i read in the paper today (the online edition) that the relatively frigid weather has cranked up people’s fuel bills. i was surprised that the average bill for january was almost $300! actually, that in itself did not surprise me; what did was that ours was just over a hundred (and i thought that was a lot), and that’s with karen and carlos using our gas dryer and with us cranking our water heater up.
in a way it is not that shocking as we keep the apartment rather frigid. we turn the thermostat down to around 46 at night, and when i am home i usually keep it a 50 or 55, and amanda turns it up to 65 at most when she is around. recently, i’ve felt bad for the shivering piglet and have kept the heat on for her when i have been out of the apartment (hence our decadent heating bill… but also from increase in gas price). from reading article, people seem to keep the heat at 75 or even more, so perhaps we are just freaky.
but, then, i have always been parsimonious with the heat. back at my old house in ithaca, i calculated how much each degree would cost me during on average, and that kept the brakes on my heat use. i kept the house in the 42 degree range. i just wore the same clothes inside that i wore outside. as a side bonus it also kept my weight down. i did turn up the heat when guests arrived tho.
i remember amanda coming over once when i had first met her, and she thanked me for turning the heat up before she arrived.
in my old aframe on hunt hill, i remember wearing my winter bicycling gloves while typing on my computer. the heat didn’t really work that place, so i did not really have much of a choice. my life revolved around the one little heating grate in the place.
amanda and i are getting weaker, tho, and keep the heat on more than we used to. she just acquired a mini heating pad for the bed, and it’s the bomb. the heat seeking piglet loves it. cold is bad for the tropical fish, too… another reason to keep the heat on.
anyways, maybe its time to rouse amanda from the couch and take her to bed.