Get set for budget-busting winter heating bills

[Dees]

AP

WASHINGTON - Winter heating bills will be a third to a half higher for most families across the country, with the sharpest increases expected for those who heat with natural gas, the Energy Department forecast Wednesday.....

Difficult choices
For some low-income families the sharp jumps could mean choosing whether to eat or keep warm, energy experts and advocacy groups fear.


Any guesses what second quarter profits will look like next year for the industry? Don't look for the Republicans to provide any help or relief. It's not like them to give a damn about people who suffer. It's laissez faire.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9672445/

[The Doctor.]

1. I've always wondered how much efficiency one could get

from a space heater.

{edit}- we should warn the fire companies that this could be a record winter for house fires.

[Larkspur]

2. My rate is locked in at $2.39/gal this year. It was a dollar/gal cheaper

last year.

[Mari333]

3. There wont be any holidays in this house this year

its a choice between food and gas. I intend to use only electric heaters, and shop at Sav A Lot. Have already cut back on virtually everything. Nothing left to cut back on. Im afraid a lot of people will die this winter.

[rzemanfl]

6. Well, that way your presents won't get burned up when the

electric heaters start a fire.

[knitter4democracy]

15. I'm worried too.

This winter is going to be very bad here in Battle Creek. I'm really worried about everyone and trying to help those I can. It's not enough, though. :(

[GumboYaYa]

4. Start building solar heaters now.

They are easy and inexpensive to build. I have seen many plans for them on here and elsewhere on the web. I built one with about sixty dollars worth of new materials and a bunch of recycled materials. It cut my heating bill by a third last winter. I am building two more for this winter (one of which is an evening's work away from completion).

Take your destiny into your own hands. Do not sit by and wait for the Bush administration to do anythng that helps. Plan now and it will be easier this winter.

[sinkingfeeling]

7. Can you share your plans with us?

[GumboYaYa]

21. I start with recycled glass from windows, doors etc.

The one I have that is almost completed started as an old shower stall door. I build a frame around that with 2 x 6s. I was fortunate to recycle a bunch of those when my neighbors deck burned down.

Next I use panelling to form a back to the frame and insulate the panelling with styrofoam insulation )leasve a hole for iar intake at the bottom and top). I take recycled aluminum cans and glue them to the panelling in rows then I take more cans and glue them intermettendly to the cans on the panelling to disrupt the air flow as it passes through the heater. Paint the cans black with flat black paint, attach the panelling, and seal the unit; voila you have a solar air heater.

To install it you either have to cut a hole in a wall or window, or build an intake area into a window.

[sinkingfeeling]

22. Thanks.

[MADem]

5. I'm getting decent windows put in

Put it off for way too long, but they should help a lot. The present ones are about adequate for say, George Washington...

[Straight Shooter]

8. New windows will help a lot.

I replaced mine last year. What a difference! I was so disgusted by those aluminum frame windows after 10 years of looking at them, but the real benefit was the decrease in energy costs, both heating and air conditioning.

Some hardware stores offer classes on window installation, for those who can manage to buy the windows but can't afford the installation. If the window is fairly easy to reach, it isn't that difficult. Be sure to have a friend help you, though :)

[MADem]

10. Lazy, old fart, I hired the job out!

The windows are massive, and not easy to get to at all. Old house!! Three stories!!! Bitch to heat!!!

[Straight Shooter]

12. Not lazy! Prudent.

Massive windows, three stories, forget handling those :)

[MADem]

14. Yeah, my luck a rambunctious young 'un would end up flying like

Peter Pan. I'm no This Old House type, I admit it! I figure I am doing my part to keep my neighbors working, and if they screw it up, I have someone to complain to!

[LizMoonstar]

9. so what can you do in a rental?

gas and electric bill go together, and we can't rebuild or replace any of the house parts (we'll be moving in less than a year).

[MADem]

11. Get some window kits, but go NOW, they will sell out quick

You put them up with two sided tape, they consist of very thin plastic, like saran wrap, and you make them taut with a blow dryer. They really DO help, alot.

If you do not have curtains, get some heavy ones. Go to the thrift shop if you aren't into fancy and new, and they will be cheaper there anyway. DRAW THEM AT NIGHT, open them in the morning.

Get draft stoppers for your doors. This can be as simple as a tightly rolled up old towel, or you can go to the cutsey craft shop and get one that is full of sand and shaped like a snake, or a hotdog, or some foolish thing.

Swap out some of your lights with florescent bulbs, especially the ones you leave on a lot.

Lower the heat a few degrees, and spot heat with a space heater. Get into the habit of wearing sweaters or sweatshirts around the house!!!

Sleep with the dogs--they throw off heat like a furnace!

[cynatnite]

17. We used the kits when we lived in Idaho...

It was a cheap house and not very well insulated. By doing that and a few other things we saved quite a bit. It's easy to do.

We also had space heaters, lots of blankets and we cuddled :)

There is nothing like a good movie, popcorn and a favorite blanket.

[charlie]

18. Always wear warm socks and slippers indoors

Cold feet adds markedly to your sense of chill, keeping them toasty will make your house feel appreciably warmer.

[tjdee]

13. Why is this news coming out today?

Seems like this is "winter heating cost" day everywhere.

WTF? Why weren't people on this months ago?

I'm thinking I'll only heat the bedrooms and the bathroom this winter--and keep the heat off when we're at work/school.

[MADem]

16. It is the link between Katrina and the Port of NOLA

Where something like 25 percent, give or take, of our fuel resources come in....

It is why Big Dick raced down there and took the electricity from the hospitals to restart the pumps on the pipeline....when what he should have done was have a couple of transport aircraft haul some massive generators down there to do the very same thing...

[chat_noir]

19. Farmers' Almanac

LEWISTON, ME: “Mother Nature seems to be in the mood for some amusement,” states Peter Geiger, Philom., Editor of the 2006 Farmers’ Almanac. The 189-year-old publication, which has an uncanny ability to predict long-range weather with amazing accuracy, reveals a forecast that has so many ups and downs on the thermometer that many may be reminded of riding a roller, or as the Farmers’ Almanac puts it, “Polar Coaster.”

"The East is on tap for a crazy ride, with the temperatures and weather initially leading into the winter season seeming mild, but the bulk of the winter will turn out to be unusually cold, with plenty of snow especially in the northern sections,” reveals Sandi Duncan, Philom, Managing Editor. The Farmers’ Almanac, which accurately predicted the hot, humid summer, is forecasting a more amusing winter in the West, with an overall warmer winter prediction, but with a fair share of snow and cold periods in the country’s midsections.

http://www.farmersalmanac.com/forthepress/uspressrelease.html

What is an "amusing winter"?

[etherealtruth]

20. Natural gas prices expected to be 61-71% higher ...

The midwest largely relies on natural gas for home heating

http://[e-mail]

[stevietheman]

23. Looks like Christmas will be cancelled this year.

Well, at least in terms of gift-giving and the extravagant use of electricity to power the Xmas lights.

Further, it appears Bush is in for a double-strike against his poll numbers again: 1) Once natural gas customers receive their first winter bill, and 2) As retailers ask "where are the shoppers" and vast numbers of employees are laid off.

Well, at least pet food producers will see their revenues increase. Add "Pet Food Companies" to the graphs along with the other industries benefitting from Bush's economic "plan" (read: "disaster").