OMGMYGFHEATINGBILLISTHRUTHEROOF! Help

[lancestorm]

No I will not provide cliff notes. If you care to respond and help a guy out, you'll read what I have to say...

My girlfriend (does that make me maybe the 5th person on this forum with one?) called me nearly in tears about her heating bill for January. Nearly $600!!!! She lives in an old house (maybe 60 - 70 years old) and it is rather small (like a cod --- 2 bedrooms and a bathroom upstairs, a living, dining and small kitchen). Not sure on square footage. How can I help winterize her house so that the heating bill goes down?

The only thing I can think of is those plastic sheets that you tape around the outside of the window frame from the inside of the house to keep drafty windows at bay. I did notice that in some parts of the house I can see cracks through the floor that allow me, for instance, to see into her basement/garage. How do you cover that properly?

She kept it around 70 degrees which made me think that heater much have been running nearly all the time to run up a bill like that! I suggested that since she does not have a heat efficient house (like a new house does), then she should allow turn down the heat to around 60 when she leaves for work and then back up to 65 - 68 when she is at home.

Any and all tips you can provide would be great. Thanks guys!!!

Note that she does not have money to buy new windows or anything like that. I need cheap suggestions.

 

[dabuddha]

600 bucks??? WTF.

 

[lancestorm]

Originally posted by: dabuddha
600 bucks??? WTF.

Yes. And thank God we are not somewhere severely cold. This is Ohio though and it can get nasty.

 

[SpunkyJones]

Originally posted by: lancestorm


She kept it around 70 degrees which made me think that heater much have been running nearly all the time to run up a bill like that! I suggested that since she does not have a heat efficient house (like a new house does), then she should allow turn down the heat to around 60 when she leaves for work and then back up to 65 - 68 when she is at home.

Bingo! I would simpley start off by dropping that heat down. Buy a programable themostat, it should turn on the heat when she wakes up, turn it down when she leaves, turn back on at 5 pm, and go down to 60 again at like 10 pm.

Also buy her some sweaters for her birthday! I live in an old house, and I have the thermostat staying at between 60 and 65, and I have a baby in the house.

 

[nakedfrog]

Maybe check into insulation?

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: lancestorm
My girlfriend (does that make me maybe the 5th person on this forum with one?)

It's generally not the best idea to insult the people you're looking for help from. Tell her to turn the heat down and wear a sweater or use blankets. My girlfriend is in a similarly old house with poor insulation, we keep the heat around 60 at all times.

 

[Zedtom]

My house is only thirty-five years old, but it has single pane windows. I have made inside storm windows to keep the heat in, and they are quite effective.

The materials needed are clear plastic sheeting, (the best you can afford, the cheaper is not very transparent), firring strips, (inexpensive 1X2 lumber), a stapler or nails, and clear tape. Metal braces or brackets can be used for stability.

Simply contruct the frames to fit snugly in each window. They can be removed on warm days for ventilation. I noticed a huge reduction in drafts and lower utility bills. Someday I'll buy new windows, but this is a quick fix for your situation.

 

[skace]

Originally posted by: lancestorm
My girlfriend (does that make me maybe the 5th person on this forum with one?)

Lame.

 

[Doggiedog]

I've had bills that high and higher before.

What I've done in my house is buy weather sealing tape (looks like packing tape) and sealed all the window edges, window glass and cracks near the windows as I could find. I also have digital thermostats with timers to help automatically turn down the heat during the evening and times when no one is home.

I've tried the plastic sheeting but I've had problems with it. It doesn't seem to hold well in dusty areas and is very time consuming to put up not to mention expensive.

 

[Turkey22]

With all those cracks I would attempt to caulk them. For windows if they are particularly leaky you can get temporary caulk that you just pull off in the summer. Other than that replacing the windows if they appear to be the primary cause of leakage in long run would be more cost effective than $600 per month. I live in MI and with a 2 story house and it gets up over $200 or so and I tend to freak out.

 

[BigJelly]

Originally posted by: skace

Originally posted by: lancestorm
My girlfriend (does that make me maybe the 5th person on this forum with one?)

Lame.

true

 

[woowoo]

Is this a rental?
Get an estimate to insulate the whole house
Split it with the landlord

 

[kranky]

The plastic sheets will help.

Walk around the house and hold your hand around all the edges of the doors and windows to see if you feel cold air coming in, and put in weatherstripping where needed. (cheap and easy) Especially check the door to the garage. A cheap fix for the gaps in the floor over the garage is putting plastic sheets up on the garage ceiling, or caulking those gaps (if they are small enough) from below so you don't see it from the living area.

Close the doors to unused rooms and close the heating vents in those rooms. No sense heating the whole house if you don't need to.

Check any ceiling vents like in the bathroom to make sure they aren't allowing all the warm air to go up and out the roof vent.

If you have sealed the house reasonably well and still have problems keeping it warm, look at the insulation in the attic. You may need more.

 

[PingSpike]

How the hell did it get to $600? You sure she didn't have that thermostat set to 90?

 

[Dubb]

weather sealing tape + heavey curtains or blinds will do alot, but yeah, turning the heat down and/or programmable thermostat will help a great deal.

as for the floor, I'd check the roof first...IIRC most heat is lost through the roof, often moreso than windows. a good layer of pink stuff in the attic might be what's needed.

also, if you get a significant number of sunlit days, adding some thermal mass in sunny areas could help, though probably more expensive than it's worth in ohio.

 

[CraigRT]

Jesus, my GF pays personal hydro at her place, with single pane windows, and it's like $40/mo

it's not big, but still.

 

[Slacker]

Gas? electric? propane? fuel oil? coal? solar? "Throw me a frickin bone here"

 

[Dubb]

Originally posted by: Slacker
Gas? electric? propane? fuel oil? coal? solar? "Throw me a frickin bone here"

if it's an old house, probably coal or fuel oil converted to gas.

 

[flamingelephant]

use film on windows
use caulk on all cracks on outside of window frames
check doors for drafts and install weatherstripping
check electrical recepticles for drafts and install foam plates behind faceplates
check if there is a good seal around attic hatch
check if attic is insulated and insulate it if not (600 bucks for heat?) my old house (900sqrft 2 story) would of cost 500 to insulated the attic to r40 with blowin insulation. a do it yourself job
next would be the basement, is it insulated, but that aint as cheap
turn town temps
turn down hot water tank
depending on age of house, insulate walls, but often not easy nor practical.
those cracks? fill them with expanding foam sealant, but use a backer on the other side so none of it falls through and makes a mess. Once that stuff is on something it basically doesnt come off.

what kind of heat is being used (baseboard, ngas, prop., oil?)

 

[Doggiedog]

Originally posted by: PingSpike
How the hell did it get to $600? You sure she didn't have that thermostat set to 90?

Why does a $600 bill surprise you?

Bills around here are very high. My friend's 4000 SF house is about $800/mo in the winter. My 2400 SF 4 story house is about $300-$500.

 

[GasX]

Originally posted by: dabuddha
600 bucks??? WTF.

That's what mine is (85 year old 6 BDR house...)

Here is some advce:
1. Shrink wrap the windows - it's like saran wrap to tape around the windows and then blow dry to shrink out the wrinkles
2. Seal all the doors with rolled up towels
3. Keep all the doors closed
(These last two keep the cold air in the leaky rooms...)
4. Turn down the thermostat - It's winter, you don't need it warm enough to walk around in shorts...
5. Wear a sweater
6. Get a programmable thermostat that turns the heat way down during the day and during the night and warms the house in the morning and the evening (or whenever you are home)

edit: get a water heater blanket

 

[SilentVixen]

Have you checked to make sure there are no gas leaks? My boyfriend's house line had a leak and because it was on the side of the meter of the house he was responsible for the bill!
Just a thought

 

[Bryophyte]

Programmable thermostat (not expensive and easy to install), water-heater blanket (and water-heater set for 130 degrees), window film, seal exterior doorways with at least a towel thrown down, install foam gaskets in all exterior wall outlets/switchplates. Walk around and feel for drafts and seal them up. Set the thermostat at 50 when she's away, 65 when she's home and wear a sweater. Turn off unused lights. Don't run space heaters or use a blow-dryer excessively, they suck down power.

 

[Mr.IncrediblyBored]

I saw this mentioned in a similar thread, but a small lighter would be very useful in helping find drafty windows. The flame helps find both ingoing and outgoing drafts, which can often times be harder to notice just using your hand.

 

[bootymac]

Turn the heat down when no body is home and when everyone is sleeping