Barbecue Blog

Suppose USA goes to Mexico and asks for crude oil. Mexico says ‘100 dollars’. USA goes inside its house, prints 100 dollar bills and gives it to Mexico and buys the oil barrel. Later Mexico says, 120 dollars and USA goes inside, prints 120 dollar bills, gives them to Mexico and takes the oil barrel. What does USA lose ? A little effort of printing, ink, paper, etc. Practically oil comes free. Then why can’t USA sell gas a t say 1 dollar a gallon ?
Mark, USA prints 1 trillion USD every year which equals the cost of oil.
dfgoodwin: gold standard was withdrawn by the great economist richard nixon in 1971.

We can print this money and send it overseas, and then other countries end up with giant storehouses full of USD.
The problem is, spending the USD causes inflation in the United States (which is the obvious conclusion to this commodity bubble).
China has billions of dollars sitting around, and if they were to spend them or convert them into Euros, they would plunge the American economy (which isn’t good for them because nobody would buy there goods).
I hoped that helped.

I live in a 2 level townhouse in British Columbia and am trying to determine which is the best way to heat my home during these cold days. I spend most of my days in my livingroom where the gas fireplace is so I kind of think it’s a waste to be blowing heat throughout the rest of the house.Some people have told me to absolutely go the electric route and others have said that it’s cheaper to use my gas fireplace. I do the equal payment plan for my gas usage so my bill is the same every month so it’s hard for me to figure out if I should continue heating with the gas fireplace or do what my friend has recently said and go electric. With my gas plan you get a refund if you’ve used less than what you paid throughout the year or if you use more gas then you have to ponny up at the end of the year and pay the extra.I’m on a disability income so I really have to watch my pennies so if anyone can help shed light on this it’d be appreciated. Thanks!

Gas is nearly always cheaper. some times there is a faint smell of gas around, but if you can handle that, then you’re better off.
Electricity will cost more but provides a cleaner heat and generally a safer (less fire risk heat.) your choice and your money. With your situation with your pension, it sounds like you are better off using the gas. Is there any way you can just blow heat into your living room and not throughout the house?

My gas bill for this quarter is £84. One of my friends says that is cheap, (but then she has the heating on 24/7 due to having a baby) another says I’ve been ripped off, and should change before Xmas – in time for winter when I’ll pay even more. A lot here would probably agree with the former.

I’m with Sothern Electric, and have not used the heating at all for the quarter. I cook on gas, and use it for the hot water, but that’s it. I also live in a small two bedroom terrace house. My last bill was for £53 for the same period of time – I can’t believe gas has risen that much!

To make matters worse, even though this is an estimated bill, it appears they have underestimated the cost. Their predicted reading was 3734, but the real reading is 3756. Any ideas on how much my bill really should be according to the reading? Do you think Southern Electric are charging me a lot more than their rivals? (who say SE are the most costly, but then THEY would!)

Hi,
Snap you are not alone love I changed both my Gas and Electricity to Southern Electric and am being totally ripped off they are cowboys I signed an agreement to pay a flat fee all year round of £50 a month to both and was told it would stay at that amount WHATEVER MY USAGE !!! What a load of crap just had bill for my lecky which was 400 and a supply cut off letter. Obviously am in process of changing back to Scottish power who I was with for 10 years until S E came and told me a load of bollocks.You live you learn…

I’m trying to choose between a couple years old honda civic coupe (approx $10k) and a couple year old motorcycle (not sure exactly which one yet, but planning on getting a reliable and affordable bike that is a couple years old).

I also will buy a quality helmet, jacket, boots, and gloves.

Is insurance more or less expensive? Also take into consideration gas savings, potential medical bills (hopefully not), etc.

Specifically, how much cheaper is it?

Motorcycles are considerably cheaper. The primary cost is much cheaper. You can get a nice, brand new bike for around $8,000 or a one or two year old bike for around $6,000.

Insurance varies widely depending on what coverage you’re looking for. Liability, that’s coverage to pay for things you hit, is generally very cheap with bikes. Collision and Comprehensive, the coverages that pay for the bike if you wreck or it’s stolen, varies from person to person but as a general rule, you can get Collision, Comprehensive and liability coverage for under $300/year. That’s pretty cheap. What you’re not getting is any medical coverage for yourself if you get hurt. That’s, for obvious reasons, very expensive coverage to buy on a motorcycle, expect about $100/mo just for that coverage.

Motorcycles usually get at least 50mpg, so good savings on gas. If you get decent safety gear you’ll spend about a grand on that.

So, there’s really only two reasons not to get one. First, and you nailed it here, motorcycles are EXTREMELY dangerous. What would ruin your day in a car, say a guy merges into you and scrapes your door, could kill you on a bike. Even if you’re an extremely safe rider, who’s to say the guy on that cross street is? Oops, didn’t see that stop sign, there goes a leg, right?

Motorcycle bodily injury coverage, the expensive stuff I was talking about, usually only covers up to $10,000, and that’s if you buy a lot of it. So that coverage could be used up with just one helicopter ride to the hospital. The rest would be on your own dime. A couple days in the hospital can easily cost over $100,000. So, if you’re on a bike, you MUST have your own health insurance.

The other issue is, what do you do when it rains? "Sorry boss, can’t come in until the rain stops . . . " If you live in Arizona, or maybe LA, you can get away with having a bike for your only vehicle, just about anywhere else, it’s just stupid.

Im in buffalo, and for the last month I have kept the temp at 68 degrees during the early evening, and at night and during the afternoon when noone is home at 63 degrees. However my first gas bill was over $260.00, so I am looking for the most efficient way to run my heater.

Definately turn it down when you are away or asleep.63 degrees is a safe temp.Also,check for drafts around doors,windows.Even the door to your cellar should have weather stripping.Electric blankets are the most economical appliances to run.Probably under a dollar to run constantly per month.Insert caps into electrical outlets.Check with your city hall to see if they offer free evaluations to their residents on energy conservation tips.I live in Boston,and I hear you with the heating bills.So much for Global warming hu?

I’m looking at Condos right now one has a gas furnace and water tank, while the other 2 have an electric(forced air) furnace and an electric water heater.
Which is more expensive to run in terms of energy bills? Do Electric Furnaces last longer then gas? Are they cheaper to replace? Does an electric furnace use a heating element or what?(vs a gas using a flame)

The one I’m looking at still has an electric furnace from the mid 70’s. Should i be worried?

I thought this comparison chart was interesting.

http://michaelbluejay.com/electricity/gas.html

I’m looking at Condos right now one has a gas furnace and water tank, while the other 2 have an electric(forced air) furnace and an electric water heater.
Which is more expensive to run in terms of energy bills? Do Electric Furnaces last longer then gas? Are they cheaper to replace? Does an electric furnace use a heating element or what?(vs a gas using a flame)

The one I’m looking at still has an electric furnace from the mid 70’s. Should i be worried?

Electric is MUCH more expensive to operate. It uses something called "heat strips" to provide heat. Have you ever seen a fake fireplace that provides heat by blowing air over a coil that heats up? It provides heat but is very expensive to run because it has to keep the coil red hot to provide heat. Well that’s the same way an electric furnace is going to heat your condo, except it has strips that it heats up and blows air over.

I would definitely go with the one with gas heat. By the way, a forced hot air furnace can still be gas. That’s what we had in New Jersey and my bills were not out of line.

A gas furnace costs more to replace, but a lot less to operate. Same with a gas dryer. It’s more to purchase, but less to operate.

An electric furnace from the 70’s is probably not a very energy efficient model so I would definitely think twice.

Good luck with finding your new condo and happy moving!!

For the last month, I have used the gas firplace for heat in our living/kitchen area, instead of turning up the heat in the entire house. I figured it would be cheaper to only heat the part of the house I am in most of the day. (we have 2000sq ft)but my gas bill doubled. Are gas firplaces really that inefficent & more expensive? Both the house & fireplace are less than 1 year old.

I’ve had this problem too. You’d think there would be a savings from not having forced air heat running. But, it probably doesn’t run all day. So, it’s no surprise your gas bill went up.

The thing to remember is that the gas keeps running until you shut the fireplace off. And, most home heating systems have a set temperature they generally try to maintain. When they get to the temperature, they shut off.

Another factor may be the outside temperature. That is, how many days did you really use your heat last month and how much colder is it?

Considering monthly cost. I dont really care about how fast it dries, just want to know which is cheaper in cost for the monthly bill, a gas or an electric.

gas

it is faster and requires so much less maintenance

i had to switch to electric where i am now and it is SOOOOOOOOOOO much slower even brand new

The best site is Uswitch. This allows you to compare and switch utility suppliers. Have your last bill to hand so you can input your usage if required.