STYLETHREAD -- LET'S TALK SHOP!

erin · Chanel

your winter gas bill!

TheLovelyLady71 · Hermes

Since my house is all electric, and we JUST got our bill in the mail yesterday, it was $175.00, which is about what we pay for heat during this time of the year; Joe hates it, I'm cold-natured, he's hot-natured, so we always fight about it! LOL And Erin - WHOA! That's not good, I bet you weren't happy, that's ridiculous!

halleybird · Hermes

oh, that's awful! What is your gas bill normally at this time of year?

Ours was $50 this month (it's normally $30ish during the summer when we don't use heat). But we haven't needed the heat on some days this month, and our gas company bought their winter supply before Katrina, so our rates didn't go up.

Bastet · Kate Spade

Mine went up. I live in an apartment. It was $80. On the bill statement, I noticed we used the same amount of gas the last billing cycle and it was $30something.

We went to Home Depot a few weeks ago and got a thermostat controller. My inlaws have one and they said it really lowered their gas bill. When we get our next bill, we'll find out.

honey · Gucci

i've been a heat nazi. i haven't turned my gas on all winter and have just been relying on space heaters (but i got the safe ones). since there's only one me, and two rooms in my apt. with the rising gas prices i figured it doesn't make sense to heat a room i'm not in. so i just switch on space heaters as needed.

ViViDogWear · Kate Spade

..Is Astronomical ($130 for a 1 bedroom apt)

erin · Chanel

our gas bills in the winter are normally around 200 (our house is old, poorly insulated and we have really high ceilings) but i was like !@#@#$ the house isn't even that WARM! (i keep the heat between 65 and 68) part of the problem this year is getting remodeling done, and the guys have been in and out of the house/keeping the doors open/etc. plus...they had to jack the heat up for a few days for the tile to dry. i can't wait for winter to be over.

atlgirl · Gucci

You have my sympathies, Erin. We got the first one of the four "high heat bill" months, and it was $175 or so. But they have typically been in the $300+ range for Dec, Jan, and Feb in the two years we've been in this house, even before gas prices climbed so dramatically. I'm a little afraid to see this years' bills. And yeah - our house isn't even WARM either, it seems. I am always cold and have to use the space heater.

We have the same problem - old house, poor insulation, high ceilings. I am wanting us to put more insulation in but every year something seems to come up and we put it on the back burner again...this year it was the $6000 new roof...it never ends.

-- Edited by atlgirl at 00:25, 2005-12-30

NCshopper · Hermes

If you've been in your house over a year, you might be able to have the gas company average your payments. That's what we do and it works out well. Our monthly payment went up this winter to account for the higher price of gas, but overall it works out nicely. We pay about $80 every month throughout the whole year, which means paying for gas that we don't use in the summer, but it also means not having a huge bill in the winter too. I think most gas companies have something like this if you're interested.

HeatherLynn · Gucci

NCshopper wrote:

If you've been in your house over a year, you might be able to have the gas company average your payments. That's what we do and it works out well. Our monthly payment went up this winter to account for the higher price of gas, but overall it works out nicely. We pay about $80 every month throughout the whole year, which means paying for gas that we don't use in the summer, but it also means not having a huge bill in the winter too. I think most gas companies have something like this if you're interested.

I have heard of doing this and was wondering if you get an end of the year bill to make up for any additional cost that you didn't pay for or do they credit your account if you over pay?

NCshopper · Hermes

HeatherLynn wrote:

I have heard of doing this and was wondering if you get an end of the year bill to make up for any additional cost that you didn't pay for or do they credit your account if you over pay?

I just checked with my husband and he says that at the end of the year (our EOY is in August) they figure out if you owe them, in which case you owe a balance, or if they owe you, in which case they probably give you some sort of credit. You pay based on what your usage was the year before, so if you're using less this year than you did last year (for example you got a regulated thermostat), you'll end up paying less next year.

-- Edited by NCshopper at 15:11, 2005-12-30

HeatherLynn · Gucci

NCshopper wrote:

HeatherLynn wrote: I have heard of doing this and was wondering if you get an end of the year bill to make up for any additional cost that you didn't pay for or do they credit your account if you over pay? I just checked with my husband and he says that at the end of the year (our EOR is in August) they figure out if you owe them, in which case you owe a balance, or if they owe you, in which case they probably give you some sort of credit. You pay based on what your usage was the year before, so if you're using less this year than you did last year (for example you got a regulated thermostat), you'll end up paying less next year.

Well that's good to know. It is nice to know that the EOY doesn't have to be Decemeber when so many other bills are due, along with Christmas and NYE. Thanks for the tip! I am all electric right now, but I will definitely keep this in mind when I move into a house.

atlgirl · Gucci

Thanks, NCshopper! I was not aware of that. Next week I'll call the gas co. and see what they say.

erin · Chanel

ncshopper: i might do this after this year! we've been in our house three years, and i've just been sucking it up in the winter time, but i might wise up now.

we are getting almost all of our windows replaced at the end of january, thankfully. i nearly fainted from the quote, but not only are our windows ugmo, i can literally feel the cold air rushing in through them.

atlgirl: owning an old house seems like one thing after another! there are so many things i would love to get done but it just seems so expensive. ie, i'd love to get our 2nd bathroom redone, but we are already doing our kitchen and the aforementioned windows so i feel pretty wiped out.