A recent editorial in the Portland Press called gas merely annoying while saying heating prices are scary. It takes the position that you can "only do so much" with heat.

I couldn't disagree more strongly.

Home heating oil can be severely restricted and in some cases entirely eliminated. I currently own and maintain two separate homes - one of which is rented out. The rental is about 1400 square feet and is rented by a single Mom with two children. She recently filled her oil tank and figures her entire useage last winter at about 200 gallons with oil being the sole source of heat. The previous tenants liked the house a little cooler and went through a complete winter on less than 150 gallons. My personal house is about 2300 square feet and I use about 450 gallons with oil being our only heat.

Neither house uses any high technology - yet. The rental is super insulated and passive solar. It has a built on sun room. It's Monitor heater barely runs on a cold winter day and shuts off for most of the day when it's sunny out. It is also cool in the summer and quiet. My personal house is older and just normally insulated. It is also passive solar and the Monitor heater seldom runs on a sunny winter day. Both houses have good windows and doors.

My wife and I think that 450 gallons is too high a figure to heat our house so we plan to do something about it instead of just saying how nothing can be done. Our goal is to cut our oil consumption at least in half. We plan to reinsulate a section of our attic which has always leaked more air than the rest. We have also discussed for some years adding a sunroom onto our house but felt that the cost wouldn't pay off with savings. $4.50 oil has made us rethink. We now plan to add an "Energy Room" to the front of our house with both passive and active solar for heat as well as a chimney so we can burn the half cord or so of wood we get each year from cleaning up around the place. The cellar under this energy room will have bulk storage for the collected solar heat so we can extend the benefits through the nights and cloudy days. We will also incorporate solar domestic hot water while we're at it.

We are planning a substantial expenditure of money to reduce our dependence on oil. At a 50% reduction in use and current prices, it will take quite a few years to break even on our investment.

I somehow believe that current prices are low compared to what we will be seeing in a few years and we cannot afford to sit idly and wait. We also think that a little more work after our energy room may allow us to achieve a much greater than 50% total savings. This is the decision that all Maine citizens must make. Are you going to do nothing until you are simply bulldozed over by high energy prices or are you going to be proactive so you can survive and thrive during these times?

There is a great deal that all homeowners can do to save on energy. Caulking, insulating your attic, and adding insulated curtains to your windows are some of the simplest steps. Wood stoves and pellet stoves will be the answer for some. Solar heat is perhaps the best long term solution because after the initial investment then the fuel is free. It may be wise to incorporate several methods of heat into your home so that you can take advantage of changing prices and supplies.

What you cannot afford to do is nothing.

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