By Jessica Soule / The Citizen
Sunday, November 19, 2006 12:22 AM EST

With memories of last year's fuel price hikes still fresh in their minds, people aren't waiting around to see if this year's winter heating bills will continue their upward climb.

Chad Peek, sales manager for E&V Energy Co., recommends people explore replacing older furnaces for more efficient appliances.

“Anything not 90 percent efficient, I would take a hard look at replacing,” Peek said. With energy prices rising, the payback time is sooner than before because the price of furnaces has not increased in proportion to oil.

He estimates the payback at 200 to 300 times sooner. The same furnace that costs $3,200 now, had a price tag of $2,800 five years ago. During that time, fuel costs have tripled.

The federal Energy Information Administration says the heating costs for both natural gas and fuel oil users averaged about $1,000 for last year, which was a 35 percent jump for natural gas from the winter of 2004-2005.

Fuel oil heated homes paid an increase of 23 percent more last year.

As long as new furnaces undergo

regular maintenance, they will remain efficient. As technology progresses, however, furnaces may not have to burn as hot, can recover air going out of chimneys and have two speeds to save electricity.

By Angela Mettler

American News Writer

Imagine paying less than 10 cents per square foot to heat and cool your home.

Those are the savings that U.S. Department of Agriculture officials found when a geothermal heat pump system was installed when the building was built two years ago. Heating and cooling the 8,640-square-foot building cost $799.84 in a year - or about $66.65 per month.

A geothermal heat pump system brings heat from the earth into a building in the winter, and puts heat from a building back into the earth in the summer.

Bill Hinds, co-owner of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's building in Aberdeen, said he's glad a geothermal system was installed when the building was built two years ago.

"We've never been happier that we've tried it," he said.

Hinds said the decision to install the system was prompted by rising energy prices. He hesitated at first because of the system's initial cost, but he expects a payback in six to seven years due to the money saved.