High utility bills in MA.

Except I don't want anyone doing my laundry...littlek would find out I still wear Batman pajamas. And gladiator uniforms.

It's about 3-4 miles from downtown, CJ. Probably less than 2 miles from littlek's place.

You're kicking your housemates out?

Thing is, I love this place. There has to be something physically with the building: insulation, boiler, leak.....? I doubt she is legally responsible. But, she has a strong ethics bone. We do realize she is being very kind. I'd like her to find and fix the problem, because, as I said before, I don't like to be responsible for the excess gas usage (my ethics bone acting up).

Not kicking them out, got a 2nd place. Thing that sucks, it's a random time of year to fill rooms, and I need to find 4 people total(1 for my existing, 3 for the new).

If there's something wrong with the structure or maintenance, she'll need to take care of it if she wants to keep good tenants. Those costs are crazy - and it's irresponsible of her not to improve the structure.

It's kind of hard to make a 100 year old home with no insulation as efficient as a new house. And pretty much all the homes in this area are like that.

Slappy, you do it by adding the insulation. She added what she could without tearing the ceiling down. Perhaps she could put in a dropped ceiling.

Do you have a spot to access the attic from inside your place? I don't remember seeing one but I didn't going to every room.

Your walls probably aren't insulated either. That is pretty easy to fix if she hires someone to do it though.

I just got my utility bill here in Albaturkey for Dec/Jan (30 days)
Elec=165.80
Gas=178.88

My new gas bill is $673.

What the F#$*

Hmmm, my bill was elec 48.13 and gas 95.59, about 144. May be higher this next month as I've had it up to 70 sometimes, spoiled brat.

Back in northern california, before I got a new efficient heater and with a much bigger house than here, my bill was occasionally as high as 476.00 total. Pretty much killed my wallet.

Slappy - ouch!!! Is that for both places? What happened?

Fishin - there's an access in the back stairwell. Apparently, the space is too small for a man to crawl through which is why it was left uninsulated. We (landlady and I) went to a energy fair at the local high school. The guy was totally convinced that we were losing through the roof. He felt adding a dropped ceiling would be of little use since it doesn't form a distinct chamber as a buffer. His suggestion was doing little cheap things to save on therms (putting in that hideous silver panelling between the outside walls and the heaters which stand against them). Then, when the roof next needs refinishing, have them build up a new one with insulation and all. Huge effort and expense. I doubt my landlady will go for that option anytime soon.

And... my elec bill should be relatively high as with m'damn eyes I like light, and incandescent light at that, as dim light depresses the **** out of me. So, I leave lights in the darkest part of the house on full time for mental health reasons, or I do when I'm home. Plus, my refrigerator seems to be revving its little motor heart out, making me see dollars fly each time I hear it.

Can't figure why your bill is so much higher, Dys..

No, for the 1st place. Nobody's living in the new place yet, I've got movers for Monday and already have 3 roommates moving in.

I called the company, and Jan '06 I had a $700 bill. The windows here are pretty new, but they're not double-pane or anything. Plus you can tell it's a little drafty in here, and not well insulated. But it's on the middle floor, and we dont really crank the heat. Stays at 60-62, and when cold put it up to 67-68 for a while. But I have no clue...it's still way too high.

What do you know about the insulation in your walls? What kid of heat again?

I don't think there's any insulation, and it's gas heat.

Utilities are going to be completely out of my name when I move out, but still...if there's something I could do to help it I would.

I recently saw a house here undergo some spry insulation treatment. I dunno what it's called. But they drilled a dozen holes in the side of the house, stuck a hose in, and filled the spaces up with some sort of insulation material. I don't know how effective/safe that is, but I imagine it's cheaper than taking the walls apart to add fiberglass.

They use low-expansion foam to do that and it is very safe - probably safer than fiberglass. They use a closed cell foam so there is no dust from it or that collects in it. The stuff they use, unlike the spray foams of the 70s, does very little out-gassing as it ages. This is the easiest current way of insulating an existing structure. It is usually VERY effective.

I just got my heating bill for Jan and it was $270.

Slappy, as a landlord you might be entitled to low interest loans or grants from the state to upgrade the insulation and make your buildings more energy efficient. It might be worth looking into, I doubt energy prices are going to be coming down anytime soon. Here in NY they are encouraging things like solar hot water, the property owner has to pay the costs up front, but you get most of the money back in the form of a tax rebate.

What littlek is describing is very effective. The one thing to keep in mind is that after they drill and fill the holes your building looks like it has the measles and will need to be re-painted. The insulation usually costs less than the paint job.

What about if you have siding (we actually have aluminum siding)? Would that have to be replaced or patched?

Normally they drill holes about 2" in diameter at the top and the bottom of each wall cavity (i.e. in between each wall stud) and insert a tube that sprays the foam in one hole. The 2nd hole is so that they can see that the foam is getting all the way through (to make sure there aren't any fireblocks casuing an insulation void). If you have a multi-story house they do this for both levels.

If the house already has aluminum or vinyl siding then they can remove the siding, do their thing and then re-hang the siding or they can do this from the inside of the house. That means you have to move furniture and patch/paint inside walls but doing it from inside is much cheaper than rehanging siding.