Saving money on heat this winter!!

iVillage Member
Registered: 07-05-2006
Saving money on heat this winter!!
9
Tue, 12-08-2009 - 1:50pm

Today I did a good deed! I covered my windows in plastic. I'm so excited because I really think this will save me a ton of money this winter. No, they don't look pretty and yes, it was a daunting task (I still have 2 more to do, I ran out of plastic), but I already feel warmer! I'll let you know my savings as my electricity bills start rolling in. My heat is not electric, but I have an electric pump in my condo that pumps in the hot water from the boilers and I also have an electric water heater. We do tend to take way too many hot baths and showers in the winter. I soooooo hope that this helps us feel warmer, especially since it was so much work! Is there anything else I could do to help me save energy this winter? Is there some kind of more energy efficient space heater I could buy? My heating unit is ancient so I'm sure it's not energy efficient whatsoever!

And I really need to save some money since I will probably be losing 90 dollars in piano money today! What a pain! My husbands truck broke down today at work so he's not going to be home until late and that means I have no one to watch my kids while I do piano lessons. I'd bring them with me BUT my oldest has strep and he's still contagious until 8 o'clock tonight. I'm stuck...again! What a lot of money to lose! I wonder if I could reschedule. Rescheduling 5 lessons is a nightmare!

iVillage Member
Registered: 08-04-2008
Tue, 12-08-2009 - 2:13pm

Good for you, we need to do that so badly.




Avatar for sohappilyme
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Tue, 12-08-2009 - 2:59pm
We did that one year and it did make a difference. We should do it again, although I worry about the plastic with the babies. We use a woodstove now and the thermostat isn't even in the same room and the heat won't come on at all. It was in the 30s all day and night but the wood stove keeps that end of the house at 72+ and this end, with the bedrooms, over 65. And the wood is free! Last year when we ran out of wood the electric bill jumped $250 in a month.

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Sarah
iVillage Member
Registered: 10-01-2008
Tue, 12-08-2009 - 3:04pm

As I told you before, I do this every year.

Norma


"Patience is the best remedy for every trouble"- Plautus


Community Leader
Registered: 07-26-1999
Tue, 12-08-2009 - 3:11pm
A draft dodger, that's what its called.
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iVillage Member
Registered: 10-01-2008
Tue, 12-08-2009 - 3:21pm

We have this wonderful wood stove in the den in the basement.

Norma


"Patience is the best remedy for every trouble"- Plautus


Avatar for sohappilyme
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Tue, 12-08-2009 - 3:38pm
Our stove sounds similar! We got it from my grandparents. It has a fan, too, which really helps circulate the air. But you're right - it'll roast you! It works great, though, b/c I love to sleep in a cool room and when the heat is on our bedroom is the warmest room in the house.

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Sarah
iVillage Member
Registered: 10-01-2008
Tue, 12-08-2009 - 3:59pm

My parents gave us this one when we built the house in 1981.

Norma


"Patience is the best remedy for every trouble"- Plautus


iVillage Member
Registered: 08-02-1998
Tue, 12-08-2009 - 4:57pm
I work in a very old house that has a boiler and radiators for heat. So I use an electric oil filled heater as a back up. It looks like a radiator and is about 2 feet high, it is very stable, it would take a really good knock to tip it over. The brand I have is Honeywell.
My own house is also a very old house, we replaced most of the windows with doublepaned low e type windows, but I still have 2 that I cover with plastic each year (one gets the AC put into it each summer)The plastic may not look pretty but sure keeps you toasty warm. I also have started to make myself wear sweaters and slippers in the house. That way I don't have to have the thermostat quite so high.
Have you checked to see if there are any grants for replacing your heating system with a more efficient model? When we replaced our old furnace with a high efficiency furnace and heat pump we received a good portion of it back by grants/rebates though the Provincial gov't and Terasen(our gas company) Not sure if they have any thing similar where you live.




Avatar for sohappilyme
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Tue, 12-08-2009 - 5:51pm
We have a lot in common! I'm not "in the country" like I'd like to be - most folks would call us suburban - but we have land in a city full of pavement and 1/4 and 1/8 acre lots and that puts us in the middle of nowhere, relatively speaking. We have well water, too, so no electric, no water. (But no water BILL!) And because we're on the fringe of SO many people (several million), when the power goes out we are the LAST to be restored because they try to do the repairs to help the most people first. Needless to say, a tree on a power line down here on my road of 20 houses isn't going to make the list when they can catch 8,000 houses in one pop elsewhere. *SIGH*. But between the generator and the woodstove we make out alright. DH likes to keep the chest freezer going (we stock up) and the water pump with the generator, and then if we need heat in the winter we have the stove. The summertime storms kill our power a couple of times a week for months on end, though. I'm on the mid-Atlantic coast. I think we breed thunderstorms. =cP

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Sarah