No wonder I'm BROKE!!

[Reed Wells]

Well I had an interesting conversation with my accountant today. As of May 31 my LP gas bill for the house and the shop came to $5400.00 for the last 12 months. That includes cooking and hot water for the house and about 1400 sq/ft of heat, and my shop is a little over 2100 sq/ft. I realize I live in the North/North but does this sound right? I do know one thing, next heating season I will be heating both with wood. I know that I can heat both for about $800.00 a year if I want to have someone else cut it. OK I've vented. What are you other cold weather guys paying to heat your homes?

[Don Abele]

Reed, I'm in Massachusetts with a 2000 sq ft house and use oil for heat and hot water. I spend about $2500 a year in oil. When I had my sewer put in last year (converted from septic tank) I had the option to hook up to gas at the same time. I had them run the piping ($500) but not hook up. If someone in the future wants it, it is readily available right at the foundation.

On the other hand, my sewer connection was something I regret now. I was spending about $200 a year to have my tank pumped. We switched over to city sewer to increase the value (direct quote from realtor) when we sell. My sewer bill alone is costing me about $1000 a year They said it's because of my sprinkler system. I pay septic for ALL water use, even that which does not go down the drain. Of course I could have a second meter installed just for the outside water use - $1200 to install and even in the winter when I'm not using any outside water, I still have to pay $50/month!!! No thank you. Glad I'll be selling the house soon and moving out of this state.

Be well,

Doc

[Jeffrey Makiel]

Reed...my natural gas bill in New Jersey is about $3,000 for a 46' x 27' ranch home with so-so insulation. It's for heating, hot water and a gas dryer (not used that much). Considering your colder climate, and heating two separate buildings, $5,400 is probably not out of the question.

Don...my sewage authority has an appeal form that I must fill out every year within 30 days of my sewage bill specifically to waive my water usage for my lawn sprinkler. They told me that they look at all my quarterly billings for the year (especially the winter bill), and adjust according. It reduces the original billing by more than one half. I suggest you give your sewage authority a call. I find it hard to believe that they wouldn't have a similar process.

Regarding city sewage...On the positive side, you will never have to replace a city sewage system. Older septic fields often become saturated and a new system must be installed. This is big dollars (up to $20,000) and a lot of aggravation and disruption.

-Jeff

[Joe Pelonio]

We are not as cold as you either, and have forced air natural gas furnace so there's some electricity as well as the gas. We also have gas stove and fireplace, but if you look at winter compared to summer it amounts to about
$2,700 to heat September-about June when I shut it down. Not yet though,
still mid 40s at night these days.

[Bryan Rocker]

$5400 doesn't sound that bad, I heat with propane and I think I spent around $1,800 for just my 1600 sq ft house with only attic insulation. It is getting painful though, I mean at $2.68 a gallon for propane, and $600 a fill it makes insulating the walls look better and better.......

[Jon Klear]

Good god I will never complain to my wife again about the Public service bill. Just under 3000 square feet, gas forced air, gas dryer. We don't touch $2000 a year.

[Brian Elfert]

My house is 2,700 square feet in Minneapolis, MN. I expect to pay between $1,800 and $2,000 for natural gas and electricity combined this year.

My water and sewer will be about $350 this year, but I rarely water my grass. A few years back they started charging for sewer year round based on the water used in Jan, Feb, and Mar. That way you don't pay for sewer for water used for pools, lawns, and such during the spring, summer, and fall.

[Greg Funk]

About $3,300 for gas in Vancouver. 4200 sq ft house and 450 sq ft shop. I keep my shop around 55F in the winter. That also includes swimming pool heat in the summer.

Greg

[Peter Stahl]

Reed, I'm in Massachusetts with a 2000 sq ft house and use oil for heat and hot water. I spend about $2500 a year in oil. When I had my sewer put in last year (converted from septic tank) I had the option to hook up to gas at the same time. I had them run the piping ($500) but not hook up. If someone in the future wants it, it is readily available right at the foundation.

On the other hand, my sewer connection was something I regret now. I was spending about $200 a year to have my tank pumped. We switched over to city sewer to increase the value (direct quote from realtor) when we sell. My sewer bill alone is costing me about $1000 a year They said it's because of my sprinkler system. I pay septic for ALL water use, even that which does not go down the drain. Of course I could have a second meter installed just for the outside water use - $1200 to install and even in the winter when I'm not using any outside water, I still have to pay $50/month!!! No thank you. Glad I'll be selling the house soon and moving out of this state.

Be well,

Doc

You might be able to get a separate water meter for you sprinklers. Depends on your water company. My Brother had his do it but this is way south of you. He then put in a well for his sprinklers and really saved a lot. He watered his lawn often and heavy.

[Peter Stahl]

My gas bill in NJ was about $450 for Jan & Feb. Only about $250 for Dec & March. I don't heat a garage either. We have a 2200 sqft house with a basement.

[Jim Becker]

Calendar 2007....$1550 for gas. Some portion of the $3000 we put out for electric over the same period obviously goes towards running the HVAC system, especially during air conditioning season as well as the electric radiant heaters in my shop on cold weekend days. The addition will add some expense, although it's insulated to a superior level, so it will not be proportional. Unfortunately, PECO just announced a major-major increase in the cost of natural gas, too...oy! We may be using our wood stove a lot more in the coming years!

[Dennis Peacock]

My natural gas bill was always between $300-$400 per month for Dec - Feb. Put in a soapstone woodstove and I get all my firewood for free. Now my winter gas bill is under $40 a month.

[Lee DeRaud]

A quick poke around in Quicken...

Natural gas was $22/$50/$10 (average/high/low) for the last 12 months. The high point is in what passes for winter here...in the summer it's just hot-water heater, dryer, and stove.

The city bill (combined electric/water/sewer) was $115/$140/$90 (average/high/low). The hot months cause a spike in both electric (A/C) and water (lawn).

Total for the year was about $1650. A smallish house in a decent climate helps a lot.

[Pat Germain]

Glad I'll be selling the house soon and moving out of this state.

Be well,

Doc

Funny how the very city which hosted a famous "Tea Party" now has some of the highest taxes and fees in the nation.

[Jim King]

Geographic and Climatic Data for Iquitos Peru

This data for Iquitos Peru is from the NASA Langley Atmospheric Science Data Research Center.
Latitude: Minus 3.75 degrees south of the equator.
The altitude above sea level is approximately 350 feet.
The Coordinated Universal Time of Peru is UTC-5, the same as Florida and New York, Eastern Standard Time.
The time difference between the longest day and the shortest day is only 18 minutes.
The temperature measured by ° F averaged from 22 years of data per month:
(Jan. 82.09) (Feb. 81.86) (Mar. 82.60) (Apr. 82.06) (May 82.42) (June 82.20)
(July 82.04) (Aug 83.55) (Sept. 85.78) (Oct. 86.59) (Nov. 84.88) (Dec. 82.87)
The average rainfall at the Iquitos Port is 103 inches per year. March and April have slightly more rain on a 10 year average, and July and August have slightly less than average, but contrary to popular belief there is very little difference in month to month precipitation in Iquitos. The water level of the river fluctuates by as much as 40 feet per year, triggered by rainfall and snow melt on the east slopes of the Andes.