Heat bills will soar this year (Oil @ $4.39 a gallon - and rising)

Delaware Online | 6/22/08 | AARON NATHANS

[Eska]

Our community is 100 Whites & 28 Indians, split community. The Indians have a Indian Corporation sponsered clinic with 2 EMT's; they can stitch you up, set bones, do an EKG, ect ect; I mean no open heart surgury but they are actually pretty good. I wouldn't hesitate letting Bruce cut me open in an emergency. They have quick access to Tribal Docts at Indian hospital in fairbanks and have all medicine they need. They can have a med evac plane here in an hour, weather permitting; flys in all the time actually for heart attacks, alcohol poisoning, ect.

The Indian clinic us really only for Indians but they take everybody and is funded by Tanana Chiefs (tribal corporation. The Native Way (sharing). Ya know, if the shoe was on the other foot, I wonder if us White people would do the same for Indians; really don't think so. Anyway, everybody here appreciates the (50 years removed from the stoneage) Indians generosity over the medical clinic.

[McLynnan]

Thank you. Some parts of the country have to worry about staying warm, for me I worry about staying cool. My biggest fear is electricity will become too expensive to keep my air conditioning on for six months out of the year. I had the good luck to sign a two year electric contract in April so I should be okay in the short term. I love Texas but air conditioning is all that makes it habitable for me.

[SLB]

We have a SEER 15 heat pump that was just installed four years ago. When this one goes, we go geothermal. Even if electricity is only $0.0637 a KwH which equates to about $2.59 a gallon for the same heat as a gallon of $4.00 to $5.00 oil, we supplement with wood in the winter. Nothing warmer than a toasty Vermont Castings stove on a cold winter morning.

I work at Ft Knox and the Army there has gone geothermal to the max. I have given up on counting the number of wells that are being drilled on post on any one day. Each building that is undergoing renovation for the move of the Human Resources Command to here is getting geothermal as are all existing buildings.

[wolf78]

Nothing warmer than a toasty Vermont Castings stove on a cold winter morning.

Couldn't agree more. My parents used to have a masonry stove, a replica of a historic model. As a child I spent many a fall in the forests collecting wood with my father.

Now my parents are old and have district heating (nearby power plant, I think).

[Waco]

ain’t this fun?

[loboinok]

Wood won’t be free for long if the LIBERAL Envirowacko’s have anything to say about it.

Environazis can pound sand!

I own 17 acres out in the sticks. 10 acres is timber. I bought this place at the same time a neighbor bought 110 acres behind me. He logged most of his land and told me to take all the wood I wanted. I burned for 3 years off of that.

Then we had the ice storm of 2000; another 3 years.

Then the elect. co-op started cutting trees back 50 ft. on both sides (due to the ice storm)and I cut another 3 years.

A neighbor west of me has been logging his walnut and oak for 2 years and I burn all the slab wood and tops.

Plenty of wood and no environazis... life is good.

[Libloather]

...ain’t this fun?

I just started building my own oil rig in the backyard. How far down do I have to drill again?

[jmaroneps37]

Thanks rats and rinos.

[steve86]

My sincere sympathies to those in the northeast (primarily).

When I grew up in eastern WA state we had the only oil-fired residential furnace of which I was aware (there had to be others). Oil was so cheap hardly anyone paid attention to the cost (like gasoline then). Amazing even to see what 5 gallons of kerosene costs nowadays.

Now we are electric/natural gas/propane, but I understand that these are not feasible options in the NE (except for propane?)

In case we lose all heating options at our house for some reason, I keep my one-ton van ready to go with propane heat and RV-type AC for the summer.