No heat contest?
We kept the heat down (not off) and used a space heater to heat the one or two rooms we were using to a comfortable level. In our case the electric bill went up enough to more than eat up any savings we would have seen by keeping the gas heat lower, and the other rooms were chilly to boot. Of course, we have a tiny house so that may be the reason. If you have a 2,000 sq ft house your savings might be much more to heat one or two rooms rather than the whole house.
@spontaneous I did the same in my small home last year, 1350sq ft -- kept a space heater for one bedroom, kept the other two closed and radiators off and used furnace for first floor (living, dining, kitchen rooms) -- the bill was OK, probably same if I heated all rooms with the furnace..
this year I ran the space heater this past weekend and a few nights during the week, but haven't yet fired up the furnace, in a few days...
this year I ran the space heater this past weekend and a few nights during the week, but haven't yet fired up the furnace, in a few days...
I didn't specify in my post, but my house is under 1,000 sq ft. Well under 1,000. It's freaking tiny. This is most likely why it didn't work for us.
I have no fancy gadgets of which you speak. No radiant floors, no (dangerous) space heaters, no fireplace(s)). I've been out for a couple of weeks and so delightedly toasty...
marylago said:
I have no fancy gadgets of which you speak. No radiant floors, no (dangerous) space heaters, no fireplace(s)). I've been out for a couple of weeks and so delightedly toasty...
As usual, my heat works terribly. I will call my Super and attempt yet another year to have him fix it. I will cross my fingers, but I will not hold my breath.
@marylago oh stop tempting with the toasty comments 
Im toasty too ... until i go downstairs to get a snack
Im toasty too ... until i go downstairs to get a snack
@seaweed, there's nothing more satisfying than that slight hiss that steam radiators make as they emit their sweet warmth. Ahhhhhh!
Ours has been on since early last month 73 when we are home and 60 when we are not. Cant take the cold so we just pay.
I know they have a bad rap from years past, but not all space heaters available today are dangerous.marylago said:
no (dangerous) space heaters
Damn it's cold in here! 62 degrees and I'm frozen. But when it's 68 in the summer, I put the A/C on. What's up with that??? I'm not putting my furnace on until I get my yearly tune-up -- next week.
@mumstheword i got 61 right now... not too bad, but once it dips into the 50s all bets are off...
curious, what is part of the yearly tune-up? i didn't get one done...
curious, what is part of the yearly tune-up? i didn't get one done...
seaweed said:
@mumstheword i got 61 right now... not too bad, but once it dips into the 50s all bets are off...
curious, what is part of the yearly tune-up? i didn't get one done...
One of the plumbers here gave a list (even my plumber -- who also posts here -- didn't do all these):
http://forum.maplewoodonline.com//discussion/comment/2662320#Comment_2662320
wow that is an extensive list!! about how much does one of these tune-ups run?
i admittedly didnt do this in my previous home and my condo before that had central heat, no rads
i admittedly didnt do this in my previous home and my condo before that had central heat, no rads
seaweed said:
wow that is an extensive list!! about how much does one of these tune-ups run?
i admittedly didnt do this in my previous home and my condo before that had central heat, no rads
What sac said. However, I'm going to try AJ Perri this year. They had a ValPak coupon for $89 for a 21 point furnace tune up (for gas, oil is extra) that they guarantee for the whole season.
I'm freezing! But trying hard to make it with "no heat until trick or treat."
Turned ours on today bc we had too...seasonal furnace cleaning found that we had barely any gas coming into the house...PSEG was called and they came and worked for about 13 hrs straight to rectify the problem and then relight all pilots and make sure everything worked. I forgot to turn it off and realized it felt damn good to be warmer:-!
I'm out!
Turned on the furnace today! from 58F inside to 70F in no time! My goal was Nov 1st, got close hehe...
Turned on the furnace today! from 58F inside to 70F in no time! My goal was Nov 1st, got close hehe...
@seaweed: awwww, put on a sweater! LOL! Sounds like you need PSEG to come for an energy audit (58 degrees???) Mine is currently at 67 degrees -- time to put socks on! 
)
) @mumstheword I was surviving ok down to 60 on my first floor, but once it dropped below it was time for the furnace Considering I had no heat of any kind on my first floor, no fireplace, no space heaters, I'm surprised it hasn't dipped below 60 sooner!
Considering I had no heat of any kind on my first floor, no fireplace, no space heaters, I'm surprised it hasn't dipped below 60 sooner!
Oct 30, 2014 at 2:53pm Edited
@Doulamomma, this exact same thing happened to my next door neighbor yesterday, PSE&G On our our street all day yesterday and into the night, they told me his house wasn't getting enough gas pressure to keep the house warm,wtf is going on with PSE&G? So crazy, they were there from 7 am unil 9 PM. Same equipment, dug a huge hole in his front yard near the sidewalk and another in the middle of our busy street. Could not even get my own car down the driveway, because entire road blocked off
spontaneous said:
We kept the heat down (not off) and used a space heater to heat the one or two rooms we were using to a comfortable level. In our case the electric bill went up enough to more than eat up any savings we would have seen by keeping the gas heat lower, and the other rooms were chilly to boot. Of course, we have a tiny house so that may be the reason. If you have a 2,000 sq ft house your savings might be much more to heat one or two rooms rather than the whole house.
That is exactly what I found but my house is small. So I just left the heat on and put it up a notch. Might as well be comfortable if I am paying for it. I still tend to keep it lower than a lot of people and try to wait through at least October to put the heat on.
seaweed said:
@mumstheword I was surviving ok down to 60 on my first floor, but once it dropped below it was time for the furnace
Seriously, your house should not be this cold in this weather. Have you gotten an energy audit? You have drafts coming in from somewhere (and you'd better find out now rather than in January!)
Oct 30, 2014 at 3:39pm Edited
emmie said:
@Doulamomma, this exact same thing happened to my next door neighbor yesterday, PSE&G On our our street all day yesterday and into the night, they told me his house wasn't getting enough gas pressure to keep the house warm,wtf is going on with PSE&G? So crazy, they were there from 7 am unil 9 PM. Same equipment, dug a huge hole in his front yard near the sidewalk and another in the middle of our busy street. Could not even get my own car down the driveway, because entire road blocked off
Doulamomma's pix bring back memories. We had that problem last year...the ancient joint between the gas main and the PVC pipe to our house had gradually decayed and was increasingly leaking, until there wasn't enough gas to fire our boiler. They dug a lovely hole in the street and fixed it all one evening (complete with roadblocks and police).
If you sometimes smell that faint smell of gas outside, don't just assume that it is the gaslamp...
Re the contest; no heat until yesterday (other than our two trusty little Vornado electric space heaters), in part because we were getting a new boiler to replace our leaky old one. Now that we've written the big check for the new boiler, I'm eager to see it working.
Oct 30, 2014 at 4:04pm Edited
I have oil heat, and it is going to be much cheaper this winter, I actually have a full tank left over from last fill up in April. Heat comes on when temp drops below 69 day, 64 night. I hate the cold, used to live in Minnasota for a while as a kid, and my mom and dad had to go down and stoke the cole furnace in the middle of the night, to get the heat to come up. I am happy with the oil heat, and the tank is in one of my garages.
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