This is not a good winter

Hofy wrote: »

The only thing I hate about this winter is the propane "shortage". $5.20/gallon to heat my house right now. January's bill was $800!!

Wow...that would be enough for me to make some drastic changes. Good old natural gas for me was 110 bucks. You should look into one of those outside wood burners to heat your house....heck man, any other option is better than 800 clams a month.

Hofy wrote: »

The only thing I hate about this winter is the propane "shortage". $5.20/gallon to heat my house right now. January's bill was $800!!

That's brutal !!!!
Our bill with natural gas was almost $350 and we have large old home built in 1926. Not an efficient home by any means.

westmassguy wrote: »

That is brutal, even oil would be cheaper. Our natural Gas usage was around the same $350.00 for January due to the Polar Vortex. But we're on a budget, so it's only $140.00 a month for 12 months. That includes heat, hot water, cooking and gas dryer too. Natural Gas up here has gone way down, with all the new supplies due to "Fracking".

Even 350 is high for natural gas....you set your thermostat at a Key West setting ?

Nice to see the laws of supply and demand work to keep prices down up there.

tonyb wrote: »

Wow...that would be enough for me to make some drastic changes. Good old natural gas for me was 110 bucks. You should look into one of those outside wood burners to heat your house....heck man, any other option is better than 800 clams a month.

I wish we had an option. Gave up my old house last year and moved into a mobile home that we own but it is in a mobile home park in the country. We really like it here as it is quiet and lots of space around us. However we are very limited on what we can do outside the home since we do not own the land.

Hofy wrote: »

I wish we had an option. Gave up my old house last year and moved into a mobile home that we own but it is in a mobile home park in the country. We really like it here as it is quiet and lots of space around us. However we are very limited on what we can do outside the home since we do not own the land.

Gotcha.....Then it's time to take that mobile home and move it to Arizona....LOL

westmassguy wrote: »

It's a fairly big house Tony. Half is 50+ years old the other about 25. The new half is well insulated, the other not so much.
Still, $1700.00 for the year, with hot water, cooking and a dryer is very good for these parts.

Just curious pal, what does your electric bill look like in your neck of the woods ? Mine sucks, around 200 a month, and that's just me and the wife, one TV...2 computers....electric stove....2 refrigerators...washer/gas dryer, dishwasher, gas Hot water heater.

I try to figure out what I do differently from summer to winter because in summer it averages 160 a month and that's with running the A/C. Maybe shorter days in the winter means lights are on longer, but by that much ? Most my bulbs are those energy savings ones too which I hate. Sometimes I think the electric company screws with you.

My real estate taxes run about 7500. Talking to the wife the other day we came to the conclusion that we could not afford to retire and still live where we do. By retirement time, taxes will be well over 10 g's plus utilities...gas/electric/water/garbage....upkeep on the house.....your getting close to 2 g's a month and that's with a paid off house. Add in food costs, car costs, any medical bills, lawyers to defend my right to run around my property naked. Which means we'll be eating PB&J sammies and drinking Kool-aid.

Now I know why people move to Florida/Arizona/Texas/New Mexico to retire. Screw winter, screw the high costs of living and hit the road. South Carolina is looking pretty good to me these days. Can't do Florida...or Arizona, too hot. Then there's Belize....

That's still a pretty penny for electric in August. Even here , and the wife turns on the A/C when it gets to 85, never climbs above 200 bones. Your taxes are pretty cheap out your way. Maybe your furnace and A/C are old and not that energy efficient ?

Same boat as you, about 10 years out from retirement. Good thing for me is the wife can work from anywhere, she's not beholden to an office. Starting to wonder if now would be a better time to make that jump rather than wait.

Climate models...if you believe in their accuracy, suggest we are in a cold spell for the next 10-15 years. That sucks...10 more years of these kind of winters is enough to make anyone start thinking about moving closer to the equator.

pumpkinman wrote: »

I spend about $1700 a year on natural gas for heat and hot water. That's 2100 sq. plus we have some heat in our 1200 sq. basement.
So $800 for propane for a mobile home is just sick. I'm guessing sq. footage would be 1200 or less. If we were still using oil cost would be about $2900.

1280 sq ft Mobile. What really sucks is last winter when my father in law still lived here LP was $1.32/gal and it would cost around $100 a month.

tonyb wrote: »

J
My real estate taxes run about 7500. Talking to the wife the other day we came to the conclusion that we could not afford to retire and still live where we do. By retirement time, taxes will be well over 10 g's plus utilities...gas/electric/water/garbage....upkeep on the house.....your getting close to 2 g's a month and that's with a paid off house. Add in food costs, car costs, any medical bills, lawyers to defend my right to run around my property naked. Which means we'll be eating PB&J sammies and drinking Kool-aid.

Now I know why people move to Florida/Arizona/Texas/New Mexico to retire. Screw winter, screw the high costs of living and hit the road. South Carolina is looking pretty good to me these days. Can't do Florida...or Arizona, too hot. Then there's Belize....

No need to move too far away from Chitown. I am selling my house in West Lafayette. The property taxes there are 600 bucks... FOR THE YEAR!

tonyb wrote: »

Maybe I'm not in the know, but what changed from last winter to this winter in the propane markets ? Last winter obviously being warmer, this one colder, but why the shortage ? 1.32-5.00 is a good leap.

They are claiming a shortage because so much LP was used for drying the crops in the fall because it was so wet. Plus this intense cold is creating greater demand. Supply and gouge I mean demand. It is pretty sad when a buddy of mine calls in for LP and gets quoted $4.49/gal and an hour later his brother calls and it is already up to $4.99. Some places are charging upto $7.00/gal. I need to save up enough to get my own property again with some wood on it. I grew up with wood heat and it is the warmest even in a drafty old farm house.

tonyb wrote: »

Yeah...well death by boredom is no fun. LOL

Hey, we roll up the sidewalks at night around here

tonyb wrote: »

At least you wait 'till night time. Out in the boonies of Indiana they start at noon.

LOL, too funny

A woman I know just told me she was told by the propane company that if she wanted any propane now she had to fill her tank. That's quite a switch from their tune just a little while ago when they were rationing it because of this purported shortage. I guess they see the price dropping now and want to get a little blood sucking in at the record high prices. She told them to F-off and then they said perhaps they could "make an exception in her case." Sssssss. Bleeders. Blood suckers. Parasites.

tonyb wrote: »

Easy cowboy...no disrespect meant. Indiana just isn't my cup of tea is all. Matter of fact, neither is Chicago which is why I'm way out in the NW burbs. Illinois as a state....you can keep it. If it wasn't for family, I would have said adios along time ago.

Propane blood suckers....sounds like a new comic book super villain. LOL Possibly destined to do battle with the new justice league of....Super Frackers.

Never used propane, but call me stupid if I ask why people don't buy bigger tanks and fill up early on when prices are cheap.

I will be so glad when they finally fix this place. My post was all meant in jest Tony.... you know you are my huckleberry.

westmassguy wrote: »

It's a fairly big house Tony. Half is 50+ years old the other about 25. The new half is well insulated, the other not so much.
Still, $1700.00 for the year, with hot water, cooking and a dryer is very good for these parts.

I've been doing $1750 a year on gas/electric for a 5K sq ft place (which includes the heated basement) and I've kept it fairly warm in the winter and cool in the summer. The place is about 8 yrs old and seems fairly well insulated. I usually make two payments a year so its easy to track. It keeps going up every year though, it was $1600 two years ago. I don't use the dryer, just hang up the clothes damp and try to conserve where easy to. I think I've used it 4 times in the past 7 years.