Keeping warm, here in michigan, during the winter is difficult. It is difficult for a number of reasons; not the least of it being financial. Everything under the sun keeps going up in price. Jobs are scarce and the people who do have jobs really don’t know day- to- day whether they will have their job at any given moment.
My house is a huge old farm house. The walls all need insulating. We pumped lots of money into insulating the attic a couple of years ago…however….it doesn’t do the trick because it is a multi-story home.
We spend a huge amount of our income to keep the furnace running on it’s propane. With the price hikes in heating costs…we just spent about $800.00 and it will last about 5-6 weeks. It isn’t like we are wasteful either. We keep our heat on 58-60 degrees. It is cold but we bundle up.
Winter heating really starts in early November where i live; and, goes into April. Even on a conservative estimate it is 5 months of heating. That could mean between $3,000.00 to $4,000.00 dollars this winter to heat our home. Is this not insane?
Hiring someone to come and blow in insulation into the walls is also going to cost a few thousand as well. Can’t be done when you are barely making it financially.
In the last few weeks there have been several house fires in our local communities. People have lost everything just trying to stay warm. How in the world are the elderly folks and the young families going to make it this winter?
Now with the ice storms hitting the middle of the US…and heading our way…i know that people are once again going to be hard pressed to stay warm. This country really needs to take a strong look at finding alternative ways of using energy to keep the costs down and finding more green ways of heating and cooling their homes.
I really think in the next few years you are going to see people turning to wind power, solar collector cells for renewing energy and for geo- thermal heating and cooling of their homes and businesses. It really isn’t just a green trend…it is becoming a necessity.
Unfortunately, the cost of installing these eco- friendly systems is so high that the average person can’t afford to change the way they live. As more and more people, with the financial means, change over the way they live, it will help to pave the way for the rest of us to also make those same changes. The costs will come down making it more affordable.
In the meantime, we do our best.
Write where you are 
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