Baby it’s cold outside. As the temperatures hover in the 20s, the collective thought is to jack up the thermostat, throw another log in the fire or put on another layer.

Heating a home is not a cheap prospect with kerosene running approximately $2.60 per gallon and a cord of week fetching nearly $150, depending on the quality.

Some people with older, less efficient homes, can run up heating bills surpassing $300 per month. Oak Harbor resident Larry Mollserstuen said he has three different methods of heating his home. He primarily uses an airtight wood stove and electricity.

Monday, he spent approximately $50 to fill a 28-gallon bottle of propane to keep him warm in his garage. This is in addition to the $60 per month he spends on electricity in the winter.

“Luckily, I don’t live in a large home,” he said.

For those who heat their homes with kerosene or propane, the costs can be significantly higher. The price of propane was 30 percent higher than last year for AmeriGas customers, AmeriGas sales manager Dan Sexton said. At a cost of $1.80, AmeriGas customers can lock in their rates annually, which shelters them from the wildly fluctuating rates.

Ken Kadlac, Skagit Farmer’s Supply general manager, said that his propane costs are up 11 percent over last year. Residential customers are currently paying $1.59 per gallon for propane, which is $.16 more than last year.

For heating oil, which is more efficient than propane, the cost is $1.66 per gallon. This is an approximately 18-percent increase over last year. Kadlac said he does not expect prices to increase any more this year.

“I don’t see it going up any more,” he said. “Unless we get really cold temperatures across the country and supplies get real short.”

Skagit Farmer’s Supply provides several hundred Whidbey Island residents with heating oil and propane, Kadlac said.

AmeriGas services approximately 1,700 customers on Whidbey Island and Anacortes, Sexton said.

Numerous factors can influence propane costs. The hurricanes in the southern United States limited production and shipping and supplies of crude oil were down, Sexton said.

The average home burns 800 gallons per year, he said. This means that for an average home, a family will spend $1,440 annually or $120 per month just for propane.

John Corey, a driver for Corey Oil, which supplies most of Whidbey Island’s heating oil needs, said that January is the top time for deliveries.

“The colder it gets, the more calls we get,” he said.

He said he makes up to 22 stops per day and delivers 3,500 gallons of heating oil. Most of his deliveries are to older homes, some of which still have underground fuel tanks.

“Come the winter time, you pretty much go from 8 or 7 a.m. until the last delivery’s done,” Corey said.

Staying warm in the winter does not mean having to light the furniture on fire, however. Sexton said that people can make sure appliances are burning fuel efficiently and that they are not dirty.