We've been on an annual budget plan for years where they bill you a fixed amount each month, and then we ante-up any overage in July and they issue an adjusted rate for the next year based on current cost. My monthly was $182/mo. but now it's $454/mo. effective July. Our boiler uses oil for both hot water and baseboard heat, and it's not like we can just rip it out and replace it with all-electric stuff without a huge outlay.
I'm really torqued over this. If you're a heating oil consumer, prepare yourself to take it in the rear.
"Just turn down your thermostat to save money" Does not work!
In a cold Winter (MI) at 72 degrees my furnace runs constantly to maintain temp.
At say 65 degrees it still runs constantly to maintain temp.
The only "savings" is the brief time period when you actually turn it down from 72 to 65.
Insulation is one helluva money saver. Just got foam in the walls. Doesn’t settle like blown in fiberglass. Fiberglass also doesn’t seal, just acts as a heat pillow.
How well insulated a house is does not matter for what I am saying.
If you take two identical houses and one thermostat is set at 72 and the other is at 65, the furnace will run the same amount of time on a cycle to maintain the temp set. So it will cost the same in fuel to maintain either temp setting
Oh I completely agree. But to those with uninsulated houses, fix yo’self
You can lower the temp of your water heater so it’s not constantly trying heat it to up 140 or whatever - a plumber once told me in the 80s when electric was high that you can turn off the water heater at night then flip it on the the morning an hour before you shower. It did lower our bill. For oil ones just lower down to 100 degrees
I guess "constantly" was a poor choice of words.
My point is the furnace runs the same amount of time to maintain 72 or 65, because it comes on when the thermostat drops one degree and goes off once it reaches the set temp.
Fuel usage is identical, so how does it save money by lowering your thermostat?
Maybe in your scenario but the OUTSIDE temperature is what really matters and how much insulation is in the attic. Heat rises.....right into the attic and out the roof. Check around your neighborhood after a snowfall and see who's house loses the snow the fastest OFF the roof. Dead give away...not enough insulation. And that will VERY Much affect your heating bill! And how hard your furnace has to work to keep the temperature up at 72. Which to me is way to high...68 and a sweater works good for us.
Also depends on the efficiency of the furnace, and tech used in it. For a while there it was considered cheaper to run the furnace at lower power, but near constantly vs. It going full bore for a while, then shut off, then blast, then off.