EnergyMiser101

Get A Monthly Gas Meter Reading

     We recently received a gas bill from our local utility, PSE&G,  that was surprisingly high. That's because we weren't home when the professional meter reader was in our neighborhood, and the utility estimated our gas usage for that month. We got a bill for over $300 in estimated gas usage, when our normal amount might be closer to $50!

     After a frantic phone call to the utility, we found out the estimate was based on the company's formula which is a follows:  They take the highest reading for that particular month over that past three years and then apply a premium. (We weren't told what that premium is.)

How We Cut Our Heating-Oil Usage

     It's July and we're celebrating last winter's heating season. Why? Because we just got our final delivery of heating oil and we learned that for the winter of 2008-2009 we used 53 gallons less than last year! And to make victory even sweeter, this winter was about 8 percent colder than the previous one.

     We're very pleased with our conservation efforts! We've been on a nine-year quest to lower our heating-oil usage, and through a variety of techniques—some expensive and some less so, we've cut our consumption of the fuel by more than half.

     Get a load of these numbers: In the winter of 2000-2001 we used 1,500 gallons of heating oil. This  past winter we used 667. How did we manage to get our oil consumption so low? Let's take a quick walk down memory lane.

How Much Does It Cost to Dry My Clothes?

   Presidents Day weekend was a time for household activities. It's kind of humdrum because last weekend we treated ourselves to seeing The Importance of Being Earnest at the Paper Mill Playhouse, and the weekend before was an even bigger treat of spending two nights at a cozy inn in Vermont to celebrate my birthday.

    So, with the whirring of the clothes dryer crowding out thoughts of Oscar Wilde, and of candle-lit dining rooms in the mountains, I started to settle back to the practical. Just how much, I wondered, does it cost to burn natural gas and churn through electricity to get our family clothes dry.  The quick answer is about 25 cents for a 40-minute load. To see how we figured it out, read on. . . .

Should You Switch from Oil to Natural Gas Heat?

(2010 Update: See how we saved on oil consumption year by year.)  

     Oil or gas heat? That is the question we have been pondering for a while now, especially with oil prices so high. So, when we got a flier recently from PSE&G, our local utility, encouraging us to call them for a free estimate on converting to gas, we decided to take them up on the offer. For us, it doesn't pay to change. Here's why.

    I should start by saying that we decided a few years ago to replace our 80-year-old coal-burning furnace, that at some point in the distant past was converted to oil, with a newer, more efficient model.  (We affectionately called the old unit Frosty because it was covered with white asbestos and reminded our then 5-year-old daughter of a snowman!) The new furnace, which cost about $6,500 in 2002, cut our oil use by more than half—from about 1,600 gallons a winter to 750. (At the current price of about $2.60 a gallon, that's a seasonal savings of roughly $2,200—not bad!)