Hikes in Home Heating Prices Push Some Americans to Extremes

Inflation in food, housing, and heating costs has driven George Young of Michigan, to make some drastic changes in his life.

“I couldn’t afford rent, so I bought a bus and moved into it. Going into winter, the high price of heat is putting a crimp on everything. It’s costing me $120 a month just to keep warm,” he said.

Young is a regular at the daily roundtable in the Lakeview Donut Shop of Worth, Michigan, where he treats himself to a cup of coffee and a donut, while he enjoys a few laughs with his friends as they discuss the problems of the world.

He told The Epoch Times that he heats his new “motor home” with propane, supplemented by an electric heater.

The place needs better insulation and some other improvements, he said.

Young added, “Nothing is going to get better in this country until we start pumping more oil.”

Another regular at the donut shop is retiree John Blaha of Lexington, who offered a different take on the rising cost of home heating.

“We haven’t really noticed the higher prices. They haven’t had much effect on us because I’ve got a good pension from my company and social security,” said Blaha. “Both have cost-of-living increases, so we really haven’t felt much impact.”

Blaha’s house is heated by natural gas and is well insulated.

Propane is expected to rise 58 percent, heating oil 74 percent, and electricity 11 percent.

According to NEADA, this winter home heating costs for Americans will reach their highest level in more than a decade.

Mark Wolfe, NEADA’s executive director said in the report that the rise in home energy costs will force many Americans to choose between paying for heat, food, rent, and medicine, “with millions expected to fall behind on their heating bills.”

Tom “Scrappy” Schrader of Burtchville drops in at the donut shop a couple of times a day, racking up 40 miles on his car daily.

An avid Trump supporter, Schrader carries with him a stack of “Don’t Blame Me, I Voted for Trump,” hats, which he loves to show off.

The high cost of gasoline and groceries, especially eggs, bothers Schrader more than the rising price of natural gas.

He told The Epoch Times, “I have definitely noticed the cost of heating going up, but it hasn’t affected my spending habits.

“I’ve got a four-car garage. We even heat that, keeping it at 45 degrees.”

Schrader does open his blinds and curtains to let the sun in, so the furnace doesn’t run as often.

Proprietor Steve Dimic has been commuting to his shop from Royal Oak, a 140-mile round trip per day since he opened in 1992.

“The price of gasoline is what’s killing me,” he said. “It’s ridiculous. The hike in natural gas is nothing by comparison.

“I heat my house and my business with natural gas. I’m OK. I’d kind of like to burn wood at my shop because I have a lot of trees on some nearby property, but I can’t.”

Shain La Pine said he has a furnace, but he can’t afford to run it, so he burns wood.

He reinsulated his house to save money.

“I’ve got my own trees that I cut up into firewood. It takes a little gasoline, oil, and time, but it’s worth it.”

La Pine said he’s fortunate not to have to pay up to $80 for a face cord of firewood.

Bob Young, George’s brother, commented, “We burned wood to heat our house for 10 years. Then in 1982, we added a propane furnace. The way things are looking we may have to go back to wood.

“Prices for propane are really going up, but we haven’t felt it yet because we did an annual pre-buy, so we are still running on last year’s prices. When the cap comes off, I expect we will feel the pinch.”

When asked what improvements he has made to make his home more energy efficient, Bob said, “Nothing. Heavens no. What good will that do when my wife constantly leaves the door wide open?

“That’s the kind of thing I am trying to pay more attention to.”

According to Bob, it is the price of groceries that hurts his family the most right now.

“That really hurts everybody.

“The price of a bag of apples or a carton of eggs is so high that if I come home from the store and find a bad apple or a broken egg, I ask myself, ‘Do I take this back to the store for a refund?’

“I never thought like that before because I was paying half of what I’m paying today for groceries.”

To a man, the guys believe the best way to fix the situation is a change of leadership in Washington.

“I don’t like Trump, but I voted for him twice, and I’ll vote for him again if I have to because he is a conservative,” said Bob.