Fuelish worries

This news item worried me probably more than it should:
Natural gas prices could increase as much as 71 percent in part of the United States this fall, raising the prospect of higher home heating costs this winter, the Energy Department reports.

I remember the energy crisis of the late 70's-early 80's very well, and the memories are not especially happy. We were living in a house with all-electric heat, which at the time was the most expensive and least efficient. My parents turned down the heat to 50 degrees and made use of alternate forms of fuel to warm us. Our home had a Franklin stove in the rec room, which got put to use quite a lot. I remember Dad spending a few weekends splitting logs until his hands blistered. Electric blankets were key for sleeping. My folks also invested in two kerosene heaters. I remember an elaborate ritual for dressing on winter mornings--wake, run out to the heater in the kitchen to warm up, dash back to the bedroom and hastily grab clothes, drape clothes near heater to warm while eating breakfast, dress next to heater being careful not to catch clothes on fire. Though the kerosene heaters were fairly efficient, they burned somewhat dirty, leaving a sooty residue on nearby furniture and ceilings throughout the house. Whenever I'm tempted to romanticize previous centuries, I just remember those frigid, sooty years and thank God for clean central heat.

If the news predictions are true, this winter will bring killer heating costs. Wrapping ducts, caulking cracks and shrink-wrapping windows helped a little last year, but we're going to need to do more to not end up in the poor house this winter. I'm thinking electric space heaters may be best when electricity is cheaper than natural gas. They're a fairly safe alternative with a small child in the house, now that cool-touch fan models are available pretty cheap.