Time to put some resolve to the test.I have the thermostat in Chateau Johnson set at 60 degrees. It's going to stay there. I'm determined.
We have an oil-burning furnace. It was here when we moved in, back in 1987. The old thing can't have much longer to live. But I am crossing my fingers and trying not to work it too hard.
It was always my goal to nurse the old furnace along until the whole solar thing gets really cranked. Sadly, I feel like that goal will go unmet. All signs point to the ascendance of Big Oil to a position of even greater power.
I hate to see my hard-earned wages go to the oil company. The only thing I can do is minimize how much oil I use. Having a fireplace helps a little, I must admit.
Here's some free advice tips I'll give you (and pay you to take) if you want to use less oil or natural gas:
1. Do some home improvement project, preferably one that requires going up and down stairs/ladders many times. I did some interior painting today and then swept down the house with a good, old-fashioned broom. Sixty degrees in the house, and I worked up a sweat.
2. Go to the thrift store and buy some warm, fuzzy clothes. When you get home from work, put on the warm, fuzzy clothes. So what if they aren't sexy? (Hope Mr. J doesn't read this.)
3. Those afghans that Grandma knitted for you 40 years ago? Get them out! Snuggle under them! They're bought and paid for.
EXHIBIT A: ANNE IS UNDER THERE SOMEWHERE
4. When you've finished baking something in the oven, leave it open for a few minutes after you've turned it off. This is a brief fix, but it does work.
5. This is an old one, and the hardest one for me to enact. Turn off the lights and all appliances you aren't using whenever you leave the room. Electricity isn't oil, but it's energy all the same.
6. Ask a bored deity for help. I guarantee you, if you complain that your house is cold to a Goddess like Sedna, She's going to laugh at you and call you a weakling.
7. Bonus: Being cold means you're burning more calories. Which means you can binge on the candy corn that's still here from Halloween!
It comes down to this. Every time that furnace comes on, Big Oil wins. Every hour you can go without it, you win. If you can't avoid doing business with these evil fucks, at least you can minimize what you put in their pockets.
Big Oil isn't going to get bigger on my account. Now I've got to say goodbye, because my fingers are too numb to type.
4 comments:
It totally went from warm t-shirt weather to bitter cold frostbite weather overnight! We use these heating corn bag things at my house that are great for aching muscles AND to put at the end of your bed at night to warm up your toes. I'm all about conserving. We do have a fireplace...but we actually had a house fire due to a wood burning furnace when I was a kid so we're scared to use it. But, we keep it pretty chill. Wishing you mugs of hot chocolate! I'm still so very glad you're blogging again :)
my apt is so well insulated that even when it was 38 degrees outside last night it was 74 degrees. I was raised in military and I was taught never leave a light on in a room if you weren't in it..and we used lamps a lot..with low wattage bulbs..why light up the entire room if you are in one corner reading a book?
oh last month my electric bill was $50..during the summer it was $42
Anne,
Our temps are in the single digits this week and I admit to keeping the thermostat at 69'. Next spring we are adding additional insulation to the house and replacing our 1960's windows and frames. Hopefully that will help.
I'm glad you are posting again.
Love from Alaska,
KimberlyinAK
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