An unseasonably warm winter and falling oil prices are combining to make home heating more affordable for Nova Scotia residents.
“Our heat bill is significantly lower and I think that’s because of the cost of oil being down,” retiree Linda Stirling said.
Stirling and her husband live in Lower Sackville and have seen a $500 drop in their home’s heating bills this winter.
The couple has always been conscious about heating costs, so a few years ago when the price of oil began to rise, they installed a heat pump.
They say the price drop this winter has been a pleasant surprise.
“We’re retired so if we have more money, we’ll put it towards our trip to Alaska in May or towards renovations,” Stirling said.
People who use electric heat are feeling the reprieve too. Stirling’s neighbour, Global News retiree Ray Bradshaw, saw a 25 per cent drop in his usage and attributes it to the milder winter.
“Last winter was an amazingly cold winter. I think the average temperature in February was like -10C and it’s normally -5C for February,” Bradshaw said.
“My bill last year was 850-some-odd dollars. This year, it’s $626 for the same two-month period.”
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The savings are evident to charitable organizations too. The Salvation Army, which has a fund that helps families pay for heat in emergency situations, has experienced a decrease in applications this winter.
“We’re down about 450 applications, which is pretty significant,” special programs co-ordinator James Woods said.
“It’s definitely taking a drop and I contribute most of it to [not having] those big snow storms as we had last year and the price of oil.”
Woods says the break in heating costs will hopefully allow clients to have more money to spend on other necessities such as food, where prices are rising.
The deadline for applications for the Good Neighbour Energy Fund is April 15.