Heat Bills Higher?
It seems we get this scare every fall, in prospect of the coming winter, that heating costs are going to rise, especially in respect to gas heat. Well this year the biggest rise is expected out of electric heating, which is a change from previous years, with all the fluctuations of gas prices as of late. We have gas heat, and have signed on for a set rate on our gas, just in case it gets too high, especially since we now have a larger house that could become a gas guzzling nightmare if we let it get out of hand.
That coupled with the fact that the Farmers Almanac is predicting a very cold and snowy winter for the northeaster portion of Ohio is making many folks do the same thing so that they don’t find themselves without two nickles to rub together in the winter months. This is in contrast to a story I read about how temperatures on average are going to go up around the US, and the highest prices on heating will be oil, not electric, so you can see how the stories are never straight and we never actually know which types of heat are going to really be the highest price until it’s over, and all variables have settled in what actually causes those prices to be higher.
Some of the ways you can deal with higher costs of heating are to invest in new windows, which can keep a substantial amount of heat in your home instead of letting it out into the cold winter air. You can also invest in insulating your attic better, since heat rises and a lot of heat will go directly out of the top of a home that does not have a well insulated attic or crawl space.
Or you can just go about it the good old fashioned way and wear sweaters and make sure you move around a lot to keep that circulation going. A fireplace is another nice addition to a home which can also reduce heating costs since it gives off substantial heat. Then you have to buy wood though, and that’s not necessarily the best thing for the environment either so I suppose it’s always a double edged sword.
