Monday, November 22, 2004
Heating Bill Blues
BConklin1@nc.rr.com
(Those of you in the warmer climates might not be able to relate to this very well. Those of you in colder climates may get an idea for a new side job.)
The Ghetto House stays pretty cool in the summer.....I don't have to run the air conditioner too much...and we stay cool and the bills are manageable. But in winter....the Ghetto House gets very, very cold. I can't imagine a medieval dungeon gets much colder. And I have gas heat. Trying to keep this house warm in the winter is quite a challenge. Unrestrained gas heat usage for a month can run my gas bill up to $300.00! And our gas company is mean....if you get behind they WILL shut you off. So what's a girl to do? She gets a kerosene heater, that's what!
I bought my kerosene heater a few years ago when the natural gas prices started getting crazy and I fell in love. All I have to do is come home in the evenings and turn the gas up to get the house warm quickly. While that's going on I light the kerosene heater. Then I shut off the gas and let the kerosene do its thing all evening. Sometimes it actually gets HOT in here and I have to shut it off. And of course I can't have it on while I'm sleeping but still....but by doing this my gas bill drops to about $45.00 a month and I've spent about $50.00 to $60.00 on kerosene...you do the math. That's about $200.00 buckaroos saved. I LOOOOOOOOVE my kerosene heater.
But...they eventually need to be serviced. Drained, cleaned up, new wick, whatever. No problem. I know this old man at the hardware store that does this. So I take it to him last year and....he had died. So....um....where else can I get my heater serviced? Answer: nowhere in this town, baby. No one in the next town knew how to do it either. I spent part of my winter last year with gas only and freaking out about it. And its been on my mind heavily since the summer ended. I took the heater apart and tried to figure out how to do it myself....but no-can-do....it is obviously beyond the capacity of my intelligence.
So I'm standing in line at the convenience store about a month ago and hear two guys talking about another guy that does it as a side job. OMG! I jumped right into their conversation just like I was the queen of the world. There was no way I was NOT going to find out who serviced kerosene heaters that they knew. So I interrupted the heck out of them but they were nice about it. Next thing you know I have this guy's name, phone number and would have gotten his social security number if I could have.
- here's the kerosene heater repair man. HA! Do you suppose this man ever worried about a heating bill during his entire life? Doubt it!!!!!
And now I have my heater, ready to roll. I have artillery to fight the creeping fingers of frost. I absolutely cannot STAND being too cold. The kind of cold where you climb in bed and you have to pull the ends of the blankets up around your feet like a sleeping bag so you can trap your body heat. The kind of cold where after you finish your shower, you actually have steam rolling off the top of your head because you're so warm and the air is so cold. The kind of cold where walking around with a hot water bottle wrapped in a blankie is NOT something that looks idiotic.
- this hot water bottle is so cute!
Posted by brendalove@gmail.com @ 8:49 AM
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