Yesterday my neighbors asked me if I had received my utilities bill (the local energy company serves up both gas and electric) and if it was as outrageous as their’s.  They said their bill for Thanksgiving to Christmas was $350.  I almost fell over.  These are people that have a cottage up north that they go to every weekend.  All of their appliances run on timers to reduce usage.  And, the husband owns his own insulation company and has insulated his house to the hilt.  Then they said the neighbors on the other side of their house had a $340 bill.

My bill comes via email and I hadn’t checked the home email yet, so I was a bit nervous.  Especially since after the birth of my son, my wife has stayed home and the furnace now runs during the day instead of the temps dropping down.  Plus, despite replacing windows for more energy efficient ones and re-insulating, I still have a 25 year old furnace (it was an efficiency furnace in its day) and a 10 year old 40 gallon water heater.  I opened up the email and it was only $240.  Whew, what a relief.

The difference appeared to be twofold.  I used more gas than last year at the same time.  Makes sense, more furnace time, more laundry, etc.  Plus, gas is a lot more expensive than last year.  The electric usage was about the same, but like the gas, those nasty kilowatt hours cost more this year.

So, I guess its time to save up for a new furnace (since one that age might die anytime, its probably not a bad idea) and I’ll have to be more serious about my thoughts of investigating tankless or inline water heaters.  They’ve got to be more expensive to install, but depending on how much more they might pay for themselves quickly.  I’m thinking it’s got to be more fuel efficient to only heat the water when you need it rather than keeping 40 gallons of H2O piping hot — a bit of a misnomer since I have it turned down as low as the temperature gauge goes — in case you need it.  Also, it might finally be worth filling up the landfill with perfectly good incandescent light bulbs in favor of compact flourescent ones.