Your house probably needs insulation and a better heating system.  I lived in a house the first year that me and Jimmie got married that was like you are talking about and I told him I WOULD NOT go through that another winter and we moved.  I almost froze that winter and our heat bill was still over $300.00 a month :twisted:

Thanks goodness it was a rental house and we bought this house and all we have is a floor heater (one big floor unit) and it keeps the whole house warm because it is centrally located.  I try to keep mine on 72 degrees because I get really stiff if I keep mine any lower than that ~ that is a fibro thing.  Right now it is 76 degrees in my bedroom and it feels wonderful!!

Good luck!!  Insulation can do wonders!!

SUPER cold here in Omaha last nite...5 degrees and WINDY!  Luckily,my husband does HVAC for a living so we have top of the line furnace/air conditioning. we had it set at 72 (2 babies in the house) and i woke up hot. The other poster is right...insulation, good windows helps w/ high winter bills. a cheap suggestion...sleep w/ a heating pad. safer than space heater...also close off vents in any rooms that you dont use...why heat something you won't be in?

If you live out in the country where burning wood is OK, and you own your home, you should check into an outdoor wood burning furnace. It heats water and thru tubes it goes to a heat exchanger in your regular furnace and blows like any other forced air system. Our house is 175 years old with old windows, not much insulation etc. We just got ours this year and we love it. We keep the house at 75-77 during the day and about 68 at night. It also heats the hot water for our house use. Last year with our electric furnace (without a heat pump) our electric bill was always at least $350/month in the winter. This year it hasn't gone over $75/mo. (The electric company probably hates us now) Part of our land is wooded, so getting firewood is not a problem. If you don't have free access to firewood, you would have to figure in that cost when deciding if that type of heating is for you. My husband feeds the furnace firewood just twice a day, once in the morning and once in the evening. The brand of ours is Taylor.

16 below here.  On the news last night they said do to a severe cold front coming that your thermostat should be set at 69 or higher.  However the marking on my thermostat says 68 as suggestion not much of a difference.

If you are in weather like this do not turn the thermostat down while you are at work a they always suggest you do this to save money on heating bills.

Just remember when the pipes freeze it can cause thousands of dollars in damage.  Id rather go for the300-400 dollar heating bill.

If you are in MN we have a heating program that will help with bills.  I believe here you can make up to 48,000 for a family of three to qualify.

If you make more I would still do the paper work as some parts of the state still have a lot of funding left.

:D Lived in Michigan most of my life. The shrink wrap on the windows is wonderful. Also most power companies have a no charge energy program where there come out and do an energy assessment to see where improvements can be made to make your home more energy efficient. Here they even GIVE you a pack of free energy efficient lightbulbs.