We need to declare war against GAS PRICES (natural gas)

Conserve and Unite or Gas Prices may worsen

The winter of 2005 was when I really first started caring about gas prices. It always annoyed me when the NICOR billed arrived but I figured it wasn't that bad and there was nothing to do about it. We must have heat and hot water to survive. It didn't really affect me until I moved into a large farmhouse in 2005. My first bill from NICOR, was higher than before but I had always lived in apartments so I chalked it up to the size of the house. My second bill (which of course arrives rightr after Christman) was ASTRONOMICAL, and basically put me into my own little personal recession until I got all my credit cards and bills paid up (which took maybe 6 months). I recall my NICOR bill being around $1,000 for the Winter months of Dec. '05, Jan '06, & Feb '07.

When winter rolled back around the next year I literally declared war against NICOR. I lined every single window in my house with a tight layer of insulated plastic (check your local hardware stores) and then another loose layer of insulated plastic. I hung heavy blankets over those windows if it was not a well used area of the house. I shut down half of the farmhouse keeping doors closed and closing heating vents and also hanging blankets in some areas with no doors to control the hot air flow and trap it in the main living areas. I also bought about $200 worth of electric space heaters with temperature control gauges and used those as my primary heating source (I must warn you if you have children or are not at home space heaters are very capable of starting fires in your house if not careful).

By the time I got all my COMED & NICOR bills I saved around $500 as opposed to the winter before. My electric bill was much higher, but my NICOR bill was much, much lower. I also have to warn everyone: BE SURE TO MONITOR YOUR THERMS GAUGE OUTSIDE THE HOUSE. NICOR will usually estimate one bill & "read" your meter the next month. I don't know if this is the same everywhere, but at this farmhouse they never actually read the meter, they were always estimating. I had to go outside in the snow & check my meter, then call NICOR to get a correct bill sent out.

I have finally relocated away from the farm house, which was a sieve for hot air in the winter. I now reside in a townhouse made of brick, which is part of a large 3 unit structure. I am the middle unit and notice around a 10 degree difference right off the bat with no heat on. I have not resorted to the extremes of last year yet, but I will definitely supplant my natural gas heating source with a lot of electric heat as it is still much cheaper for now.

This may not affect every household, but right now is the time to get your house "winterized" because I believe the reports are that natural gas prices will be even higher this coming winter.