Natural Gas Challenge...

[peanut]

Anyone interested in a natural gas challenge? What with winter coming on, those of us who heat water and home with natural gas might be able to do a bit of manipulation of thermostats and water temperatures to decrease our bills. Anyone else interested? If so, post your starting reading and let's go!

Jean

[StaceyS]

I'm in! I think it stinks that I pay $25/month even if I'm not using the heater and I turn down the water heater to "vacation" when I'm not using it!

[hmcart]

count me in. We have a BIG old house and it costs us a small fortune to heat in the winter!

[Momto2Boyz]

We have lowered our thermostat each year and have saved bundles.

Last year we went from 70 to 68 during the day (down to 45 at night..bascially, snuggling under blankets, with no heat, but enough to keep it above freezing) and we saved almost $100/mo.! We were shocked! We are going down to 66 this year, and see how much more it saves us!

[Spikey1341]

We have lowered our thermostat each year and have saved bundles.

Last year we went from 70 to 68 during the day (down to 45 at night..bascially, snuggling under blankets, with no heat, but enough to keep it above freezing) and we saved almost $100/mo.! We were shocked! We are going down to 66 this year, and see how much more it saves us!

45 at night!!! How do you get up in the morning? I would never get out of bed!!!

[ebrandwein]

We live in a 1915 2 story colonial with a basement and attic. Last year, my mother-in-law, a seamstress, made us a complete set of insulated floor to ceiling curtains. Between these heavy curtains and some agressive weather stripping on my part, we can now set our thermostat to 62 during the day and 55 at night. We usually wear sweaters or sweatshirts anyway in the winter so it is not big deal to wear them indoors. The drafts and air leaks we used to get are gone thanks to the added insulation. That has made a huge difference in our gas use. I fully expect to do the same this year as fuel costs this winter are predicted to be ugly again.

[Rippin508]

I will join.

I will post up my reading once I get home tonight and see last month's reading/amount.

[peanut]

Well I'm starting out then. Our reading today was 1717 cu. ft. Let's see what it's like tomorrow. I haven't turned the heat up yet...oops, yes I did. Had company.

Jean

[flybabytina]

I am very interested in this challenge, however, I can not turn my heat down too much because I have pets. I am sure my dogs and cats would be fine with a lower household temperature, but I don't think my birds would tolerate it well. I have parrots, cockatiels, parakeets and finches. If I could get them to like to sleep in those birdy tents maybe I could turn my thermostat down, but that is pretty unlikely.

FYI: I am a married, stay at home mom of 4 kids. Every day is a challenge!

[momofslg]

I'm in too. Last months reading was 00537 we only used 13ccf . Bill was $21.00
We haven't turned the furnace on yet. We have been able to get away with 2 oil filled portable heaters and they are working great so far. It has been in the 50's for highs and lows in the 25-30* range this week.

[peanut]

Okay, so you have to be home at the same time every day to read your meter! LOL Well, yesterday at 1 pm we were at 1719 cf...that's 2 cu. ft. per day...so far. Today I was busy and didn't get a chance to read the meter. Will try for tomorrow at 1 pm and divide by two to get an accurate reading. I've set up a chart in my Open Office program to record electricity and gas usage per day. Excel will do the same thing.

Jean

[peanut]

Today's reading was 1725. That means we used 6 cu ft. the last 2 days. Which translates to 3 cu ft. per day...a bit more than normal. But we've had a real cold wicked wind blowing, so I'm thinking the furnace is simply on more.

I'll be without Internet access for the next week to 10 days, so won't be posting. Catch up with you all later!

Jean

[Rippin508]

Last month's bill was $35.46; 19 Ccf used.