We also shut off our furnace (proprane just got so expensive!). We use radiator heaters to warm the house at night, kerosene heaters or a fire in the fireplace during the day. We use storm windows and plastic on all of our windows (very windy here!). On very cold days I try to make nice homey meals and I will bake some cookies or something for the extra warmth. We do wear layers in the house and slippers. At night (we don't use a radiator heater in our bedroom) me and dh have an electric blanket (the girls have heaters in thier rooms). Our electric bill is okay- higher than I would like but so much cheaper than what our propane bill was!

Those of you who shut your furnances off, don't you have to worry about freezing pipes and such??? I can see turning it down way low (around 50 or so) but turning it off would scare me.

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~Happiness is a large family~

If you have forced air heat, you can still use the furnace fan to move the air around the house, thus distributing the heat a little more evenly.

We have three heat sources in our house: gas forced air furnace, wood stoves (3), and electric baseboard heaters. So far, the gas furnace continues to be our cheapest option.

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"Poor people work for their money. Rich people make their money work for them."

I haven't turned our heater on yet. we wear extra clothing and have extra blankets on the bed. and on the sofa. we use kerasin(sorry if spelled it wrong) I turned down the water heater allittle. all has helped. Our gas bill is around 64.00 to 80.00. We have spent 110.00
in gas and that started in sept. until now.

we also use a programable thermostat 70 during the day when we are home(i over ride it down to 62 if we are gonna be gone) only that high since i have a 3 1/2 mo old. then at 8pm it turnes down to 62 and then back to 70 at around 6am... even though we have good doors i put draft stops infront of them(you can use towels) we also have electric space heaters that have thermostats for the below zero days since our living room has 7 windows it can get chilly in there and we also keep one upstairs as well for these days only raises our electric like 5-10 bucks a month depending on how many days we use them...definately caulk your windows keep curtains and shades closed on windy and gloomy days and at night open them when sunny to get some heat... those are the things i do..

Well, we had been looking for ways to heat our basement and were planning on adding some radiators (we have hot water heat). It was going to cost about $3000!!!! Dh and I were at Lowe's the other day and saw some of those fake electric stoves. The larger one says it heats up to 400 sq feet. They were on clearnace. So we bought a large one for $87 and a small one for $40. So far we just have the large one going in the room that will be our rec room. It is pretty warm, especially considering the temps are below zero!!! Also, since that has been on, I have had to turn the thermostat down!!! It is now set at 66 degrees. I think having the warmer air below us has warmed up the entire house!!! And we saved almost $3000 bucks on radiators and plumbing work!!!

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~Happiness is a large family~

We purchased two heaters last year at Home Depot at the end of the season for about $35 each. They are programmable and are safe as they cut off automatically if tipped over or blocked by anything in the front or back. We move them from place to place in the house during the day and one is in my son's room at night and with the kids doors open it heats the whole front of our house. We keep the other in our bathroom at night and it keeps us plenty warm. We keep our heater on about 60 degrees day and night and the heaters don't cost any more to run than the tv does!

We bought a new house in July and in the living room ont he lower level there is a pellet stove. It is great! that thing heats up the whole house. I buy a bag for about $4 and it can last a couple of days. On the weekends we run it all day and plan to run it all the time when winter comes. It really makes a difference i recommend it to everybody.

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We buy things we dont need,
with money we dont have,
in order to impress people
we dont like?
(Ramsey, D)

Our garage has a storage attic above, but we still insulated the walls & the door (metal framed door). Although it's been a mild winter this year, when it's 0 outside, our garage doesn't get lower than 40. We used stryofoam board made for insulating garage doors. They just slide into the door pieces. If you have living space above your garage, I suggest a garage heater to help keep those rooms warmer too.

As for indoors, I open any window blinds that the sun can help heat the home whether we're home or not.

We bought a whole house humidifier. I was having a hard time dealing with the dry air as my nose was cracking and bleeding. We set the humidity level at 49% and it really helps. More humid air feels warmer(think humid summers), so you can keep the temp a few degrees cooler than you normally would. With the humidity at 49% we keep the thermostat set at 66 during the day and 59 at night. I can't stand a hot house and can't sleep if it's warm. I grew up in a cooler house, it's what I know.

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~*JAMI*~ GO RED SOX! WORLD CHAMPIONS!