Disclaimer: While I love fashion, when it comes to chillin’ at home, I go for function over beauty. Read ahead at your own risk.
It’s late, but I wanted to squeeze this post in today for my friend Sunny. She’s started a series/party called “What the !@#!$ Are You Wearing Wednesdays” – for all us non-conventional ladies out here in blog land – and I thought it was a great opportunity to show you how Ryan and I subsisted on ONE single tank of oil for 11.5 months.
Yes, you read that right. We moved into this abode last April, with a full tank of oil. And we didn’t have to get it filled until this week. Can I get a “hell yeah?”
Oil heat’s a dirty word. Not just because oil is not the most eco-friendly fuel, but also because of how much money it costs to fill the damn tank. Almost $1000 (around here, at least) for a 275 gallon tank. So all winter I lived in fear of having to order that fill-up. I knew we could save money by keeping the thermostat low – after all, I did that at my old condo and cut the heating costs by around 80%. Ryan complained that he could see his breath in the air indoors. And then made me promise that the house would be warmer than 50 degrees when we moved in together. Craziness, I tell you! 😉
So this past winter we kept our thermostat at 65 most times, only pushing it up to 67 when I was super cold. But as the winter wore on, and that little tank gauge began to edge ominously towards the 1/2 marker, I got stingy and started nudging the thermostat lower. By easing into the cooler home temps we managed to acclimate to a norm of 63 degrees. It was even colder than that in the bedroom, where for some reason the walls and windows seem drafty. Ryan’s office, conveniently enough, was much warmer. No fair!
So how did we manage such a thing? Well I’m glad you asked. I bundled up.
Oh, the things I do to save money on heat!
Yep, that’s me, all bundled up for an evening in the cold abode. Double layers of PJs, topped with an old robe, with a large scrap of fleece fabric tied around my neck in what I referred to as my “warming cape.” It covered more real estate than a regular scarf, you see.
I can’t believe I’m sharing this photo. When my friends saw me in even worse getup last winter, at the old condo, they made me go out and buy a set of warm PJs because apparently I looked atrocious in my thermal underwear and turtleneck sweater and coat and hat. I resisted. . . until I saw their photos. I will not share those photos with you. Ever.
But anyway, that’s “What the &!$#@$ Are You Wearing: Cold Abode Edition.”
Oh, and get this: when we had the tank filled this week, we only had to put in 200 gallons. Yep, in 11.5 months we only used 200 gallons. The woman at the oil company was truly stunned. She was convinced that we had backup heat. And by that she didn’t mean my fashionable attire . . . or four furry pets.
So tell me, have you or would you go to these ridiculously unfashionable lengths to save money on heat?
24 Comments
Nice one. I am all about the anti-fashion clothes for practicality and warmth thing most of the time when I’m home, especially in the winter. I think most of the time I look like a cross between a circus freak and a bag lady. But, hell, who cares as long as I’m warm and comfortable, right?
I have to admit, I don’t think I could deal with how cold it always is in regular houses in the winter! With such a small space to heat and such a big wood stove, it often ends up being tank top warm in there. And that on 1.5 square meters of wood/winter at 65 euros the meter. Not too shabby, I say.
Oh my, you sound just like I do! I am the stickler with the thermostat at our house and my husband HATES it. He also has complained about seeing his breath and that it’s too cold…but when the heating bills come around (we do not have oil), and we are 1/2 of what all our friends are or better, he is a little bit better about it. But nonetheless, he complains, so I tell him to put on more layers and wrap up in one of our homemade fleece blankets and chill out (or rather-warm up!) So yes, I do this exact same thing too! It’s nice to know other women out there are like me and are money savers as well!
Stunning, simply stunning!
I’m all about alternate ways of keeping warm when the mercury dips, and it does on occasion, even in South Florida. We don’t have heat in the house, so I have everyone outfitted with an electric mattress pad. Best invention EVER!
We’re at 60 on the thermostat and still get a visit every 4-ish weeks from the big truck. I’m freezing and still paying a mortgage payment to the evil oil man! LOL One aspect of moving to CA in a couple months I’m looking forward to is leaving this oil heat behind.
You look fabulous!! My saving grace is my heating pad that I keep behind me and my kick booty space heater that keeps my toes from being numb in front of me. I also use an electric blanket and will actually go to bed early just to thaw out.
OH MY GOSH! Paying for oil every 4 weeks? I would just die. I will NEVER
complain then about our annual fill-up. What an exciting move you have
coming up!!
That is dedication to savings like I have never seen! Good job, I am not sure I could do that but it is something to think about for sure.
Haha! I love it! It’s really not as bad as I imagined either. =) And save all that moolah on oil really makes it totally worth it.
Where are the snowflake slippers?
hahahaha this is so funny!!! I love it! I totally do the same thing bundling up to save on energy. you’re a woman after my own heart!!
xoxo Cat @ BudgetBlonde
You look awesome!!! We are lucky to have a gas fireplace in our rental apartment and while we pay our own electricity bill (and therefore the use of our heating and a/c), the gas bill is included in our rent. Therefore, our fireplace is on all day in the winter, and I normally stay toasty in a tank top and shorts. However, when our fireplace stopped working this winter, I’ve been seen in a getup akin to yours – pink printed flannel PJs + a white printed cotton kimono robe + red polar fleece elf socks that are too big. – CC
When we moved to MD (Glad I’m going back to NC) the first thing I went out and bought was a programmable thermostat…My theory around here is if your cold “go put some clothes on”…LOL
That’s what my dad always said to me when I was growing up! Ha!
I seem to keep my apartment around 60F in the wintertime. Maybe low 60s if I’m going to be at home for a while; upper 50s overnight or if I’m not at home for too long. I’ve no problem hanging out in fleece pants an a fleece top when I’m at home.
I love sleeping when it’s cold so I often turn the heat off in my bedroom and keep the door closed. I’m quite happy and toasty warm sleeping with just a midweight duvet when it’s 51 or 52F in my bedroom. But I’m not normal. 😉
Ok, Becky, I think you win the grand prize for keeping things cold. I like
sleeping in cool air…but not 50’s cool! 🙂
We have oil heat too! And, I refuse to fill up the tank more than once a year. It’s waaaayyy too expensive otherwise. We keep the heat, when we’re home, at 63. And my trick is that we shut the doors in the bedrooms, and they’re so small that it traps that heat and makes those rooms completely comfortable. Needless to say, we spend a lot of time in our bedroom and the office in the winters ;).
I’m so glad to see I’m not the only crazy person out there 🙂 The closing
doors idea is a good one.
LOL! This is too funny! We have some friends that used saving money on heat as a competitive between themselves. Luckily, they are both adventurous people, so it worked for them… don’t know if I could do it! The competition: see who would be the first on to turn on the heat!!! I think they made it into January before one of the broke down. They layered their clothing, wore lots of layers, etc. Ya… they were intense. LOVE this post! 😀
They sound like my kind of people!! 🙂
Nice job! My thermostat stays at 62 all winter. 65 for guests (aren’t they lucky!). 58 at night. During the coldest months my gas bill gets up to $100, but I don’t mind because in the summer the only heating I have to pay for is for hot water, so it’s like $15 a month.
I’m unfamiliar with oil heating. So you don’t have a monthly heat bill? Just when you have to fill it up?
Hey Amanda –
Yeah, with oil heat you just have a big tank outside the house and you fill
it when it gets low. And the price of oil fluctuates with the market, so
you never know what it’s going to cost exactly. I’m pretty sure it’s my
least favorite type of utility ever!
-j
We covered our windows in plastic and put up heavy curtains all winter. We even rigged up a curtain across the foyer so we weren’t heating our stairwell. I also stuck to a fixed schedule of not turning the heat on until Dec 1 and turning it off March 31. Four months is really all I am willing to pay for. When we were not home, the heat went to 55, when we were home, max it was allowed was 63. I worked a minimum wage job until last month so that was how it had to be!
Hello! I am visiting from Sunny’s blog. She’s such a fun lady! It must have been so neat to meet her in person! You deserve a round of applause for saving on your heating bill and doing it so fashionably! I live in California, and in the summer it gets super hot here. In order to save on electricity, I have threatened to walk around the house during the warm months with very few clothes on. However, you won’t see a photo of that on Sunny’s blog! hee! hee!
Heather, that would be hilarious. We, too, like to save money on A/C in the
summer …but you’re right. If we walk around in undies to do so I’d better
not share those pics on the blog 🙂
And yes, it was AWESOME meeting Sunny in person!
I only just discovered your wonderful bolg (and I’m reading the old posts now) and at the moment it is coming into winter in Australia. I am trying not to turn on my heater at all, only because it doesn’t get anywhere near as cold here. Warm and cheap beats fashion any time!