That'll Be $22 Billion Extra To Heat Your Homes This Year, Please
Corey Lorinsky | Aug 25, 08 11:00 AM
Since the oil "super spike" began, $4 gas has been in the forefront of most Americans' minds. But that's just because they haven't seen what $100+ oil will do to their home heating bill. The US Energy Department spells that out:

Heating oil users will pay $2,644 on average to heat their homes this winter, up 36.3% from last year.

Homeowners with natural gas, the most popular heating source in the USA, will pay $1,059, a 23.8% increase.

If those predictions hold true, Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Economy.com, estimates that US homeowners will spend an additional $22 billion to heat their homes this year. Accroding to Zandi, that extra oil money translates into a roughly 0.3% drop in GDP.

While it's possible that a recent natural gas drilling boom may alleviate the pain of some consumers, it's also possible these estimates are too low. The numbers above are calculated based on a winter warmer than the average from 1971-2000. Yet the Farmers' Almanac, which claims an accuracy rate of 80-85% for forecasts that are prepared two years in advance, says this year, "numb's the word". The publication predicts below-average temperatures for most of the US. Get ready for a cold winter or a light checkbook -- or both.

well that's shitty

Well, it's a good thing that San Antonio will be at like 50-60 degress this winter anyways.

i guess people have not heard of the cool invention yet called the WOOD BURNING STOVE..lol

ours will be rocking out this winter so fuck heating prices right in the ole brown eye

oh you know it!!! I love that we have the option to burn wood rather than fuel oil or propane...call me a firebug or pyromaniac but I love creating a fire and watching it get nice & stoked,sometimes I actually feel proud of my fire making abilities

yeah wood burning stoves rock especially when you have a yard full of wood that will last you literally a life time of winter burning and then some. ya just set a fan up next to/slightly behind the stove and turn it on and it just throws tornado like heat all about..lol

ME TOOOOOO!! I feel very satisfied with myself when ever I make a fire, knowing I am keeping my family warm


What I also like is going out in the yard and stacking wood...weird i know


but it works out like this... I show my dad or dave which tree to cut down or just cut up since we have about 20 downed trees in the yard from previous storms that we leave out there to dry...so the big guys cut em up, mike damian and i haul them to various wood piles we have strategically all over the yard lol... if they are too big for the stove then Damian gets his axe and chops them up then I stack those.

I also gather twigs and small stuff to keep for kindling.... i hate looking for kindling in the dark or after it rains


PS I think i may be a fire bug

Man I wish it got cold enough here to use our fireplace more than once. We have to get ours checked out though, because it's one of those gas-fireplaces.....oddly enough with the main piece missing out of the fireplace gas-line itself. I don't wanna start a damn fire and then have the leftover gas in the lines explode.....

HAHA,cool - glad I'm not the only firebug on this board