Comments on: Mid-winter update: Are ya keepin’ warm? Without paying a fortune?

By: ~M

~M — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 00:25:17 +0000

My fiancé and I, who live on the 6th floor apartment (out of 20+ floors), are actually doing pretty well, we think. We have only lived here since mid-February last year, so we don’t really have numbers from last year to measure against. We had the maintenance men by to turn the heater/A/C to heat and to tape down the windows to avoid drafts.

We do not have a digital thermostat, so it’s anybody’s guess as to how cold I keep it. We also shut the doors and keep the heat off in the bedroom and bathroom during the day (sometimes, it’s off in the entire apartment). However, if I’ve recently completed an activity using heat – cooking in the oven or toaster oven, running the dishwasher, or bathing – I keep the door (yes, even the oven door) open to encourage natural heating.

We recently received our heating bill for January and my fiancé and I guessed what the total would be based on December’s bill. It turns out January was much lower, roughly equal to what I spent last April. He was very impressed; I told him to stop complaining about how cold I keep it and make a cup of tea. :)

By: Rachel

Rachel — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 21:58:34 +0000

We’re paying too much. Actually, our useage has been less than last year, but our balanced payment plan is still far too high. It just adjusted (does that 4 times a year) and went up $3/month. Our windows are great and high-efficiency, our fridge and freezer and dryer are good. But our washer takes a decent amount of energy (old), and we have no insulation in the 2400 square foot house! But we’re slowly working on it. The windows were redone, and two rooms are fully insulated now. We’re working on the attic, but it’s a really huge job (made worse because there was 60 years worth of junk from my great grandparents up there!). Hopefully we’ll have it completed before summer so we don’t lose all our cool air!

By: Mercedes

Mercedes — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 21:23:40 +0000

Great job! The last two months we’ve paid $230 each month to heat this house. We live in southeastern WI where it’s been cold, in a 2400 sq house. We also dropped $200 last fall adding insulation to the attic and we keep the house thermostat at 70 degrees. We have a baby and don’t want to set it any colder. Sometimes no matter how much insulation if it’s freezing outside it’s also cool inside.

By: Megan

Megan — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 16:33:49 +0000

Hi!! Thanks for your comment on my site (about LOST). I had set my TiVo to record it, so luckily I can watch it at any time– but thanks so much for the info on watching missed shows online. I had no idea that they do that- That’s so cool! (P.S. I actually considered watching it this morning but didn’t think it’d be too appropriate for my 18-month-old to see! LOL Can’t wait for naptime!)

By: Kacie

Kacie — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 16:33:12 +0000

Yeah, I live in an apartment. It’s 900 square feet and on the top floor (sounds like your old place, Joanna!).

We only have one exterior wall. The rest of them either touch someone else’s apartment, or the interior stairwell thing.

By: Mrs. Make-Do

Mrs. Make-Do — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 16:20:53 +0000

If you live in an apartment I would tend to agree your bills would be less because of the warmth from other apartments surrounding you. Also, the higher up you are, heat rises, so it’s even better for that.

I live in a modular (mobile) home and we also have heating elements under the home so in the winter pipes don’t freeze, etc. I think that is why our bill is so high in the winter because we cut back in so many other ways & we’re all-electric too.

By: Karla ~ Looking Towards Heaven

Karla ~ Looking Towards Heaven — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 16:16:47 +0000

I wrote a post about this a few weeks back.

http://karlascrazylife.blogspot.com/2008/01/baby-its-cold-outside.html

Blessings,
Karla

By: joanna

joanna — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 15:41:13 +0000

While in a 900-sq-ft apartment, our highest bill was $90- and I attribute that to being on the top floor, with a couple apartments below us to help with heating. Since moving into a 100-year-old 1200 square foot house, our bills have shot up to $200, and that was kind of a shock- but one we should have expected, since we had the seller’s electric bill history. We’re keeping the heat at 62 and doing the best we can to conserve electricity. Winterizing our windows, or looking into a more efficient water heater & fridge are some of the things we haven’t done but have talked about.

By: Tenille

Tenille — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 14:42:44 +0000

We’ve got a 3-story, 84-year-old house. Definitely not energy efficient! We did the same stuff – sealing and weatherproofing and our bill dropped from $293 – $243/mo. all year. So that’s something, but it’s still way too expensive!

By: Kacie

Kacie — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 14:37:57 +0000

BIG OUCH! That’s too much! Eeep. And, that’s way too cold. We haven’t dipped below zero much here. I can’t imagine double digits below. Hope you’re staying in as much as ya can!

How is your insulation? And how tightly sealed are your windows and doors? Are your neighbors dealing with the same sort of prices?

Hope it warms up for ya soon!