This winter was so cold up here in the north woods. My husband and I moved into a house that is heated by propane last summer. We had never heated with propane before and were shocked at the prices. Last winter we spent almost $3000 to heat our home and dry clothes. Insane!
This year we are determined to cut that expense to the bone using several strategies. First, we have taken to hanging out clothes out whenever possible. The weather has been pretty cooperative this summer. When it rains, we use drying racks and a handy fan pointed directly at the racks. This has dramatically cut our propane use just from drying clothes alone. It doesn't heat up the house during the hot days too. And it has cut the time it takes to actually do laundry. Instead of waiting for that next load to dry before washing the next load, we can do several loads, hang them out, and go about our business. I love the smell too, no dryer sheet can compare to the hung outside smell.
Next, we have a wood stove in the basement that we plan to rely on this winter for heating the place. My Dad was generous enough to give us a couple ricks of wood from trees he trimming around his own property. This gives us a head start for fall. We also plan to buy a few ricks when it gets closer to fall.
Lastly, propane costs have dropped this year. We pre-purchased at a cheaper rate per gallon ($1.79 vs. $2.09 last year). This price drop may be a big savings this winter. We simply had to sign up at a fee of $69 to get the low price.
Hopefully, thanks to these steps our heat bill will be much lower this year.
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