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Date Posted: 20:10:10 05/27/01 Sun
Author: Marlene
Author Host/IP: 216.126.134.88
Subject: Things we're doing (Really LONG)
In reply to: Diane 's message, "I think we need to mount a campaign of......" on 16:45:32 05/27/01 Sun

First let me say....I *hate* to be cold AND I hate to be too hot! But I am older than dirt and I have lived through these energy crises before.

I grew up in a foggy coastal town where 72 was a warm summer day. My Mother was claustrophobic and a fresh air fiend (me too) and we had a "Dutch door" (cut in half in the middle so you could have the bottom closed and the top open.) We *always* had the top open and the gas floor furnace on - YUM!

OK......don't have a hissy fit over this one. Ever heard of a portable Kerosene heater? We have one (got it back in the last energy crisis in the 80's). Ours is a KEROSUN - it is the Cadillac of such things. It heats up our family room/kitchen area nicely in the winter. We just use it in the evening, after dinner when we stay put in that area. When we have really cold temps (not too often in this part of Calif.) we boost it by using our central (gas)heater set at 65. On very cold mornings, when we're busy all over the house we use the central heat. But we try to make use of the sun and prune the trees or bushes that block it from the house. The little Kerosun costs us about $11 to run in the evenings for 6 hours - ($11 for 5gal lasts 3 weeks.) Needless to say, we dress in layers and I always have a blankie over me when reading or watching TV. I have discovered pretty "undershirts", they really help and are not bulky. And I whine constantly "I'm cold......." My husband is an eskimo.

We got AC 2 years ago,(it gets over 100 here in the summer - though we usually have coolish mornings and nights)we thought "we're retired and home much of the time - let's be comfortable in our own home." But now.......we will try to use it little if at all this summer. So we try to get all the cool air into the house by leaving the windows open at night and we just put a screen door on the front door (yuk) to get as much cross-ventilation as possible. In the morning, we close everything and keep the curtains, shades and blinds closed (yuk) so the sun can't beat in. We have very good insulation and double paned windows - that helps a lot. That is "code" in Calif. - how about other states??

I like to listen to talk radio during the day and I have taken to carrying a portable from room to room with me (instead of having 2-3 radios on which I am famous for).

I'm not using the clothes dryer, put up a clothes line in the backyard (this is an offense worthy of gossip here) and I'm washing the laundry in cold water (which I hate but doesn't seem to be hurting anything.)

Not letting the dishwasher go through the dry cycle - open the door and move the racks forward and let things air dry.

Both the bathrooms have light bars that have 7 bulbs - I unscrewed all but 3 (I *hate* dim lighting, but oh well). My new recessed kitchen lights are on 2 switches - so I just use the lights "where I am" instead of flooding the whole kitchen with bright lights (which I *love*).

My electric stove is 220 and I have not used the oven for 2 months. I got a little toaster oven and I can cook 5-6 pieces of chicken, a vegetable or casserole dish, a little cookie sheet and it's working great for us. Also make biscuits, cornbread, bar cookies (8x8 dish fits fine). I try not to use the stove top (also 220) for anything that needs to cook for a long time - stew, beans, pot roast. I use my crockpot or electric skillet. Another neat thing about these portable appliances.........you can plug them in outside if they're going to heat up a hot kitchen. Also couldn't live without my propane gas grill - I use it to cook a lot of our meat as well to brown things I want to put in the crockpot.

We just got our utility bill and gas usage had droped an astounding 60% (we had probably been using the heater a little the previous month) and the electricity use was down about 35% (I was disappointed - been trying *very* hard).

We have a "Balance Payment" plan for utilities (most working folks pay a different amt. each month based on usage). But since we are on a fixed income it's nice to know exactly what it will be each month (they go by your previous 12 months usage and divide by 12. (Adjust it quarterly if needed.) Our bill went from $80 a month to $130 recently and is supposed to take another 60% hike the first of July. Ours is *VERY* low compared to our neighbors who have children and will not do without their accustomed heat and AC.
Oh, and gasoline is $2.07gal this week - will soon go higher.

I am really looking forward to hearing what people pay to keep a house going in other parts of the country.

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