Okay, I get it. Fall is officially here. We didn't need a harsh reminder with lower than normal temperatures for the first full day of Autumn. I don't ever recall an abnormally warm day for the first day of spring, do you? It's not fair.

Seems like we were just in the midst of a dry spell and temperatures were in the upper 80s and lower 90s. Wait, we were. Well, that's over for the year. This morning, I toyed with the idea of switching my thermostat controller from air-conditioning to heat. But it was reading 64 degrees, so I left it alone.

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But, the time will come soon when I will kick on the heat, and recently I was wondering if my heating costs will be rising this year, as everything else that we purchase seems to have risen over the past year or so.

I'm not sure for NYSEG customers in the Southern Tier of New York, but WIVB-TV Buffalo recently reported that National Fuel, a provider of natural gas in Western New York says their customers might be paying over $1000 dollars this winter to heat their homes between the months of November through March. That's almost a 50 percent increase. Let's hope that doesn't happen here.

WIVB-TV reports that representatives for National Fuel state the increases are due to a number of factors including the war in Ukraine and increased natural gas usage in the United States.

National Fuel has some suggestions to help keep your natural gas costs down, including replacing your furnace filter regularly and plugging up any air leaks in your home. Keeping your thermostat at a lower setting obviously will help make a difference as well. 68 degrees is the recommended temperature for the ideal balance of comfort and energy efficiency during the winter months.

And a mild winter would also help, but we all know that's not going to happen. Here's to keeping warm this winter, and not having to take out a loan to pay for it.

[via WIVB-TV, National Fuel]

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