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Sunday, sunny and cold

Started by Barb, November 14, 2021, 07:12:19 AM

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Barb

Good morning everyone!  I left one window open in my sunroom overnight, accidentally,  this morning it feels freezing in there.  I am  hoping my plants are OK,  the room is packed with all kinds of plants.  Will let you know how they do.  Many are tropical.  At least no fishtank out there.

Yes Ron, I am thankful to still have my mom. she will be 98 in May.  I  am her only caregiver and it gets a bit much at times, but it is work of love.  And she is so appreciative of everything.  That helps a lot.  I love her dearly.

I want to turn on the natural gas in my fireplace and leave the pilot light running from now until March, but with the price of natural gas going way up now I am wondering if I should do it this year.  Last Winter I had a fire every night from 5pm-11pm, this year I may not and just dress warmer.  My house has a gas furnace too.  How do you all heat?
Have a good day everybody!
Barb

wsantia1

Good morning Barb and everyone. It is a cold morning to start the day but we'll get up to 50 with plenty of sunshine and no rain. Barb my heating is natural gas. It's been reasonable tohe last couple of years but I am wary about this winter's gas bills.

I'm just relaxing in the fishroom for the time being. I can't get myself moving like I want too because my back is a little stiff. I'm kind of thinking that the shot I had a few weeks ago is already wearing off. I am trying to keep my mind off of it for now. huh

I'll check in a little later but in the meantime have a great day everyone. |^| |^| |^|
Willie

Too Many Fish. Not Enough Tanks.

LizStreithorst

Hi Barb.  It got down to 33 today at the airport just 7 miles down the highway.  I suppose I should buy an outdoor thermometer of my own.  I rolled out to the garden and my basil got nipped but nothing else as far as I can tell.  It will get up to the mid 60's this afternoon and will get warmer for the next few days.  I'll put off playing outside till tomorrow.

All on my must do list for today is make a box for shipping snots tomorrow and going to the store for broccoli and beer.  I have to wait until 1 o'clock because the holy rollers in my county have made laws prohibiting beer sales until then.

I use Propane for heating and cooking.  It's expensive too.  I always try to conserve because the price is not only dependent on the supply chain but to demand as well.  I guess it's the same with everything.  A tank full of propane costs $250. last month.  It doesn't last as long when I run the central heat in the winter and when the tank needs filling again (I made it to
late March last year) the price is always way higher and I just put in enough to get me through to July or August when prices are at the lowest.  How much is your electric bill?  I'd like to know from everyone if it's an acceptable question.  My fish room kills me in the winter because heat my water to 82 degrees and the heaters have to work harder.   and the AC kills me in the summer.  On average I pay $250. a month.  Jack and Judy up the road pay around $150. a month.  But they have a newer more efficient heat pump.  They also have a very good wood stove like I used to have. 

Willie, most folks say that the second shot lasts a lot longer.  Call your Dr and tell them you need the second one.  Neither of them worked for me.  All that helps me is doing less and laying down.  Tuesday I go back to the pain doctor and he will have looked at the MRI and read the report.

Hoping everyone stays warm and Ron stays cool today:)

Always move forward. Never look back.

BallAquatics

Morning all.  Temp is currently 33 and going up to 38 later.  Forecast is for 2" of snow, but it won't last at those temps.

I heat and cool with geothermal so no fuel costs, but it does use electric.  I average a bit less than $150 a month.

LizStreithorst

How does your Geothermal work Dennis? 
Always move forward. Never look back.

Ron Sower

#5
Hello again!...and hey there, Dennis!... :D

Welllll....after I shut down my last post this morning, I rolled over in bed to sleep, and couldn't until after 5:30...! wfwf I don't know what in heck was going on...I would get into a semi-dream state and then fully waken...around 2am my face started itching and kept it up until I did finally drift off...let's see how I make it through the day on 3 hours of sleep... ???

One of the rice fish is struggling and laying upside down...don't think he'll make it...still not sure which tank they will go in, but I'll figure it out today sometime...the plan was to work the fishroom this morning and clean up the patio this afternoon...the plan may reverse since I got up so late and we really need to shape up the patio area...

We heat with electricity here... our heat pump is fairly new...we're on a budget pay plan that adjusts every quarter and right now it's $150 monthly, up from $137 last quarter...not too bad for electricity...

Willie, those shots vary in effectiveness from person to person and time to time...at least that's been my experience...it's bummer when they don't live up to our hopes or expectations...the last cortisone shot I had for my sacroiliac has worked like a charm for me!...still have other areas in the lower back that bother me all the time though...

Weather here is still nice...75 right now and going to mid 80s...I hope you don't lose your plants, Barb...I'm leaving the window in the fishroom open at night because it gets so warm and stuffy in there since I installed the last set of box lights over the 125 tetra tank...it's comfortable when I go in there in the mornings...

That's all for now folks.. stay well...have fun... and don't take wooden nickels!!!... ;)
Happy Aquariuming,
Ron

BallAquatics

Quote from: LizStreithorst on November 14, 2021, 11:01:36 AM
How does your Geothermal work Dennis?

Hi Liz!  There are pipes buried in the ground, 1500 feet of 1" HDPE pipe.  I put it in when we we working at closing an old landfill nearby, and I brought a backhoe home one weekend.  I dug five 4 foot deep trenches 300 feet long.  They all terminate into a pit where they are manifolded together and run into the craw-space under the house.

The pipes attach to a pump at the furnace / ac unit.  The water antifreeze mix in the pipes comes into the house at around 54 degrees year round.  In the summer, the heat-exchanger in the unit, puts the heat from the house into the outbound pipe and draws the cold from the inbound pipe.  It really doesn't work very hard in the summer and keeps the house as cool as I want it.

All the magic happens in the winter!  The unit takes calories of heat from the 54 degree water and adds them up until they total around 75 degrees and then blows the warm air into the house.  The outbound pipe then sends the water antifreeze mix back out into the ground to get warmed back up to 54 degrees and it does it all over again.  An interesting note:  When I was installing the buried pipes, the furnace company told me to stay at least 8 feet away from my well.  The unit is so efficient at removing the heat from the ground, that in very cold weather it would make the well freeze if the buried pipes were too close.

We switched over to the geothermal from oil heat some 20+ years ago and it cost about an extra $2000 for the unit than it would have to installed another oil fired unit.  I did save a bundle by being able to install buried pipes myself though.

The oil unit used a buried 650 gallon tank for fuel and we could just get through the winter on a full tank.  Way back then, we could get what they called a "Summer Fill Up" for about .85 cents a gallon.  Today's cost is somewhere north of $3.00 a gallon.  I've been very happy with the geothermal.  LOL


LizStreithorst

I wish I'd known about that when I was making money.
Always move forward. Never look back.

Barb

Interesting to hear how you all are heating and AC'ing.  Here I heat with natural gas, and my AC is a regular electric outside unit.  In summer when very hot, my electric bill is a bit over $200 and in winter when very cold about the same.  But in Spring and Fall, usually $150 or less. But my water, sewer and trash pick up are also included in the monthly bill too. So I think my bills are quite reasonable. Also, a lot of my electric bill is from all my grow lights in my violet room, and the 2 powerful water pumps in my pond.  My 7 yr old home was built very energy efficient.  My other older home, built in 1999, had bills regularly in the high $300-400 each mo.  It was not efficient at all.

wsantia1

Quote from: Barb on November 15, 2021, 05:46:02 AM
Interesting to hear how you all are heating and AC'ing.  Here I heat with natural gas, and my AC is a regular electric outside unit.  In summer when very hot, my electric bill is a bit over $200 and in winter when very cold about the same.  But in Spring and Fall, usually $150 or less. But my water, sewer and trash pick up are also included in the monthly bill too. So I think my bills are quite reasonable. Also, a lot of my electric bill is from all my grow lights in my violet room, and the 2 powerful water pumps in my pond.  My 7 yr old home was built very energy efficient.  My other older home, built in 1999, had bills regularly in the high $300-400 each mo.  It was not efficient at all.

Barb my billing is very similar to yours. Most of my electric bill is for the fishroom which is in the basement. My basement is climate controlled so that adds to the utility bills considerably.
Willie

Too Many Fish. Not Enough Tanks.