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If you read Middleboro Gas & Electric's "Messenger" newsletter that was included in your bill, you know that a lot of the costs there came from surcharges. Leaving aside political arguments about the fairness of such charges, what can you do to keep costs down?

Obviously lowering the heat and shutting off lights does help. If you don't have a programmable thermostat, you can buy one very inexpensively and they are simple to install and program. Almost all sold today will have a temporary overide feature that will let you boost up the heat if you just can't take it anymore or lower it if you are heading out for a few hours.

We keep our thermostat at 64 now during the day - it was 65 just before we got this last bill. We go way down at night; it's set to turn down to 62 at 10:00 PM and all the way to 53 at 10:30. The house never reaches 53; it's too well insulated for that. We just don't want the heat coming on at night.

In extremely cold weather where there might be a danger of pipes freezing, I do jack it up a bit. Broken pipes are annoying and expensive!

Frankly, it's a little tough living at 64 degrees. I wear a scarf and a hat indoors and sometimes put on a light jacket. Linda often has her bathrobe and a scarf.. it's cheaper to put on more clothes than burn natural gas. When we go out, we turn it down - usually not below 60, which isn't too bad to come home to.

We're comfortable at night because we have an electric bed warmer. That's not an electric blanket: this goes under all your sheets and is designed to be warmer down at your feet. This keeps us very comfortable even when the house does drop below 60 degrees.

We keep unused rooms closed off and have the dampers in there nearly shut to avoid heating them. We have blinds, shades and drapes on all windows. Recently, we taped up bubble wrap on our large slider doors and the windows at the back of the house (see picture). That still lets light in, but blocks quite a bit of heat loss. You can buy boxes of bubble wrap in rolls at the UPS Store and most other shipping outlets.

These homes are well insulated but heating costs seem to be going nowhere but up. We may cut our thermostat even more - I really have come to hate the sound of that furnace coming on!

In 2007, we paid $1680.00 for gas and electric combined. That rose to $1975.70 for 2008, which is still far less than we were paying at our former home, but I still hate paying it and want to keep it as low as I possibly can.

By the way, I've had folks say "It costs more to heat it up", no, it doesn't:

(From The U.S. Department of Energy)

A common misconception associated with thermostats is that a furnace works harder than normal to warm the space back to a comfortable temperature after the thermostat has been set back, resulting in little or no savings. This misconception has been dispelled by years of research and numerous studies. The fuel required to reheat a building to a comfortable temperature is roughly equal to the fuel saved as the building drops to the lower temperature. You save fuel between the time that the temperature stabilizes at the lower level and the next time heat is needed. So, the longer your house remains at the lower temperature, the more energy you save.

When considering turning the heat down at night, there's also the matter that it will usualy be warmer when the sun comes up. That's not always true, but when it is, it's going to cost less to bring the house back up to temperature than to keep it up during the cold night.

Comments:

Author: TonyLawrence Tue Feb 3 20:14:59 2009

A few people have asked if we really keep it this low - yes, we really do.

People who keep it at 70 are paying a lot more than we are..

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Author: JessiePowell Wed Feb 4 10:30:54 2009


Tony, I thought your idea about using bubble wrap was pretty creative and wondered if you could comment on its efficiency.
You might want to review some of the information posted on my blog. On the right side are links that offer a wide variety of energy solutions.
There is also a search feature at the top that allows a search for such topics as 'energy efficiency.'
Since 30-40% of energy consumption is wasted, there is plenty of room for savings.
You might also begin with some basics, like installing CFLs (Compact Fluorescent Lights). Since lighting represents about 15-20% of your electric bill, it's a good beginning. Installing power strips on computers and the television 'complex' (the tv, vcr, dvd and cable box) will reduce the 'energy vampires' that always consume energy, even when off.
For about $20, you can purchase a plug-in meter that will report the energy consumption of an appliance. The results might surprise you.
Frequently, appliances that are several years old can be replaced with energy efficient models that will pay for themselves within one year just in the energy savings.
And now is the perfect time of year to look at your roof after a snowfall and see if and where the snow has melted due to heat loss.
Prior to 9/11, Oak Ridge had volumes of energy information posted on their site, that has since been removed. One of the striking experiments they conducted was installing 'radiant barriers' in attics, walls and around water heaters. Since a radiant barrier does little more than reflect heat or cold, the test results were impressive, indicating that increases up to R-15 could be accomplished. We subsequently added 'radiant barriers' to drapes covering large windows and sliding glass doors. You might also consider adding 'interior storms' to sliding glass doors or large windows.
Investments in energy efficiency represent permanent savings, much like pre-paying your energy bill. The subsequent savings go into your pocket.
You have a large and active community that can surely come up with some great ideas that fit your lifestyles that I'd love to hear abou

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Author: TonyLawrence Wed Feb 4 10:32:45 2009

I don't know how effective the bubble wrap is but you can certainly feel the difference standing near the glass. Before the bubble wrap, you could feel the cold, with it, you don't.

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Author: Rene Wed Feb 4 10:38:28 2009

Hi Tony,

Like you I believe our houses are well insulated. At least I did until I got up into my attic and found the level of insulation to be pitiful. The level of insulation in my attic ranged from +/-7 inches DOWN to +/- 1inch. What amazed me is that my attic space was completely closed off and I actually had to make an opening through my garage attic space. I was shocked to see the lack of insulation to say the least. I had a company come in and reinsulated my entire attic. They blew in a total of 14 inches all around. I have to admit, if the insulation company that originally insulated my attic insulated all of the other attics in Oak Point, it’s no wonder we are all facing high energy bills. I urge everyone in Oak Point to get a look into their attics to view the level of insulation there. I am willing to show anyone just how I got up into my attic and just how they can check their own. My energy bills like everyone else have skyrocketed, but with the newly installed amount of insulation I had installed, I shutter to think of how much more I would be paying if I had not re-insulated.

Please warn everyone that they should check their attic insulation level.

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Author: TonyLawrence Wed Feb 4 18:01:55 2009

After writing this, I found this: http://www.builditsolar.com/Projects/Conservation/bubblewrap.htm

I used scotch tape but this guy says a little water will keep it in place.. I just tried it and it seems to work well!

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