Moksha Posted October 25, 2009 Report Share Posted October 25, 2009 Get everyone the snuggie. the blanket with sleeves. Excellent idea. I try to wear a wool sweater around the house in the winter so we can turn the thermostat down a bit. My kids ignore my trying to get them to do the same since they are impervious to cold (yeah, wait till they become geezers and that will end). Just turning down the heat by a few degrees makes a big difference in the long run.I'm really impressed by Iggy's ingenuity. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Alana Posted October 26, 2009 Report Share Posted October 26, 2009 My husband will be sitting on the computer with the heater blasting, wearing a t-shirt and no socks. Socks and a sweat shirt help a lot! Also, when it's the middle of the day and the kids and I are going in and out of the front door a lot, I make sure to keep my bed room door closed so the heat will stay in there, then open it back up when in the evening I heat the house back up. I've also noticed that oil heaters seem to work way better than fan type heaters. The moment I turn the fan heater off, I'm cold again, but I can turn the oil heater off and it stays warm for an hour. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bcguy Posted October 26, 2009 Report Share Posted October 26, 2009 Its possible that the oil heater casing is retaining the heat and once turned off, will still pass the heat to the hvac system if the hvac fan is still on. I think if any of you can finance a future geothermal system install, it will pay off in short order perhaps 5-10 years. the ground , no matter where you are in the world is a constant 55F eight feet underground. The efficiency of a geothermal system over that and above a convential electric or oil based system is 500%. Here in the lower mainland of vancouver BC, a number of complexes are having geothermal systems installed. This will reduce your energy, and your bill drasticly. Geothermal heat pump - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rayhale Posted October 26, 2009 Report Share Posted October 26, 2009 Not sure if this is in the right place.........................As the winter monthes are fast approaching I was wondering what every one does to cut costs in their electric bill. I absolutely loathe having to pay $200 plus in electric (yes I do live in an all electric home) and any tips would be greatly appreciated. And yes I have switched my light bulbs.Thanks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Check with your electric company, I don’t know about yours, but mine lets people to average out people’s electric bills so instead of paying $50 one month and $700 the next, you will pay the average which is $375. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mnn727 Posted October 26, 2009 Report Share Posted October 26, 2009 Not sure if this is in the right place.........................As the winter monthes are fast approaching I was wondering what every one does to cut costs in their electric bill. I absolutely loathe having to pay $200 plus in electric (yes I do live in an all electric home) and any tips would be greatly appreciated. And yes I have switched my light bulbs.Thanks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You could move south, of course summer air conditioning here in TX raises my electric bill to about $350 a month, I love winter as my electric goes down to about $100 although the gas bill (gas heat) does go up to about $75-$80. Spring and fall are the best when we use no heat or air.Here's an idea from my 31 years as a northerner (before I got smart and moved south). Get a couple of ceramic heaters and turn them on in the rooms you are in while you keep your thermostat set low. Why ceramic heaters? because they are safe and use litle electricity compared to other kinds Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mnn727 Posted October 26, 2009 Report Share Posted October 26, 2009 If you want to prevent the wind from sucking the heat from your house, buy hay bails and line them up eight feet tall outside the wall. That will help substantially :) Or just stack them against the wall.Bags of leaves left all around your foundation or basement will help, not as much as hay or straw bales, but better than nothing and they are fre for the raking, you can also cruise alleys/neighborhoods on garbage day and pick up lots of them free and someone else already did the raking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soul_Searcher Posted October 27, 2009 Report Share Posted October 27, 2009 We dont really do anything in particular-We have a pay-as-you-go meter so we can control what we put on it. Maybe now that the clocks have gone back we will put 20 quid a week on it. The gas we would put 15-20. But we are hardly ever home so we dont use that much. We only use it at weekends and for 4 hours in the evening. Haha theres my tip-Dont be home!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pam Posted October 27, 2009 Report Share Posted October 27, 2009 PAM,Actually do not minimize the use of bathroom fans. The humidity left behind can cause rot and mold to build up in the walls ect. Its best to open up the small bathroom window, turn the fan on then close the door. that way you evacuate the huminidity and heat from one room.Igy, in COLD locations around the country, hay would least likely to combust. If you pick up fire retardent and spray it on the hay bales, then thay would not combust. Modern green homes are now, in limited supply, are being insulated with straw hay. Adobe brick walls are built with hay. The key word was minimize...not do entirely away with using. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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