Battling Electricity, Gas, and Oil Costs This Winter
 Winter 2008 |
As winter approaches here in the US, many people are breathing a major sigh of relief. Just three short months ago, the price of crude oil was at historic highs.
Americans first felt the impact of high oil prices to their wallets in the price of gasoline. As the price of gas rose, people began to drive fewer miles in order to budget appropriately.
Looming in the distance, however, is the winter season.
Winter 2008
For many regions of the country, this meant an increase in fuel consumption for home heating needs. Even homes heated using electricity were not immune since oil is used in many electrical power plants. When bundled together, the cost of energy was gearing up to cause significant hardship in many households across the nation.
Fortunately the price of oil has fallen steadily over the past two months. Gasoline prices in just about all areas of the country have dropped significantly, along with the price of home heating oil and electricity.
Why the sudden drop in crude oil prices? The drop can partially be attributable to consumers cutting back on consumption which eventually led to a sizeable and noticeable decrease in demand.
For the time being, we dodged a bullet. But what’s in store for the future?
The Cost of Oil in the Future
With prices forecast to remain steady through winter 2008/2009, it’s easy to forget what the impact of higher energy costs would have been. So let’s look at some ways we can continue to help keep energy costs down now and in the future.
Vehicular Energy Savings
Beginning with your car, you can continue to reduce those unnecessary trips. If you considered it a waste of money when gas prices were high, it’s still a waste of money even when prices are low. Reducing those unneeded (and in many cases, unwanted) miles really did have an overall impact because many people did the same.
Home Energy Savings
Home heating savings by reduction works the same way. Turning down the thermostat in your home a few degrees will save you quite a bit of heating oil or electricity over the cold winter season. If you live in an older less efficient home, you might want to look into newer forms of attic insulation, electronic thermostats or higher efficiency furnaces and water heaters.
Locking in Fixed Rates
Aside from reducing consumption, many people would also like to budget in case prices do rise. There’s a couple of ways you can. If your home uses oil or natural gas, many suppliers (oil/gas companies) offer fixed pricing and monthly budgeting contracts. If you’re comfortable with the price of oil you may want to lock in the price in case it does go up later.
For electricity, most utility companies allow you to pay on a fixed monthly bill.
Prepare for Winter
Be prepared this winter by taking steps to decrease energy consumption, increase insulation efficiency, and locking in the current rates. One of the easiest steps you can take, is to switch out all of your incandescent light bulbs for compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs). This saves energy, money, and is safer for you and the environment. Buy CFLs today at your Energy Superstore.
Written by Fluorescent EfficiencyEnergy Efficient Compact Fluorescent Lighting
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