Our house is almost entirely run on gas. Furnace, water heater, stove, the works. Right now we are pretty much livin out of our bedroom where we have a small electric heater that keeps it fairly warm in there. My question is, does anyone know of any cheap ways to save on heating costs or to heat your house more cheaply? Running the furnace isn't an option.(We just finished paying off the $1500 bill from running it for 3 months last year) We have plastic over our windows to minimize cold air leakage. Any other ideas would be greatly appreciated.
I hear ya, Im in an 1899 victorian that is a beast to heat. We heat the rooms we use, and let the others stay cold! Its taken forever to get it where we can survive without wearing sweaters to bed lol We use alot of rugs, bare floors dont keep any heat in. We also use rugs in the rooms upstairs of the rooms we use most, and hanging some nice tapestries on the walls keeps the warm in too. I would love to go solar, its easy to set up and if you create extra power with it the power company HAS to buy it back off you. Now thats something I would love, having those bastages send ME a check for a change! hehehe If I think of more stuff I will post it, but that was the first thing that came to my mind. I feel for ya, Ive been there with the furnace and its cost versus freezin our ass off!
Rugs on the floor is a great idea!! I can't believe I didn't think of that. Of course it was my brilliant idea to strip all the floors down to the original hardwood. It's gorgeous, but not so comfy on bare feet. Thank you so much for the suggestion!
-Insulate the attic and crawlspaces -Caulk windows and other seams if needed -Heavy drapes on the windows; open when the sun's on that side of the house, closed to keep heat in when it isn't.
Turn the heat off (or lower the temperature depending on where you live) when you go to bed (have lots of blankets) and when the house is empty. Make sure your water heater has a insulting blanky around it. Make sure the doors aren't seeping cold air in. If you have a gas dryer try to reoraganize how you do laundry to minimize your use of energy. Shorter hot showers.
Have you ever thought of applyin for heap? I dont know if its around your area but I know that you can get some help there with your heating bill. My other suggestion for you would be when you cook on your stove, and as long as you dont have kids that could get hurt; leave your stove open after using it. It wont completely heat up the room but eh it helps a little bit. Put somethin near the door jams if you find that colds comin thru there too. Try insulating a 200 year old house LOL. MY house used to be an old toll booth for a bridge.....haha You might also want to check into seeing if you can make smaller monthly payments to whoever you get your gas from......hope that helps ya
Yeah, when we moved in we took up the nasty old carpet, it had to go, but didnt make it thru the first winter before we knew we needed something under the feets in the mornings! haha Once the winter months pass, we roll up the rugs and store them - I too love the hardwood look in an old place.
We tried to apply for HEAP, but no luck. Apparently we "make too much money". I told the woman I spoke to that they maybe need to reevaluate their system to factor in how ridiculous gas heat costs are now.
Hey someplaces have this like energy assistance thing that will insulate your home for free a fed program. Radiant gas heaters are far better than a forced air heater, lots less gas to run. http://cgi.ebay.com/VENT-FREE-30K-NAT-GAS-SOLAR-FUSION-COMFORT-HEATER-TSTAT_W0QQitemZ160057023743QQihZ006QQcategoryZ41987QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem No not trying to sell one just to give you the idea, they are ventless, safe and no electric required. Will easily heat 1000sqft and cheaply.
you can make shutters internal or external for windows you can make them with waste polystyrene covered in board for internal shutters , have a porch on as many external doors as you can so that you have to go through two doors to access your house and insulate the doors well .
Check your trees. If you have a pine tree or other year round foliage blocking your sunlight it will affect energy consumption. Guy on my street took out a pine. The house is cheaper to heat in winter and more expensive to cool in summer.
