Winter time = Heating Bills.

[vvsonikvv]

...well, in my effort to buy my brother a new door, that didn't happen. Because I never had a chance to get to his house for measurements and all that. And that I live 3 hours away from him.

Came home (Rockville, Maryland) to see our heating bill and it was $123 for 11/13 to 12/14. That seems kinda high for me, since we live in not very comfortable "heat" in our place. We have the thermostat at 66 when we're there (6pm to 7am) and 64 when we're not there (7am to 6pm). We have a 1200 sqft apartment, but its an 'outdoors' type not a high rise (don't know what its called). The building's pretty new (no more than 10 yrs old), we're on the highest floor (4th floor). We used up 73 CCF of gas which = 74.8 Therms (whatever that means). We have a gas stove and a gas fireplace, but we never turn on the fireplace. Does that use up a lot of gas? Theres a front door but no storm door, and we have a giant screen door to the balconey.

How much CCF's of gas or Therms do you all use? Is 73 normal? I'm just thinking that we try to live 'frugally' and yet we still pay so much, how much would we pay if we wanted it to be actually comfortable in here?

I guess that's just the way it is? What can we do to help lower things? Can I get an inspection from the gas company? I wonder if that costs money.

 

[dumpster56]

...well, in my effort to buy my brother a new door, that didn't happen. Because I never had a chance to get to his house for measurements and all that. And that I live 3 hours away from him.

Came home (Rockville, Maryland) to see our heating bill and it was $123 for 11/13 to 12/14. That seems kinda high for me, since we live in not very comfortable "heat" in our place. We have the thermostat at 66 when we're there (6pm to 7am) and 64 when we're not there (7am to 6pm). We have a 1200 sqft apartment, but its an 'outdoors' type not a high rise (don't know what its called). The building's pretty new (no more than 10 yrs old), we're on the highest floor (4th floor). We used up 73 CCF of gas which = 74.8 Therms (whatever that means). We have a gas stove and a gas fireplace, but we never turn on the fireplace. Does that use up a lot of gas? Theres a front door but no storm door, and we have a giant screen door to the balconey.

How much CCF's of gas or Therms do you all use? Is 73 normal? I'm just thinking that we try to live 'frugally' and yet we still pay so much, how much would we pay if we wanted it to be actually comfortable in here?

I guess that's just the way it is? What can we do to help lower things? Can I get an inspection from the gas company? I wonder if that costs money.

There was a period during that time early december when it was very cold as to normal. Nights went down into the low teens and windy. Might be right.

The gas rates have stayed high since Katrina.

 

[UncleHoney]

Based on the amount of gas you used (73 ccf) my bill would have been about $94.

For January the rate in central Ohio will be about $1.27/ccf. Your December rate figures to be about $1.68/ccf.

UH

 

[Brat]

Often utilities offer energy audits.

The two largest causes of heat loss are conduction and infiltration.

You don't really want to seal your home, that causes dry rot (one of my DH's whines is the use of house wrap that doesn't breathe like Gortex). Put your hand close to electric outlets on exterior walls. Do you feel cold air? If so take off the cover and fill the OUTSIDE around the box with insulation. Look around for other wall penetrations that may leak and be sources of infiltration.

Look in your attic, and or crawl space, for insulation that isn't where it should be. Are your heating ducts well insulated? Duct tape does degrade. Try to get all those therms from the furnace to your feet.

If your front door is leaking air consider injecting foam around the frame. Look at door seals to see that they fit well and are in good condition. Should you replace the door consider a drop threshold.

Some window frames conduct better/worse than others. Should you ever need to change them be sure to consider that should you ever replace them.

If your home is slab on grade evaluate the conductivity of your flooring.

 

[mickeyd]

I have not had to use the heater this season yet, however we had the AC on about a week ago for a while. I wonder how far into 2007 I can go without using the heater?

 

[sgeeeee]

I have not had to use the heater this season yet, however we had the AC on about a week ago for a while. I wonder how far into 2007 I can go without using the heater?

If you are willing to burn furniture periodically and dress like an eskimo, you might be able to go until Spring.

 

[mmg2681]

My bill this past month was $65, which is alot for me.
I have a new occupant to the house (my fiance) who will not allow me to put the thermostat below 55.

If it were my choice, it would be 50-55, and I'd walk around in sweats and slippers, with throws. But... because I cant, we have a $65 heating bill in December in Ohio.

I used 5 MCF this past month at $11.26/ccf.

We use electric blankets when we sleep and on the couch as a throw when we watch TV. We also have a timer on the thermostat that is programed to go down while we sleep and are at work.
On VERY cold days, we use a kerosene heater. $10 worth of Kerosene lasts a month or more for us.

Lastly, I call in my meter reading every month so they do not "estimate." The first year in the house, I didnt do this, and one month, I'd have a $150.00 bill, the next it would be $40 because they over-estimated.

~M

 

[73ss454]

mmg, 50 to 55. I don't even like going outside when it's that cold.

 

[Corporateburnout]

My bill this past month was $65, which is alot for me.
I have a new occupant to the house (my fiance) who will not allow me to put the thermostat below 55.

If it were my choice, it would be 50-55, and I'd walk around in sweats and slippers, with throws. But... because I cant, we have a $65 heating bill in December in Ohio.

I used 5 MCF this past month at $11.26/ccf.

We use electric blankets when we sleep and on the couch as a throw when we watch TV. We also have a timer on the thermostat that is programed to go down while we sleep and are at work.
On VERY cold days, we use a kerosene heater. $10 worth of Kerosene lasts a month or more for us.

Lastly, I call in my meter reading every month so they do not "estimate." The first year in the house, I didnt do this, and one month, I'd have a $150.00 bill, the next it would be $40 because they over-estimated.

~M

Woo 50-55..........Surprise your fiance hasn't left by now. My wife would not stay in the house if the thermostat is set below 65 at night and 68 during the day.

 

[Khan]

mmg, 50 to 55. I don't even like going outside when it's that cold.

Wuss.

61 daytime
50 nighttime

 

[Nords]

Wuss.

We don't even have a thermostat...

 

[73ss454]

Wuss.

61 daytime
50 nighttime

Your family must be thrilled! :

 

[Sundance Kid]

"I will be warm in the winter and cool, in the summer, regardless of the cost."

Harry S. Truman

 

[samclem]

On VERY cold days, we use a kerosene heater. $10 worth of Kerosene lasts a month or more for us.

~M

If you livein a home that is drafty enough to allow for safe use of a kerosene heater, you should invest in a few tubed of caulk and some plastic. If you don't live in a house that is this drafty, then using a kerosene heater inside might be a great way to assure you don't outlive your retirement savings.

Burning kerosene inside isn't a good idea. Consider using small electric space heater on the very coldest days. Sure, they aren't very efficient, but if you are just heating one room, they can be cheap to run. A 1500 watt heater at a duty cycle of 50% and an electric cost of $0.12 per kilowat hour = 9 cents per hour. Be comfortable in your room on the coldest days for about a buck per day (turn it off at night and get under the electric blanket), and avoid brain damage, stinky furniture, soiled walls, etc.

 

[AltaRed]

"I will be warm in the winter and cool, in the summer, regardless of the cost."

Harry S. Truman

A smart man. Life is too short not to be comfortable 24/7. 22C (72F) day and night at our place. If you want to be revenue neutral, skip the thrill of 3 hrs eating one or two restaurant meals each month instead.

 

[OAG]

Central Ohio (Dublin) last bill covered period 11/21 to 12/26/06 - 35 days and was an ESTIMATED bill. They say we used 70 CCF (they also use a conversion factor of 1.1198) to the CCF is adjusted UP to 78 CCF. Although, the Gas Company estimated 70 CCF it was ACTUALLY closer to 50 or so.

The Gas company estimates our annual usage at 477 CCF. We have gas heat and gas hot water heaters (2 of them). The Furnace is rated at 94% efficiency.

Cost per CCF (new rate for the next year) of $1.02488 DOWN from last years rate of $1.352 per CCF. Gas cost was $79.94 TOTAL Bill was $106.71 for approximately 3,700 SF, three level Ranch Condo.

We have a automatic set back thermostat set at 58 degrees at night (7 pm through 8 am) and then 66 degrees (8 am to 7 pm). Recently the temperature has not dropped below 61 degrees at night inside.

If you Goggle "Home Energy Audit" you should find some sites where you enter the data about your home and it will give you a ball park energy efficiency level. Most will also suggest several ways to increase the efficiency of the home. The only thing we did so far was add storm door (front and back) and they seem to help a lot. Also added some fiberglass insulation around the bank between basement and first level.