We got our heatin bill today and OUCH! does anyone have any ideas on keeping it down? What do you set your thermostat at? Do you use space heaters instead? I just can't believe how high it was!

Do you have a programmable thermostat? They really are a great investment! We just had this conversation with our neighbors and they can't believe we pay so much less than them....I thank the thermostat!

__________________
Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass~ It's about learning to dance in the Rain

Yes, we do have one. Do you progeam yours to different temps at different times of the day? I am home all day with DS, but don't mind it a little cooler. My DH on the other hand, complains if it's chilly in the house. GRRR! We recently had our furnace worked on because it kept cutting off when it got to 61 degrees in the house. You would of thought I was having my DH living in the arctic, he was so bothered by it. I say put a sweatshirt on! What do you guys think is a goodschedule for the pragramable thermostat?

I'm with you. We kept our heat down to 55* and have used our fireplace to warm up the house. We also have space heaters in the kids' bedrooms, and still our bill was crazy-high! I'm pretty irked about the whole thing, too.

__________________

I think our programmable thermostat is "off" and doesn't work properly even though it's only 5 years old. But aside from that "issue" we set ours to 52 during the day since we aren't home and are at work. I have it kick in at 6 pm (even though we get home around 5 pm) and it goes up to 65 or so, maybe 67 not sure. At 10 pm it turns off to 55 degrees (we are all in pj's and lots of covers) sometimes I'll get up and "bump" up the temp to 62 if it is really cold. It kicks on in the morning at 6 am to 65 degrees. On weekends it's set at 65 all day and drops again at 10 pm at night until 6 am. HTH.

(our issue is sometimes it feels like it's 50 degrees in my house but the termostat says it is 67, I know that can't be .... so that's where are problems are!) Our bill is high too. It's too high for our small house. We are trying to work on lowering our bill too.

Ours is set at 64 during the day (past few days I shut it off b/c it's so nice outside) and I think DH has it set to 60 for night (might be lower, I haven't looked at it recently).

__________________
Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass~ It's about learning to dance in the Rain

We have a gravity-fed oil stove that has like three settings: off, low, and high. Part of the house is really warm and cozy, but the far side of the house gets pretty chilly. The whole house has electric heat, but we use it only in the baby's room.
Do you have flannel sheets? I love them. Another must have for really cold nights is our down comforter.

__________________
~Jeweled

ours is set like this for winter here in the midwest it can get down right cold...
8pm-6am(kids are in bed at these times) it is set at 62...
6am-9am its at 70 degrees for showers ect..
9am-4pm it is at 67
then from 4-8pm we have it at 70 for the kids...

i also keep shades and curtains closed if the wind is really howling also open them if its really sunny.. also check the weather stripping on your doors.. if it feels drafty try putting towels in front.. also close off anyrooms you are not using no point in heating them...

I know th feeling . It got us last year. when the tax money can in we went and got 2 keorsin heaters. We have not turn on the heat yet this year. I was able to control the bill better. we started using our at the end of sept. til now. we have only spent 190.00. Our gas bill for this past month was only 65.00. yes!!!!! so just give it a thought.

We are on a year around budge plan with our heat and it's $110 per month. I keep it at about 68 all the time. Our dining room is just colder than the rest, we put a propane fire place in there and only turn it on when we are having dinner.

__________________
The mighty oak started out as a nut that held its ground.