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heating
Gas Company Abandons Plan To Report Delinquent Customers To Credit Agencies
Last fall, CenterPoint Energy—Minnesota's largest natural gas supplier—announced it was considering reporting the payment histories of its customers to credit reporting agencies in an effort to reduce delinquencies. Advocates said this was a stupid idea, because the people who can't pay their gas bills are too poor to pay their gas bills, and derogatory credit only makes life worse for them. Now they've said they won't (at least for now). Good.More »
financial advice
How $100/Barrel Oil Will Affect You
Oil is poised to break the century mark, and SmartMoney has a short article that examines the effects it will have on the average American's budget. A couple of reasons why we haven't felt more of these effects so far is that the rising cost has largely been eaten by oil refining companies and their gas stations, and because consumers have actually begun to reduce their gas consumption. However, if the price-per-barrel continues to rise, the U.S. faces a cold winter, and the dollar continues its anemic performance, you can look forward to the following consequences: More »
energy
Heating Costs Will Break New Records This Winter
If you're poor, maybe you just shouldn't have a winter this year. Government energy officials have announced that prices this winter for heating oil, electricity, propane and natural gas will all be at record highs: 28% more for heating oil, 30% more for propane, 7% for electricity, and 5% for natural gas. More »
heating
Wrap Your Windows For Winter
bill hacks
Triple Indemnity: Keyspan Overestimates Gas Bills
Got bi-monthly bill from Keyspan. Gas supplier. Opened. Read. More »
automatic payments
Complaints: Columbia Gas of Ohio
From: "Keith Baker"More »
Date: February 23, 2006 2:36:14 PM EST
To: tips@consumerist.com
Subject: Columbia Gas of Ohio sucks.
utilities
Save Electricity This Winter
We started to read 'Mr. Electricity's' page because we wanted to know about the most efficient way to keep ourselves from freezing this winter, but we sort of got distracted by some of his other information. Mostly because we use gas heat and somewhat because we've always wanted to know the answer to this question:Which uses less electricity:The answer? Turning it off at night is fine, because "it definitely takes more energy to remove that heat constantly rather than removing it just once when you turn the AC back on later." More »
1. Keeping the AC on constantly.
2. Having the AC on during the day, then turning it off and opening the windows instead in the evening when it's cool, then turning the AC back on when we go to bed.
The reason I ask is that my roommates think it takes more electricity to turn the AC off and then turn it back on later.
