DU - I'm so proud. My gas bill for December was $57.12.

I conserved my ass off. I usually sleep with the windows open until it gets down to 45. Mainly it was easy cuz I really like to keep the heat off til it gets below 30. I also have a little tiny electric heater for the pups area. I also only use cold for laundry.

WOO HOO!

In the interest of disclosure I must say I live in northern GA. I'm still proud though. I know people who spend up to $200 a month to heat their homes down here.

I use a small electric heater for myself.

Hope you are well these days, our paths haven't crossed for awhile. :hi:

I just wanted to do my part.

I hope you are doing well to Salin. I wish you and your family and friends all the best in 2008! LORDY I can't wait until IA and NH are over.

over the holidays (because the thermostat is kept at 71, my sis is a little soft). I did swing into motion to help weatherize (make warmer) some of the pup's living area at night (crate is near the window and gets much colder than 71).

Started off the new year with my Mother and a friend of 30 years - making soups and bread. Simplicity, more and more, brings me great joy. May 2008 bring the best to you, your family and friends!

I second the IA and NH "just get it over with already!" sentiment. Though I am finding delight at following the ridiculousness of the republican candidates. Each day and another one of them creates a big dog pile and then steps in it. Regardless of who the eventual nominees are (and I think it is a toss up on both sides), we will have to work at losing this time around. Heck there is a slight chance that even Red Indiana will go dem at the top of the ticket for the first time since 1964. Folks around here are *that* disgusted.

I keep my thermostat at 68 degrees, thanks to a wonderfully insulated townhouse and solar gain during the day (when the sun decides to shine), my place is very comfortable.

(to stealthily go push the thermostat up) a bit amusing. I have to admit that in the past I found my Mom's place a bit cold (at 70-71) - but I have adjusted to sixties at home, and have adjusted well. Now I find her house comfy and warm.

The reason that 68 is comfortable for me is because I don't have any drafts coming from poorly sealed windows or doors.

My friends and I are about to start a commuity cooking group. Since most of us are single we figure if we all cook and share it would provide variety as well as save some $$$.

I'll keep my eyes peeled for you tomorrow night. Let's play with the exploding heads!

which means my sis and I are half-Scandanavian - but somehow I (and my Mom) can deal with cooler temps than my sis. (It is only 62 where I sit and type).


I will look for you as well, tomorrow night - but I might go to a a friends birthday/campaign fund-raiser party (she is running for a state rep position) - in which case I *HOPE* that the Iowa results are done - by the time that I get home - so I can see/read the results.

But in the case that I miss the fund-raiser and am home during the long deliberations (meaning I am hanging out here at DU) I will look for you to find someone else watching, but hiding out from the barb/bomb throwing that will likely be going on between different candidate supporting camps. Or - in your (delicious) words - playing with the exploding heads!

It's not so easy when you live somewhere like Michigan. December was particularly cold.

a few days @ the beginning of the month that were 70 degrees.

unless there is a wind.

and have started dressing in more layers, keeping the thermostat lower and supplementing the "heat" - with small electric heaters. I used to keep things in the seventies, now I keep the thermostat in the sixties.

We have decent insulation, plastic on the windows, keep the heat down to 65 (sick kids), and tonight, I can feel it coming right through the walls. Major drafts.

I'm thinking of getting a fire going in the fireplace since the heat from the den will rise to our bedroom.

:)

My gas bill was only about $25., but my wood bill (I use only wood for heat) was about $75.00. My wife, who is in the middle of men-o-pause, has had the fan on in our bedroom every night for the last two years. And even though I live in southern Az., the elevation here is 4600 ft. so it gets quite cool.

My heat is included in my rent, but my landlord appreciates my frugal ways.
I do my laundry at a laundrymat - I too use cold.:kick::patriot:

but still double what it was over the summer. All electric here and needing some insulation or more sleepy cats along the doorways.

:bounce:

My bill for Dec. is $132.34 for gas used, another $40.30 for "delivery and services", and an additional $10.34 in taxes.

Currently 1°F at the moment!!

Furnace is a natural gas-fired forced air system, and I also have a natural gas fireplace. Hot water heater is electric, so that goes on a different bill.

I do have a programmable thermostat, and set it lower at night when I'm sleeping and when I'm at work during the day. My cat has thick, fluffy Persian-like coat, so she never gets cold...

I'm on a payment plan, and set myself up on one every fall. That's 1800 bucks a year. We heat our house, water and cook with gas. I have wood & electric back up, and full sun all day (as long as it's sunny) We just got a couple feet of snow the past 2 days, which also helps insulate the house. The only good thing about the stuff.

I try to keep the heat at 68, I wash in cold water and I use a space heater too. I also keep warm clothes and snuggle with a my spouse or a couple of Kitties.

My December usage:
108 kWh electric $12.36; 18 therms gas $22.92;
Total: $35.28

My personal best was Oct 07:
100 kWh electric; 5 therms gas;
Total: $18.84

This is for a small house in Northern CA. It does not take a huge
lifestyle change to drastically reduce energy use. I wish everybody
would do it.