07.15.08
Thermostat settings will lower inversely proportional to the increase in cost of home heating.
Mom called me this morning about the price of heating oil. Her budget plan for this coming season will cost nearly $5,800.00 divided over the next eleven months. Mom’s house is twice as large as ours and she keeps the thermostat set about ten degrees higher than we do. This is going to be a significant expenditure for her.
We prepay for our heating oil in July of each year in order to lock in at a lower rate. While this expenditure is significant, it has allowed us a savings of between $.50 and $0.75 a gallon on average. Even so, It’s going to cost us $1,300.00 more for the same 600 gallons of oil we bought last season. This past winter was the first time in nearly twenty years that we kept the thermostat set above 64 degrees during the day and around 60 degrees over night. I guess it’s back to sweats and flannels around the clock. It’s hard to think of this fact in the heat of July. We’re about to enter another heat wave of five consecutive days with highs above 90 degrees.
The local energy company announced two months ago the price of natural gas was increasing 50%. I can’t fathom the cost of heating for the folks in the surrounding communities who heat their homes with natural gas or have recently converted to natural gas furnaces from oil. We plan to keep the thermostat at 60 degrees during the day and 55 degrees over night. Space heaters will supplement the rooms we occupy during the day and down comforters will ensure sleeping comfort.
Daniel read me an article the other day about collecting cow farts in plastic bags attached to their butts to process the methane. I think I’ve found a use for all those plastic bags we get at the grocery store. Now where to find a few cows.
O.P.W.