Winter heating bills set to jump as inflation hits home

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

By STAN CHOE

NEW YORK (AP) — Get ready to pay sharply higher bills for heating this winter, along with seemingly everything else.

With prices surging worldwide for heating oil, natural gas and other fuels, the U.S. government said Wednesday it expects households to see their heating bills jump as much as 54% compared to last winter.

Nearly half the homes in the U.S. use natural gas for heat, and they could pay an average $746 this winter, 30% more than a year ago. Those in the Midwest could get particularly pinched, with bills up an estimated 49%, and this could be the most expensive winter for natural-gas heated homes since 2008-2009.

The second-most used heating source for homes is electricity, making up 41% of the country, and those households could see a more modest 6% increase to $1,268. Homes using heating oil, which make up 4% of the country, could see a 43% increase — more than $500 — to $1,734. The sharpest increases are likely for homes that use propane, which account for 5% of U.S. households.



FILE - Amber Cox shovels snow from the porch roof at her home in Auburn, Maine, on March 8, 2018. With prices surging worldwide for heating oil, natural gas and other fuels, the U.S. government said Wednesday, Oct. 13, 2021 it expects households to see jumps of up to 54% for their heating bills compared to last winter. (Daryn Slover/Sun Journal via AP)


Read more: https://apnews.com/article/business-prices-inflation-28e1231bdb445d482bb2d2e25dff1983

[TheRealNorth]

1. We must crush big oil and gas....

They are using their control of natural resources to fuck Democrats.

[BobTheSubgenius]

2. Luckily, a few factors came together to make my energy situation better.

I never liked the oil furnace anyway, and had stopped using it. My good luck came in 3 parts - first, the house is easy to rewire, having both a crawlspace and an attic. Second, I have a friend in the business, and was able to get a screaming deal on the materials needed. Finally, I had the wherewithal to be able to do the work myself.

It took me about 2 days to fish #12 everywhere it was needed, and a few hours to connect thermostats and heaters. In the end, the project cost me just over $400.

Now, I have electric everything - heat, cooking, laundry and hot water. My power bill is annually-averaged, so I pay the same $104 a month 12 times a year. Every June, I get either a credit, or owe a little, depending on how many kwh I used.

[OneCrazyDiamond]

5. What did the Permits, and Inspections run you?

We have ungrounded circuits we want replaced, and are considering doing it our self.

[BobTheSubgenius]

8. The work was done under the permit of my friend, the electrical contractor.

We upgraded the service, but that wasn't done with an eye to doing the heaters. Some previous owner had built out a recess in the front and thus brought the old meter from outside to inside. My choices were move the meter outside, or do without electricity.

This is not strictly to code, but he would have claimed I was his employee, in the incredibly unlikely event this would be challenged. The contractor has an incredibly good reputation, so when an inspector leaves the office with a sheaf of inspections to do, a permit that my friend had pulled goes to the bottom of the list, in case the inspector doesn't have time to visit each one.

In the event, that's what happened, and once 24 hours has elapsed after the scheduled appointment time, there is no inspection. Weird, I know, but that's how it was. i hear that process has been revamped.

Oh, yeah. The inspection fee is rolled into the cost of the permit. I don't know how much it was, because everything was rolled into the $1200 that the new service cost me.

[OneCrazyDiamond]

9. Oh, ok

thanks.

[C Moon]

3. Can you imagine how scary this would be if trump were still at the helm?

He'd still be focused on himself, and where he could steal more money from the government—or probably around the world by this time.
And they'd probably be working on adding putin's image on the 100 dollar bill and on Mount Rushmore.

[Bayard]

4. Makes me love our wood stove even more

Except for built-in electric heaters in the bathroom and bedroom, that's our heat source. We still have a ton of dead walnut trees that need to come down too.

[OneCrazyDiamond]

6. Burning wood isn't ax great as one would think.

Unless it is a modern stove: https://www.arb.ca.gov/research/indoor/wood_burning_handbook.pdf

[Bayard]

12. We have a very efficient stove

But still want to upgrade to a catalytic one when budget permits.

[OneCrazyDiamond]

13. They are definitely better.

I have been to Oregon in November, and the valley were thick with pine smoke. It really was bad at times.

I wish ours was electric from 100% renewable, but we still have natural gas. Our weather is so mild, we rarely run heat, and have no cooling. That is one of the beach's benefits.

[SKKY]

7. I just locked in with Duke Energy for a standard rate of...

...110 a month with no catch-up payment due at the end of 12 months. I did it for this very reason.

[Random Boomer]

10. Guess I know where my annual pay raise is going.

I may want to rethink my retirement plans, too.

[Vinca]

11. And I ask myself, why did we get rid of our 2 old oil tanks last year in favor of 1 bright

and shiny one. They weren't leaking . . . yet. Oh well, it is what it is. Fortunately, we mostly use wood pellets and those are stacked up for the season out in the garage. Some things you can't stock up on when the price is low and now I'm afraid to even look at the price on the fuel company's site.