Put Another Log On the Fire
The amount of chatter on rising energy has caused the media to increase its coverage from a roar to a cacophonous din. Now, I had to think what the difference between a roar and a din was so, I went to the dictionary. A roar is defined as; to utter a loud, deep, prolonged sound, especially in distress, rage, or excitement. A din is defined as; a jumble of loud, usually discordant sounds. The difference would be that one is used for distress, rage or excitement and one is used to express the inability to tell the noises apart.
I hear my gas bill is going up 45% this winter. To go along with the 100% increase in gasoline over the last year, it is finally hitting me where it hurts, my free time. I can do several things to minimize the effects of higher gasoline prices. I have posted previously on car pooling and making each trip count, so there are things you can do to at least stay even with the price per gallon issues. The natural gas issue is going to stretch my time budget.
I have a fire place that works well to heat the house. My mother-in-law has a large stash of wood that she no longer uses. All I need to do is get a few loads of wood back to the house and Viola!, I have temporary relief from the plague of higher prices. I also have two base board space heaters that crank out the heat that I can use but that will just ratchet up on the electric bill. I will have to see which is the lesser of the two evils.
Long term, I have started researching solar panels to eliminate my utility needs altogether. A preliminary look tells me that it will cost between $30,000 and $50,000 to have a solar system installed at my house. It looks expensive until you look at the annual electric and natural gas bills combined. Since I will still have to keep natural gas for cooking, it will cost about $40 per month (being conservative). My Winter heat bills are about $1200 (2004 Winter) and electric is about $2400 per year, so I would be saving that. If I take the extremes for the installation, I get (without interest) an 8.3 year payoff or a 13.8 year payoff. After that, no more energy utility bills and free electricity. Wahoo!!!
Since I will have to research more on solar and find out if there are ways to get the price down or get a tax break, it will not happen this year. I will just have to pucker up and take what the utility companies are dishing. I will have the pleasure of sipping a cold one, surfing the net, and putting another log on the fire while I come to a decision.
Icool
Cobb
I hear my gas bill is going up 45% this winter. To go along with the 100% increase in gasoline over the last year, it is finally hitting me where it hurts, my free time. I can do several things to minimize the effects of higher gasoline prices. I have posted previously on car pooling and making each trip count, so there are things you can do to at least stay even with the price per gallon issues. The natural gas issue is going to stretch my time budget.
I have a fire place that works well to heat the house. My mother-in-law has a large stash of wood that she no longer uses. All I need to do is get a few loads of wood back to the house and Viola!, I have temporary relief from the plague of higher prices. I also have two base board space heaters that crank out the heat that I can use but that will just ratchet up on the electric bill. I will have to see which is the lesser of the two evils.
Long term, I have started researching solar panels to eliminate my utility needs altogether. A preliminary look tells me that it will cost between $30,000 and $50,000 to have a solar system installed at my house. It looks expensive until you look at the annual electric and natural gas bills combined. Since I will still have to keep natural gas for cooking, it will cost about $40 per month (being conservative). My Winter heat bills are about $1200 (2004 Winter) and electric is about $2400 per year, so I would be saving that. If I take the extremes for the installation, I get (without interest) an 8.3 year payoff or a 13.8 year payoff. After that, no more energy utility bills and free electricity. Wahoo!!!
Since I will have to research more on solar and find out if there are ways to get the price down or get a tax break, it will not happen this year. I will just have to pucker up and take what the utility companies are dishing. I will have the pleasure of sipping a cold one, surfing the net, and putting another log on the fire while I come to a decision.
Icool
Cobb
posted by Cobb at
6:36 AM
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