I get a letter from them like every month about that.

"You use the most electricity in your entire neighborhood! You should try to conserve more!" I also have the only EV in the neighborhood...

That seems way high for an apartment, but it is a 6 week period and you keep temp a bit high. I have gas heat, water heater and stove in a SF home and used about 120 therms on the last bill. Heat usually 65 - 67, well insulated house. If you are ground level apt, your bill will also be higher since no heat rising from unit below. In summer, a/c would be less though.

BGE should have a place on their website with a home energy report where you can compare your gas and electricity usage to "average" neighbors and "efficient" neighbors. They try to compare like with like, so similar sized apartments in a similar area. That way you can see if you're using a lot more gas than other people

That thread is crazy! Someone said their bill was $1000 and that’s for a townhouse. 😱

Change your gas provider to one offering cheaper rates: https://mdgaschoice.com

You'll still pay BGE, but the underlying provider of your natural gas will change.

There's an active thread on Nextdoor where everyone in Columbia is complaining that their BGE bills have doubled or even tripled this year, so it's not just you. Luckily, mine only jumped from $54 to $74 so far.

https://nextdoor.com/p/Y_YwXGFLKW38/c/897151711?init_source=notification_center

You should be able to ask BG&E for the usage history for the last 12 months. Not super helpful if the place was empty. But it could help give you an idea of the efficiency of the place.

I bet you have water and heat using gas as well. If you were using $400+ in gas for just a stove and oven, you'd have to be heating the place with it.

Something isn't right here. You're right. Time to dig. Read into your lease as well.

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When you moved in, did you call BG&E or did your landlord set up the switch over?

You many need to call BG&E and provide your move in date and when you assumed responsibility for the utilities. Make sure there weren’t any residual charges that were left over from a vacancy or the previous charges or residual fees.

70-72? Where did you move from? Florida? Turn it down and put on a warm layer.

The amish market in Annapolis has some Amish furniture. They have a whole section of the market dedicated to it.

It is specific, but that doesn't sound unreasonable. Ask someone there if you don't see something you like. I have a dining set from them and it's ah-maz-ing. Heirloom quality and I was able to decide what wood, chair style, and features I wanted. I would think if you see something there that you like that they'd offer you some options.

If you drive to Cockeysville, go a little further into PA... Shrewsbury Market. I've gotten some pieces from there too.

I've often passed by a place called Beiler's Structures in Burtonsville that advertises Amish craftsmanship, but from the looks of it, they specialize in outdoor furniture, gazebos, sheds, and that sort of thing.

It's not actually in Columbia, but we have several custom items from Hilltop Furniture in Gordonville PA. They have phenomenal workmanship, the prices were better than expected, and they even delivered to our house (for a fee, of course). We went up to their shop and described what we wanted, and they made it. The catch? It took several months for the making.

That's what I was going to say

That's good to know. I'm looking for a bed with an attached headboard and night stands. Preferably with drawers on the bottom.

It's pretty specific and a pain to find.

Gish's has some really good stuff. You can customize most of the furniture you see in their showroom.

Not sure about hoco, but there's a Gishs in Cockeysville.

They are new compostable cups. I don't know if they're just testing them out right now. The ones I got had a sticker on them explaining they were switching to them as they're more environmentally friendly. But after like 2 weeks, my Dunkin went back to the plastic ones so 🤷🏽‍♀️

This isn’t referring to hot cups that used to be styrofoam. This is about the clear plastic iced cups. Have you actually seen what they’re using that OP is referring to? Lately it’s been a generic paper cup you’d see soda fountain soda in, with no Dunkin logos at all. https://i.imgur.com/6suUTxd.jpg

Edit: took my name off the cup lol

I think the decision had a lot to do with multiple bans in multiple counties in multiple states and countries that made it less profitable to produce styrofoam AND paper cups for stores that could only be a few miles apart. Kind of makes for a logistics headache

Honestly I think it’s supply issues - the one I go to recently switched back to the normal iced cups after being generic for a few weeks.

Edit: again, this isn’t about the styrofoam change or about hot cups at all. It’s about the iced cups being a generic cup with no Dunkin logos at all. https://i.imgur.com/JvSb3iy.jpg

Ahhhh thanks!

https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/food/2018/02/07/phased-out-dunkin-donuts-stop-using-foam-cups-2020/315349002/