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smoreau

Flipping cold outside, How are you dealing with it?

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smoreau

This has been a Cold Hard Winter!! Heat bill is higher then I have seen yet! I am figuring about 50% higher bill this month compared to years past.Furnace is running overtime and all I see is $$$ going up the stack! :banghead:  Gas mileage is significantly reduced from letting the truck warm up before I head to work and coming home. No desire to work on projects, just want to stay warm!

 

But when I really think about it, I;m not as bad off as a lot of you guys using propane. The national shortage is hitting you guys hard! My buddy at work was locked into a good price, but that is out the window know as he was down to 7% in his pig and made the call Saturday to get more and they said that he could only get 100 gallons max! But you need to be below 10% to get that! He told them he was at 7% and they said they will be out Mon. He got the bill and the price was double what he was locked in for. $3.09 a gallon. They said that all locked prices are cancelled due to the national shortage. :disgust:

 

Schools in my area have been closed more then there open it seams like. They have not been to school a full week sense Christmas! My daughter has missed 7 days so far this year and its looking like another one tomorrow. Some of the guys from work can't afford all the daycare from the missed days and some daycare's are closing when the schools are closed.  We have more call ins due to no one to watch there kids.

 

I sure hope we all make it through this flipping cold spell, I know my wallet is getting awfully light! :ranting:

 

So how are you guys holding up?

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Digger 66

 

 

So how are you guys holding up?

 

 

Ha Ha , thanks for asking .

It was 7 degrees today with a steady 20/25 MPH wind . That makes it :eusa-think:  . . . . . .COLD !

I replaced the drive axles in my Can Am Renegade & only had to come it to warm up twice !

Edited by Digger 66

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rexman72

scott living up here in maine has been colder then normal for the winter.Not only have we been get below zero temps but we get the storms that come up the coast and pound us with snow.I have never been seen a snowstorm that was negative 2 below zero during the storm.Most of us here heat with oil at 3.79 a gallon as natural gas is non existent in the state.They say we are having an historic winter.I don't  even want to go out much and I have been going to bed early as the cold makes me tired.Lets hope for an early spring.

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can whlvr

same up here in Ontario,ive used more oil in 2 monthe than all last year,oil is about 5 bucks a gallon up here,its the same as diesel now,it used to tbe a lot cheaper,im a mason by trade and we cant work in the extreme cold,and with all the extra snow gasoline cant stay in the can long enough,its 30 dollars to fill a can and I use that every time we get a fair snow fall,which has been about every 3 days this year,we have no where to put snow in the town near me,i know we all like seat time but this year is just too much,if it wasn't so cold it wouldn't be as bad

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AMC RULES

Let's see...within the past week here, only seven water main breaks, at work...so far.

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roscoemi

Switched to burning pellets years ago and cut my heat bill in half and not have to worry about the thermostat. This year I have burned about 30% more than last year at this time as it has been so cold for so long at a stretch. School has been called for tomm already due to the cold. My son likes coming to work with Dad better than school anyway!

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Ed Kennell

:text-thankyouyellow:   Wood stove.  I can sleep without having to listen to the oil burner kicking on.   6 degrees outside and  75 inside.

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leeave96

Two woodstoves going - baseboard heat off.  This has been the coldest January in recent memory in my neck of the woods.  Really enjoying the wood heat and savings that (for me) come with it.

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rmaynard

It felt like spring this morning when I went out to get the paper and the temperature was a balmy 37 degrees. Then at 7:00 pm, my 85 year old next door neighbor came knocking on my door asking if I would fix a broken water pipe under his house (unheated crawl space). So I spent the next 2 hours celebrating the return to 15 degree temps by laying on my back, in the mud, replacing multiple sections of copper water pipe. Thank heavens for SharkBite® plumbing fittings.

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rayshorses

I have an outdoor boiler and the wood comes off our jobs during the summer. I load it twice a day...nice. The house stays warm. The  shop uses about 7 gallons of kerosene every day...that bites. I am avoiding any outdoor work when the temp goes below 20 degrees. I'm getting behind on my outdoor chores.

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Ken B

We have been in a cold spell for a few weeks here as well. Its a good thing I installed a wood stove last year or I'd be in the poor house with the oil bill. Its also a good thing that I have always enjoyed splitting wood and all of the work that goes along with owning a wood stove... I feel sorry for anyone that has electric heat in their house...

 

Hey Bob, X2 on the Shark bites, they are a life saver. About ten yrs. ago one of my neighbors had a beautiful little cottage in their back yard (which was also in my back yard) that they rented out. The pipes froze in the crawl space. The plumber came out to fix the problem, I know who the plumber was and he was very experienced. One ember set that cottage ablaze within seconds. I witnessed the whole thing, that poor guy doing the work was in tears, (and lucky to be alive) I keep Shark bites on hand at all times just in case...

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kaiser

no wood stove, yet. so i'm still a slave to the oil industry.

2 electric heaters going in the cold part of the house.

thermostat kept low, sweaters on, moonshine in hand.

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stevasaurus

I have discovered that a little Rock & Rye in my coffee is pretty dang good.  :orcs-cheers::)

 

We have not had snow like this since 1978...and we have not had cold like this since 1983/84.  This is a tough winter.

 

Scott...I remember riding around on that picnic table to stay cool and have a little breeze.  :)

Edited by stevasaurus

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shallowwatersailor

I have discovered that a little Rock & Rye in my coffee is pretty dang good.  :orcs-cheers::)

 

We have not had snow like this since 1978...and we have not had cold like this since 1983/84.  This is a tough winter.

 

Scott...I remember riding around on that picnic table to stay cool and have a little breeze.  :)

Steve, I remember the early eighties winters in Chicago. That is when I decided that I didn't like working an inside job - so opted for one that would have me working for the most part on roofs year round. Smart move on my part! :eusa-doh:

 

On Saturday, I had 177 gallons of fuel delivered at $4.88 a gallon. Ouch!

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stevasaurus

Yah John...that 83/84 winter had an average of 15 degrees that season...not much snow, but the wind chills were like 50 below.  The frost went deep that winter, we had a lot of water main breaks also.  If there was a good thing...most of that very cold weather usually happened on the weekends when people could stay off the roads.  This week it is going to warm up to 17 on Thursday...so we can get some more snow.  What a great winter...I am going to give it 5 smiley faces at this point.  :) :) :) :) :)

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dcrage

While I am sure my electric bill for the next cycle will be $400+ (no gas lines in our area; so you do gas tanks or electric; we have electric whole house furnace), a good thing about this cold weather is the Vermont Castings Defiance wood stove in our family room -- This is a mid 1980s vintage, a bigger stove than what you can purchase now, i.e. before there were chimmney emissions standards; one way Vermont Castings met these standards were to make the stoves smaller -- The family room ist 30' x 20' with vaulted ceiling -- I am constantly having to try to slow down this stove; it can easily run us out of the room during 'normal' winter temperatures -- With these really cold snaps I can feed the stove, close the damper sending the flue gases thru the reburn chamber and let it go -- Geez does it feel good to walk into that room when you are cold -- The dog loves to curl up by it also

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64s

Maybe I'm crazy but I enjoy being able to get out.  I've been coped up the last couple of weeks due to a spinal fusion.  Really hard not being able to do anything, but getting out for an hour (not more) is great.  Yes, watching the oil in the tank steadily drop isn't the  greatest but I've been cleared to lift up to 15 pounds so maybe I can ride the horse and plow when the next snow falls.  Stay warm and safe!

Edited by 64s
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Ed Kennell

 

 

On Saturday, I had 177 gallons of fuel delivered at $4.88 a gallon. Ouch!

$4.88/Gal. ....  Was the driver wearing a mask?? :teasing-poke:  I just got 37 Gal. @ $3.46/Gal. :eusa-think:  Does Md. have more tax on fuel oil than Pa ?

 

       Got up to 12 degrees here today....Yep a global  heat wave.

Edited by ekennell

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Sparky

Well of course I'm going thru more oil as we all are but being stuck inside more than usual has caused me to put on 8 pounds!!! Not eating more food (I dont think) but I'm doing less. Even dog walks are shorter and some days dont happen at all. I'm tall but not fat so all the extra weight has gone to my stomach :banghead:  . I hate having a gut and will have to work on it when the weather gets more bearable.

 

Mike.........

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IthacaJeff

I think my 2 dogs are suffering the most. The kids don't want to play long with them outside, and my walks with

them are shorter. Our 1 year old pup gets cold pretty fast. 

 

Burning through propane and gasoline. Warming up the car and waiting for the kids to get done with practice

after school (normally the engine is off), is expensive.

 

Got a guy coming over this week to give an estimate on solar photovoltaic and/or ground source heat pump.

Want desperately to get off propane. Wood would be cheaper, but we use propane for both domestic hot water

and hydronic radiant floor heat. Thinking of an outdoor wood gasification boiler, but my wife is very leery. We

could use it for hot water as well, but it seems odd to use a wood stove in the summer just to heat hot water.

 

Jeff

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squonk

Shark bites work great but for real he connection in copper or iron try a pro press if you can find a supplier who rents the crimp gun. Super fast and easy. Makes a plumber out of a monkey

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Ken B

Well of course I'm going thru more oil as we all are but being stuck inside more than usual has caused me to put on 8 pounds!!! Not eating more food (I dont think) but I'm doing less. Even dog walks are shorter and some days dont happen at all. I'm tall but not fat so all the extra weight has gone to my stomach :banghead:  . I hate having a gut and will have to work on it when the weather gets more bearable.

 

Mike.........

I hear ya there Mike, I've tossed on a few myself. (5 pounds give or take) Let me see, so far this winter I've watched on Netflix All seasons of Lost, Breaking Bad, Orange in Black Out, Sons of Anarchy, Walking Dead and now I'm watching Prison Break....

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shorts

We are fortunate enough to have an Energy Star rated house that is tight, well insulated and relatively inexpensive to heat with gas fired forced air, but I am seriously considering under floor radiant heating [low temp hot water] and firing it with a gas boiler/water heater or optional free standing wood fired boiler.

 

Mostly I hope spring gets here soon

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