hannah, who is Cliff Wakefield? Who does he work for? What does it cost to have him do an evaluation?

Hannah, the compainers aren't going to "see" your comment, it is more rewarding to complain, and get attention for being poor picked on us. People who want the help, do find it. Complainers just like to complain.

truth1
We bought an Edenpure winter of 06. We love it.
We use it to heat our rec room which is lower level. The cost is pennies a day.
I know about it being made in China, but I gotta tell you, this product is wonderful.
It heats the air not objects. We usually keep our heat at 68 upstairs so naturally its cooler downstairs, so with this heater we can turn the heat down further and stay toasty where we spend most of our time. We have a programable thermostat that I have set to warm up at 6 am for showers and it goes back down for the day to 65. When we return home we are 68 again. The Edenpure thermostat is set to low while we are gone and we crank it when we are downstairs.
We have told a lot of people about this little gem and have had lots of people buy one. They are worth the money and if I were u, I would buy the bigger unit of the two units. The smaller one is good, just the bigger one is better!

I forgot Attic venting too. Very important many think their attic needs to be sealed up which is wrong in fact you want good gable, sofit ridge vents to prevent ice damming in the winter and buckling shingles and high cooling costs in the summer.

I have a 1950 square foot house. Keep the heat at 67 when I'm there, 65 when I'm not. Bills average $150 a month in the winter. It's all about not raising the temp too high and the efficiency of your home. Last home I had was half that size and my bills were twice as much. The windows were horrible. There's where most of it comes from right there.

As I said before, I'll say one of the main problems is dry indoor air ...
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80 can "feel" cold if the house is real dry.
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You know how "humidity" makes it feel hotter outside in the summer???
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It works the same way inside in the winter.
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If you set your thermostat to 73 then the furnace will run until it gets the air temp to 73.
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If you set you thermostat to 83 it will not make your furnace run hotter. It will make the furnace run until the air temp is 83.
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They need to think of ways to reduce cost by shutting down registers in bedrooms and just heating the main living areas. Set the temp to 65 and wear sweaters. Plastic on the windows. Caulk the cracks etc.
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It is silly to just turn the temp up to 83 and complain about the cost.

Yippee Opinions! Very well stated..and in Lamen's terms too!! :o)

Some people need to get off the couch and go outside and inspect their house i.e gutters, cracks in the siding under and around windows, weather stripping, basement windows, an area on the house call the sillplate, attic hatch seal or door if you have one. I would say some NOT all have high heating bills due to being lazy or ignorant, people not willing seek out solutions to their heating costs. The internet is full of sites stating some of the basics on getting a house ready for winter. A caulk gun, flash light, spray foam and a putty knife. Oh sometimes planning helps too. Bottom line is it takes a ton work to have a house, if your one of those who would rather sit on the couch and watch the home shopping network than getting out maintaining your home maybe you shouldn't have one

Here is a twist...what about our soldiers that are over in the deserts? Aren't they entitled to personal air conditioned suits because they are Americans? Heat is just as devistating as cold...why aren't we helping them with their body temps?

TRUTH...I agree with you whole heartedly, perspective is needed by many. Granted the way it is interpreted is different to all, but cold is cold, and if these people that "think" they live in poverty were really living in true poverty like other countries (ie: Alaska) they would step up their own initiative and do what is needed to be done instead of continuing this silly thought process of American's that they are entitled to help. God helps THOSE who HELP themselves! And I guarentee those who recieve handouts most likely will continue the same patterns because they didn't have any consequences for being irresponsible, rather they were rewarded...and so the cycle begins.

All those statistical numbers, can any of them be misleading? Just a thought. The rest of the article reads like an emergency preparedness drill! How bout if we conserve on fuel costs by not ever driving in unnecessary fashion, and transfer that savings to our heating bills. Some people will truly need the assistance. But to the others I say, How did our grandparents ever make it? They adjusted. Is this winter really going to be as bad as they say? Why not, everything else seems to be happening to the Country!

ktaustin. A former friend of mine always kept the thermostat set for 90-95 because "he" was cold. Then griped about how fast the LP tank emptied (insert rolleyes smiley). Instead of putting warmer clothes on or using a blanket, he would make everyone else who was there suffer with the excessive heat in the house.

I agree with wHaTeVeR. Where's information for the middle class to get free assistance if any? I'd like to know how I can get a free consultant to tell me where my leaks are if any. Oh, I forgot since I'm not low income but I do pay taxes for those that are low income to get government assistance. Correct me if I'm wrong, I have to fork over $100 or so if I want energy assistance to do my home evaluation.

People that think they have it so hard here in the winter should go somewhere like Romania and live.
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Some of those people can't afford ANY fuel for heat and its colder than here.
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Those who get THAT upset over such minor circumstances just need a little perspective.
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Speaking of hard times, have any of you heard about that man in L.A. that killed his family and then himself because of financial hardship? They had analysts on the news and they predict that the suicide rates are going to esculate from the economy troubles. I hope they are wrong, and people realize that YES it is tough, but where there is a will there is a way. Please don't think you don't have a choice!! That is so sad.

I remember when I was a kid we had a wood furnace, woodburner fireplace in the living room and a woodburner stove in the kitchen. And I don't ever remember mom turning on the furnace unless the fires went out, which was never. Times are tough, a little extra effort is going to be needed to help keep afloat. We keep our thermo at 62 and use our fireplace. The bad thing about the fireplace is that a lot of heat escapes so we are going to get an insert, but with the fire going, and it being in the same room as the thermostat, it keeps the furnace from coming on. Yes, the rest of the house is chilly, but that is what blankets are for....and oh what is better then getting all bundled up and cozy under the blankies.....these people they had in this article were obviously not paying attention to things. Ignorance isn't an excuse. I tell you what, if I were paying 6000 for heat, I can tell you what, it certainly wouldn't happen for long. We prepay our propane, and hopefully we paid for enough this winter.

here we go again Alliant and the crooks ripping us off again, not reading meters charging us way to high a price, WHEN ARE WE GOING TO GET A CHOICE JUST LIKE OUR PHONE. Fight for your right to choose PEOPLE I am sick of alliant energy

It would be nice to hear from more people with those Edenpure heaters..They sure are pricey!!
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I called the company last year to find out where they were made .........CHINA
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Are they worth the money??
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I would have sprung for a new one last year if they hadn't been made in china.
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The problem insulating many older homes is the presence of Knob and Tube wiring which is not allowed to be covered with insulation according to the NEC because it can create a fire hazard. So your damned if you dont and possibly damned if you do

Oh I so agree with whatever. I am just above low income and could use all those things to help me out but don't qualifie. I think that they need to look at those income levels and change them.

They always talk about low income people. What about middle income people. It still costs us all extra money I'm sure we would like to spend somewhere else, or put in the bank for other household needs. Being middle income and finally getting caught up on things. Then get hit with high heat bills, but do not qualify for assistance. It is hard on everyone, not just low income folks.

One word--insulation.

tguy...it's probably Alliant's way of getting more money out of us. It's getting ridiculous each year how they keep getting permission to raise their prices.

I meant compared to the summer.... not the winter

Last year I turned mine up to 72 which made the house 68/69 and we never had a bill over 200 which I guess is kinda high compared to the winter, but I have a good job and no kids, so I feel sorry for the people with all of those extra costs of kids, low paying jobs, gas guzzler cars and other pricey bills... sometimes you just can't catch up....

I listened to the news just last week and it was reported natural gas won`t go up like expected. The reason is natural gas production is up 8% from last year and right now there is plenty. Someone is not telling the truth.

I don't like to be warm so I keep my heat down anyways, but if I get cold I have many many blankets around the house. And they are much less expensive then turning up the heat every time I get a chill.

A few degrees can make a big difference in usage/costs. We keep ours 65-68 during the winter and 79-80 during the summer. I hope the warmer weather lasts this fall to save everyone on heating! Less usage will keep the rates down.

We kept our's at 55 degrees. We just used a space heater in the rooms we used. It worked fantastic and kept our bills fairly low (about 50-75 dollars higher than summer) with no real discomfort.

One of the most important things is the humidity level in the house during the coldest part of the season.
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Thought I'd mention that since it wasn't in the article.
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They said they had to set the thermostat to 82 to keep the house at 73 degrees. That's pretty bad, and I'm glad they got some weatherization help, but it would also help to turn the thermostat down below 73, yikes! Anybody who wants a comfortable 70 degrees or higher better expect to pay through the nose for it. I have a tight budget so I generally shoot for 65-68 and just wear sweaters, socks, etc. Personally I'd be ok leaving it at 60 but there are other family members to consider. You can save quite a bit by just dressing warm and keeping your house a little on the cold side. There's no good reason why your house needs to be 73 degrees.

YAY! City Glass!

It says that with the leakage(s) in their home, they had to set the thermostat to 83 so their house would register at 75. Big time leaks there. Glad to see there is help out there for folks who need it.

$6,000.00 for a 1700 sq ft home. I can see that it looks energy inefficent but I wonder just how high was the thermastat set??