Natural Gas prices this winter

rosehawke

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I just read an AP article that said that there is some speculation that due to the hurricane there may be natural gas shortages this winter and that in some regions of the midwest prices could rise as much as 71%?!?!!!

OMG
! And you thought the gasoline prices were bad!
 

sunnicat

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We're on propane. It's actually cheaper right now than I've seen it for some time. We filled up the tank last week for around $800, which was 600 gallons. Sounds expensive, but it was only $1.34 per gallon. How long it lasts us depends on how cold it gets and how soon!
 
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rosehawke

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Oh, I don't think it'd affect y'all in Germany, Fran. Most Natural Gas supplies are going to be local as the stuff is extremely hard to ship (think something on the order of giant floating propane tanks.)
 
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rosehawke

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Actually, the only thing we have in the house that is NG is the water heater, and that will hopefully be changed in the next few months. For this very reason, the fact that the NG pricing is so volatile, when we had a new central system put in (completely new, the house had never had one before) I decided after a good bit of research to go with an electric heat pump. For the amount of money we had available to spend I couldn't be happier. Electricity prices in this region are very reasonable, and I can't remember the last time they went up.
 

AbbysMom

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Oh my!!! I had heard 31%

I cook and heat with Natural Gas!
 

fatkitties

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We heat with gas, and last winter we about froze and cost us a fortune. We made some improvements, but the only way to tell how well they worked is to see if it stays warm in here. I think we'll be turning down the heat, esepcially at night, and using electric blankets for the people (and of course, the cats will be there), a tank heater for the fish, and a night heat light for the dragon. The higher electriciy bill won't be nearly the cost of the gas.

Amber
 

ugaimes

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We don't pay a gas bill (it's all electric) so I'm assuming our apt. doesn't use natural gas?

Regardless, this is going to be an expensive winter, I can tell. Thank goodness I'm warm-natured and don't use too much heat in the winter! I really feel for y'all up north
.
 

antares

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Gasprices in Germany getting higher and higher, a few month ago round 27% and now again, I think, 20% higher. And I have to heat my flat with gas. I get angry, when I think about this.
 

captiva

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I heard 61% - I guess that means about $500 a month for us during the winter months.
 

gailc

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Our house is electric everything BUT we have a wood stove and and endless supply of free (just have to cut/split and stack!) firewood. Our highest electric bill last winter (remember I'm in Wisconsin) was $124.00
deduct the monthly cost of applicances -the heating portion was $64.00!!!
People had always said we were going to have to spend lots of $$ with electric but I tell you the wood stove however messy is CHEAP!!
Most times in the family room where the stove is I'm in shorts and Tshirt and the room is warm-the stove area in below where the bedrooms are so they are toasty. Unless its say nearing zero or below I do not turn on the thermostats in the bedrooms.
We also invested in 3 programable thermostats that have I think 3 programs so they turn down at night to say 62 then about 1/2 hr before alarm heats up to 68 for about 90 minutes and then kicks back down until about 1/2 hr before we come home from work. We also have passive solar heat in the living room and kitchen which while I don't know helps the fuel costs with the sun makes it feel warmer!!
 
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rosehawke

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Gail, then you have an extremely well designed, well-insulated house
. This house was built in the mid-50's when energy was cheap, and many times houses were built with NO insulation at all. This one has/had some rockwool in the attic which in many places has compacted down to an inch or two, and other places was simply non-existent. We're slowly putting in "real" insulation in the attic (fiberglass, can't use cellulose because of the additional weight on a 3/8" drywall ceiling) and anytime I have to tear into a wall I put insulation in it before putting it back together. That still means that about 3/4 or so of the house isn't going to have any!

I think our most expensive electric bill last winter was $250 total (1800 sf house with minimal insulation) of which about $100-150 I would guesstimate to have been the heating.
 

gailc

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And thing your in alabama-how cold does it get? Not anywhere near zero!!
That is one item I noticed when my sister lived in atlanta-she was renting a brand new house and the energy efficiency was terrible. Up here I think the insulation is like R35!!We have those foam things you put behind your switchplates and outlets-its amazing the drafts. On really cold days I will keep my window blinds closed to prevent that heat transfer. And a big towel placed by the exterior doors. Our problem is that the litter boxes are in the basement which is not heated-thank goodness with a quad level house the basement is smaller than as a typical ranch house here!! Our attached garage is insulated as well as the new workshop. Many houses have 2 x 6 construction which permits use of thicker insulation too.
 
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rosehawke

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The normal wintertime temps will be in the upper 40's, low 50's during the day, 30's and 40's at night. That's at the heighth of winter, January or so. We could probably save a bit on the wintertime heating if we did like we were supposed to and kept the thermostat on the same temp all the time (more efficient for a heat pump) but we both like it cool at night so will turn it down to 60 or so, and then back up to 68-70 in the morning which causes the auxiliary heating to come on. I really need to look into getting a programmable heat pump specific thermostat.

My problem is I'm very cold natured and will even get cold in the air-conditioning in the summer
! While 95 is pushing it, 90 degree heat doesn't phase me a bit!
 

gailc

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30's at night still ok for shorts for me!! Really!! I can wear shorts and say a sweatshirt outside when its the lower 40's!! No coat until until below 30 degrees. Can't handle heat however.
 

AbbysMom

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I just got my gas bill in today, and on the bottom it says

" Effective 9/1/05 though 10/31/05 the summer (off-peak season) Gas adjustment factor will increase from $0.9542 per ccf to $1.2209 ccf due to higher gas prices.


GREAT!
 

gemlady

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Our utilities Budget Bill is looking better all the time. (You pay the same amount every month.) I've been very cold natured the last few winters.
 
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