Tuesday, December 18, 2018
Expensive Heating Season
It's been an expensive heating season. The early deep cold we received really did a number on people's utility bills. It doesn't help that New Hampshire has particularly high electric rates. It's bad enough that I know a number of people who've cut way back on their Christmas lights.
My electric bill went up some. Due to the lack of sunlight I've had to buy more power from the grid. The brutal cold has not helped either. This year we also added an electric fireplace in the living room. I know it raises my bill, but the direct heat really feels good. Gotta keep the lovely wife happy. Even so, all in all, my electric bill only went up about $20. Considering other people's bills have jumped by hundreds, we aren't doing bad at all.
Heating oil is the common fuel here in New England. Fortunately, prices are not a high as they used to be. I've been using some oil myself. When the temperatures drop below zero, my little kitchen woodstove doesn't quite keep up. I'd have to get up in the night a few times to keep it stoked. Frankly, I'd rather get my rest and let the oil heat run a few hours.
I was gifted some firewood. Some was dry enough to burn so that was used this fall. The rest of the wood has to dry and will be ready for next fall. The local lumber yard will deliver pressed sawdust blocks by the pallet. There's no delivery charge when buying in those amounts. It's pretty handy. They burn hot and clean. When I use them my chimney doesn't have to be swept as often.
Running the woodstove not only saves on heating oil, it saves on electricity. With the stove going all my cooking is done with wood instead of electric burners. One thing that people don't think about is that an oil furnace also uses electricity. The oil gun uses electric power to ignite and pump the fuel. Then either water pumps or air blowers move the heat around. That adds up.
Of course, even with my modest needs, it's still cheaper to go camping in a Florida National Park for the winter. Might end up doing that before the winter's over.
-Sixbears
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Gifted firewood is awesome. We gave an early Christmas present to my neighbor by cutting a very large mesquite limb that snapped off her tree last week and was along the curb, blocking her mailbox (gift to the mailman too, lol). She didn't want the wood so we took it for ourselves. She swept our driveway in gratitude. She is pretty poor but still proud and felt better - so did we. So a win-win.
ReplyDeleteI love a win win situation.
DeleteI have a heat pump and I hate it. It might be okay in FL but it just can't keep up when the temps are in the 30's and below here in GA. - Momlady
ReplyDeletePeople use heat pumps here, but they draw their heat from deep underground using pipes and water. They work well, but certainly aren't cheap.
DeleteI live in Florida with a A/C-Heat pump and love it. (I would rather have natural gas but it's not available here). But again our temp range for winter is 40 to 60 high and low for winter with a week or so of 30f nights. Heat pumps stop being effective at 40-42f then our 5,000 watt electric heat strip kicks in to make up the difference, that's when the bill rises to $150 a month.
DeleteElectric is an expensive way to heat. Heat pumps are efficient, but only in the higher temps you noted. Deep water water systems are also efficient, but cost a lot of money up front.
DeleteI have an electric furnace that heats my whole home but also an electric heater that looks like a fire place with hot coals and flames. Even down here in East Texas, we can get some cool weather.
ReplyDeleteIf you are used to the heat, cold days are hard to take.
DeleteAs soon as the roads are passable you need to get out of town and come on down to Florida. Your legs could certainly use the sunshine Vitamin 'D'!
ReplyDeleteI hear ya Mike. You tempt me sir.
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