HEATING COSTS TO RISE THIS WINTER AS COLD RETURNS

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http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_WINTER_HEATING_COSTS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2012-10-10-14-06-49


FILE - In this Jan. 2, 2008, file photo, Wayne Holland of the Suburban Propane company delivers oil in Barre, Vt. Americans will pay more to heat their homes during the 2012-2013 winter season as they feel something they didn't feel much of last year: cold. Fuel prices will be relatively stable, but customers will have to use more energy to keep warm than they did a year ago, according to the annual Winter Fuels Outlook from the Energy Department's Energy Information Administration. (AP Photo/Toby Talbot, File)

NEW YORK (AP) -- Americans will pay more to heat their homes this winter as they feel something they didn't feel much of last year: cold.

Fuel prices will be relatively stable, but customers will have to use more energy to keep warm than they did a year ago, according to the annual Winter Fuels Outlook from the Energy Department's Energy Information Administration.

Last winter was the warmest on record. This year temperatures are expected to be close to normal.

[Auntie Bush]

1. That's going to cause great hardship on so many people...unfortunately that included me!

I was hoping for another warm winter.

[MANative]

2. That makes two of us.

My oil tank is empty. I'll be trying to survive a New England winter with my pellet stove.

[Auntie Bush]

4. You're lucky! I've heard pellet stoves are great and efficient. I hope the

price of pellets doesn't suddenly go up. My son, a weatherization expert ( has his own weatherization co.) and he's been talking about getting a pellet stove for his new unfinished sun room. He seems to think that's the cheapest way to go...but you need someone that can lug around those pellets.

[MANative]

8. We spent about $5000 on a really large-scale model a few years ago...

when heating oil spiked to over $4/gallon. Our heating bill the previous winter had been over $6000 - no word of a lie - but my business was doing well enough to handle the expense then. Not so much, now. Pellets are about $300/ton and we go through about three to four tons each winter, so it's significantly less expensive. A lot more work, however. The model we bought will heat up to 2800 sq feet, so it handles our home pretty well. Electric baseboard heat takes care of my office in the basement, so we won't freeze, but it's less "constant" than oil heat.

[yellowcanine]

3. I thought this was a spoof headline. Cold weather means higher heating costs. Duh.

And when summer returns cooling costs will rise. We are doomed!

Really, how is this news?

[Robb]

5. We got a break last winter, on average it was warmer than usual.

They're predicting things are going to be cold again, hence a rise in cost compared to last winter.

[yellowcanine]

6. I get that. Still a weird way to word it.

[Robb]

7. Agreed. But AP is one of the last places old-school headline writers get work.

"Express this in a space exactly this wide!!"

"Done!! And unclear antecedents be damned!!!"