Natural gas prices = bad. Dairy Queen Blizzards, on the other hand= tasty.

I just wish I could get a blizzard during a blizzard in the middle of winter, but of course all of our dairy queens in my area are just seasonal instead of the awesome Brazier Dairy Queen.

This makes me want a Heath flavored Blizzard all the way. Or maybe a Peanut Buster Bar. Let's just hope we don't have another ice storm in the Midwest this year, otherwise the price gougers will be in effect once again!

I'd gladly shell out the money for heat if it meant that it'd stop being 87º in the middle of October

Too bad that Global Warming is just a hoax, we could save on power bills.

Love me some Heath flavored Blizzard too! :)

The expense of natural gas can be fully hedged by purchasing shares of UNG.

I hope there won't be the same kind of snow blizzard this winter that had airlines cancelling flights like there's no tomorrow. I have to fly out of JFK on december 24th and into JFK on january 17th. On Virgin America, no less. God I hope they'll handle the situation better than JetBlue.

I love jetblue, but locking passengers on a flight for 12 hours, not cool.

(sweltering in 90degree heat)
sure thing - right after I'm done getting gouged for my A/C bill.

In our region, we are hearing that Questar wants to LOWER the price on natural gas! However, I'm sure we'll be paying more in the end somehow...I mean, energy prices...decreasing? It's not natural!

[www.ksl.com]

@HeyThereKiller: Amen to that.

Hmm... If prices keep going up why not just heat your home less? You don't need to keep the temperature at 80 degrees all winter. After living in northern MI I learned that in the winter time you will always be wearing your sweater/sweatshirt at home. I'm always shocked when I go to a friends house in the middle of winter and everybody is wearing shorts and T-shirts and the house is heated to the mid eighties.

My landlord pays for the heat, so I'm sure he's happy that he hasn't had to turn it on in the building yet. Still, I'll be as conservative with the heat usage later in the year so I don't get smacked with a rent increase.

The Energy Department forecast quoted in the article has been notoriously inaccurate in the past. Also, there is more natural gas in storage at this point than at any time in the past. Unless we have an unexpectedly cold winter throughout the USA, we could actually see lower natural gas prices this winter than we've seen in many years.

@reviarg: Because there's a point past which you SIMPLY CAN'T GO LOWER. When your fingers are stiff from the frigidity INDOORS and you're shivering in multiple layers, you can't turn the heat any further down.

I don't know anyone who heats their home to 80*. The insane people next door keep it at 72* and the whole neighborhood mocks them for it. We're generally at 63* and down to 55* overnight. And my poor husband is from Florida.

Correction to my previous post: The amount of natural gas in storage is not at an all time high, but it's close.

I don't know anyone who heats their home to 80*.

@Eyebrows McGee: Neither do I. Who wants it that warm anyway?

Hot, cold, I just wish it would freaking rain.

My geothermal should be installed in the next three to four weeks, so I expect my heating bills to go down considerably.

I'm glad I just insulated with spray foam. It actually seals the walls and is water resistant.

@balthisar: I've been wanting to do that, but there's one guy in my area and he charges $6k/ton. May I ask what you paid, what type, and how large an installation?

I have horrible arthritis so I can't turn down the heat too much or I won't be able to move, even with running thermals and two layers of polar fleece.

Our problem is less how cold it is but combining that with the wind blowing. When it is 18 degrees with a solid 50mph wind it is impossible to keep even a new house heated.

The farmers almanac is saying that the upper midwest should have a warmer than normal winter with only colder than normal in Feb.

Good timing on us putting in a new furnace this year. Rebates alone make it seem relatively painless. Reminds me of when my husband was complaining to his brother about our $180/mo heating bill last year. He hung his head, gee I wish ours was that. His was about $250/mo.

I used to bitch about it being 60 degrees during the winter at my parent's house when I lived there. Guess what the thermostat is set at my house - yep 60 degrees. Every blanket I put on is like giving myself $5. Thanks for freezing me into frugality mom and dad.

I can't wait for the cooler weather here in Texas; no running the A/C in the car or apartment, and sleeping with the windows open makes for less energy use and more money!

I heard on The News Hour with Jim Lehrer last night that heating oil prices were going to go up about 20% and natty gas about 10%, which this article seems to bear out...

I just moved to a house with natural gas heating, and I can't wait to be able to turn the A/C off! (I live in CT, which has the second-highest electricity rates in the country...right behind Hawaii...)

@bohemian: "Our problem is less how cold it is but combining that with the wind blowing. When it is 18 degrees with a solid 50mph wind it is impossible to keep even a new house heated."

Yeah, we have the same problem. When the wind picks up in Jan/Feb, it really doesn't matter what the actual temperature is; the house is just not staying warm no matter what we do.

@EatTheWitch: I'll just say it comes to $4,000 per ton, including lots of extra goodies.

Already got it covered - my mother's weaning herself off of her premarin. We just might be sleeping with the windows open this winter :(

My mom always used to say "heat rises" this was an answer to putting on slippers to keep my feet warm or putting on a hat because heat escapes from my head when outside in the winter or even just to let me know, she knows!It appears that the utility companies also know that, the cost of heat rises...