU Air Conditioners in each bedroom, my summer cooling bill runs about $150-200. Winter is a whole nother story, gas heat. Last year it was up to $350-$400 a month. Thats Gas and Electric.. Still outrageous. If costs go up 100% It's going to kill me this winter.

[I_Make_Mistakes]

40. I jumped the last 10yrs.. I went to budget because it was the only bill

due later (10+ days in the future). I started getting (summarizing) you have been a few days late and this could affect your credit rating. I asked them to change my billing cycle, because all my other bills have been changed so I pay bills once a month. They said that was impossible. So I actually started pre-paying my bill. The problem with the monthly billing cycle is, it you mess up and don't pay a bill, the reconciliation is incredibly time consuming (all payments are the same, and it could go for years).

I just last year, got reconciled because they were charging me too much, in April, (yearly Sept./Oct. reconcile) adjustment, and that also screws up the whole process. I am going back to monthly billing, because my gas co. is so screwed up, I don't have the time to reconcile my account with them.

[bluedonkey]

41. Another source

I'm considering Econo heat.It doesn't get that cold here and I'm thinking it would be worth a try.
http://www.eheat.us/?opt=