Being warm will drive you into debt?

[JPatrick]

If you can stay in the heat pump zone, heating and cooling becomes fairly reasonable. Here in the Ozarks our highest bill has been $202 for heating. Thats a bit over 3000 sq feet with a 13SEER heat pump. Geothermal works further north, but installation is pricey.
And if that doesn't work, we always have the option of bear wrestling in the backyard to keep warm.

 

[REWahoo]

If you can stay in the heat pump zone, heating and cooling becomes fairly reasonable. Here in the Ozarks our highest bill has been $202 for heating. Thats a bit over 3000 sq feet with a 13SEER heat pump...

Yep, heat pump costs can be reasonable providing your electric rates aren't through the roof. I'm all electric so I can't break out my heating/cooling costs from the rest of my useage, but my average monthly bill through Nov. is $160 for ~2,500 sq ft in south central TX. Like JPatrick, my highest bilil was $202.

And if that doesn't work, we always have the option of bear wrestling in the backyard to keep warm.

I sure hope you misspelled "bare"...

 

[JPatrick]

I sure hope you misspelled "bare"...

Nope, it's bear, but give it a few years and I'm sure some of the extreme sports guys will come up with bare-bear wrestling. Perhaps something Michael Vick would want to pursue

 

[Rustic23]

Just look at our numbers again and our electric and propane bill run about $750 each for the year. As that represents about 3% of our total budget, it would take impossible savings to make much difference to our lifestyle. 2,700 sq. ft. East Texas

 

[Caoineag]

Sitting at ~1100 per year for us but we also live in an 800 sq ft apartment with a wall of glass (literally, 11 foot ceilings 13 foot across living room and the glass balcony doors form the wall). Course, my most expensive month was in August so A/C is a bigger cost than heat here in Denver.

 

[Sarah in SC]

Interesting. We have the heat pump and are all-electric out here in the hinterlands of Charleston County, SC. Our electric bill averages $103 per month, with lows of $62 in spring/fall and highs of $145 in the summer. 2003 built 1500 sq ft house that I insulated by myself, during a vacation week in July (that sucked less than the job I had at the time), with cotton insulation in the walls and fiberglass in the attic.

I'm really glad I didn't put any gas appliances in, hearing about these rates!

 

[Rustic23]

Yea, but if the Republicans get their way we will all be spending more!

Seems like this thread didn't have a political statement yet!

Yea, but if the Democrats get their way we will all be spending more!
(in the interest of fairness)

 

[lazygood4nothinbum]

I would assume much of the south that pay in excess of that to cool their home in the spring, summer and fall, and, yes many borrow money to do it. I know lots of folks that would like to have a $353 electric bill in August!

air pricing for approx 12-1300 sf 3 bdrm circa 1942 florida shot-gun cottage with insulated, vented attic, vented 3-foot crawl space under house, non-insulated walls, lots of trees on property.

temp generally set on a/c at about 72 during day, hibernation 68 at night and, when it dips below 60 outside, temp set on heat at about 73 during day and 70 at night.

everyone i know in more modern houses pay much more. my brother is in a 3-4,000 sf house with high ceilings and 3 kids and he probably pays between $4-500/month.

 

[Rustic23]

Obviously there are allot of things that go into the cost of HVAC. I listen to a radio program on upgrading your A/C out of Houston. They ask for folks to call in with the largest A/C bill per sq. ft. People call in with $.30 to $.40 per sq. ft. that is a $735 bill for a 2,100 sq. ft. home. Glad it's not mine!

My brother lived in Houston without A/C. When he passed away, and it was not from heat stroke, we sold his town home to a friends Daughter. Her first electric bill was over $600 in October! Turns out the A/C worked great, only thing wrong, heater came on every time the A/C came on, and it was electric heat. They fixed that in a hurry!

 

[Walt34]

For the last 12 months ours was $1,787.56 for natural gas, includes hot water, dryer, and stove. Last month's was $167, next month we're expecting ~$200-250. The record high was $376 but it was COLD outside! We're in the northern end of West Virginia.

The caveats are that we like it warm and are willing to pay for it - the thermostat is at 77 and I'm still wearing a long-sleeve flannel shirt and a sweatshirt over that. We usually turn the heat down for guests, and a friend says that NASA uses the infrared signature from our house as a navigational beacon. We will scrimp in other areas, but staying warm is not one of them.

We figure what we spend in the winter we save in the summer because then the A/C is at 79 or 80, sometimes higher. Everybody else cranks theirs down to 75 or below.

The house (~1700 sf) is recent construction and has more insulation than I've ever seen in the attic. Knowing our penchants we paid for the extra insulation package.<g>

 

[Purron]

My DH supplements our gas heat by using a wood stove. He gets free firewood from the local landfill. I realize this may not be the best thing for the environment, but in our neck of the woods, very few people have woodburners. Plus, our wood stove is modern and very efficient so it introduces a minimum of contaminants into the atmosphere. Our heating bills are much lower as a result plus the cats love curling up by the fire

 

[Zoocat]

Colorado: 1200 sq ft townhome, middle unit, electric and gas for winter months: $63. I turn it down to 65 at night; 68-70 day.
Summer with AC when I need it: $45.
New construction. High efficiency furnance and air conditioner.

But I think the high efficiency furnance is the key. My son lives in an old cottage nearby with new furnance and his last winter bill was $80.

In contrast my condo rental, same place, with an old electric heating system cost me $125 in winter.

 

[youbet]

Natural gas. About $725 for 2006 and $842 ytd for 2007. 1300 sq ft house main floor plus I heat the basement. Includes hot water and cooking. Chicago area.

 

[grumpy]

Our heating bills (natural gas) for 2007 for our 1800 sq ft. house in Northern Virginia total $866. The house is comfortable for us with the temperature set at 71 in the winter. The programmable theromstat sets back to 64 at night. Hot water is electric (instant tankless system).

Grumpy

 

[Rustic23]

We let the thermostat drop back to 58 at night.

It goes back up to 68 in the morning. I have noticed that it takes longer to bring the temp up than if we kept it at 65. Anyone have thoughts if this is really saving energy? It is below 68 from 9 at night till 6:30 in the morning.

 

[REWahoo]

Rustic, I saw some numbers on this a while back but can't recall where. It compared heating costs and setback thermostats using natural gas and heat pumps. There was clearly a savings using gas but the cost actually increased with heat pumps due to the cost/inefficiency of the "heat strip" coming on to help the heat pump make up a big temperature differential each morning.

I would think propane would equate to natural gas, but can't quote you a source.

 

[tightasadrum]

3000 s.f., two story with lots of windows, a DW who wants things cooler than anyone in town winter or summer, heat pump, electric water heater, well water (pump). Set tstat at 65 in summer and winter, unless we have visitors.

summer: $300-$380
winter: $100-150

 

[Calgary_Girl]

The caveats are that we like it warm and are willing to pay for it - the thermostat is at 77 and I'm still wearing a long-sleeve flannel shirt and a sweatshirt over that.
quote]

Wow...77 is warm. Ours is set at 19C (68F) and ONLY because we don't want our 20-month old toddler to freeze. Before the kid, the thermostat was set at 15C (60F)....I like it cold

I double checked our bills for 2007 and we only paid $1,162 for natural gas...not too bad. If it wasn't for the kid, it would have been even less!

 

[Sarah in SC]

Rustic, I saw some numbers on this a while back but can't recall where. It compared heating costs and setback thermostats using natural gas and heat pumps. There was clearly a savings using gas but the cost actually increased with heat pumps due to the cost/inefficiency of the "heat strip" coming on to help the heat pump make up a big temperature differential each morning.

I would think propane would equate to natural gas, but can't quote you a source.

T-Al, where the heck are you? We need some stats, stat!

 

[Khan]

Rustic, I saw some numbers on this a while back but can't recall where. It compared heating costs and setback thermostats using natural gas and heat pumps. There was clearly a savings using gas but the cost actually increased with heat pumps due to the cost/inefficiency of the "heat strip" coming on to help the heat pump make up a big temperature differential each morning.

I would think propane would equate to natural gas, but can't quote you a source.

I believe there are setback thermostats made especially for heat pumps.

 

[REWahoo]

I believe there are setback thermostats made especially for heat pumps.

You are correct.

My comment was to the information I have seen in the past regarding the savings one could gain by using temperature setbacks with a heat pump system vs. natural gas or propane heat. A brief Google search doesn't provide any good source of information on the wisdom/savings of heat pump setback thermostats. This "it depends" information is typical of what I found: Heat Pumps and Setback Thermostats

My understanding is you may see some savings using a setback with a heat pump if you have an "intelligent" thermostat (one that brings the temp back up gradually to avoid kicking in the heat strip) and if outside temperatures aren't too low (nothing lower than the 40's).

 

[Walt34]

We let the thermostat drop back to 58 at night.

It goes back up to 68 in the morning. I have noticed that it takes longer to bring the temp up than if we kept it at 65. Anyone have thoughts if this is really saving energy? It is below 68 from 9 at night till 6:30 in the morning.

I'm certain you are saving money - the cost is in the heat differential between outside and inside temps. As noted an "intelligent" thermostat to bring it up gradually will help if you have a heat pump. If it's gas or oil, I'd think it probably doesn't matter - any retired physicists out there who would know?

When we were working we'd turn the thermostat down during the daytime when we weren't home for 10 hours since no one else was there. That house was also natural gas so the heat came up quickly. I never bothered with a programmable thermostat.

 

[waltwill8]

We put in a ground source heat pump with programmable thermostat two years ago. It is a dual capacity system with the efficiency of the low stage at about eer 4 (400% of resistance electric), and the high stage at about eer 3. The name of the game, here, is to keep it running on low stage as much of the time as possible. After fiddling every whick way with setbacks for a while, I concluded that it is better to just leave it alone. (72 in winter, 78 in summer) Sometimes I do kick it up a degree, or two, in anticipation of some extra cold weather, but need to do that at least a day ahead. I guess I'm the semi-intelligent programmable thermostat
Bottom line is the annual cost of electricity for heating a 1700 sf house in Minnesota (the balmy southwest part, however) is something under $500. (5.3 cent cheap electricity out here, and they can't raise it without all kinds of hearings and such. It's supposedly going up 6 to 8% next year, but it's been steady for the last 20)

 

[Khan]

I looked back over my utility use and gas and electric have definitely gone up since retirement.

Used to only have winter heat to 60F from about 3PM to 9PM on workdays. Didn't even have A/C until retirement.

 

[tryan]

Just got a propane bill ... $2.72/gallon. Last fill was $2.82. This time the tank was MORE THAN HALF FULL. Something tells me they're capping the tanks while the price is DROPPING. Better put more wood in the stove (and cancel the auto-fill).