Gas Bill

[RitualOfTheTrout]

Ok, My girlfriend just got an apartment about a month ago and the first of her bills are coming in. Today the gas bill came in and it was 114 dollars?

This doesnt sound right because the thermostat has been kept at about 60 degrees the whole month and the only other thing using gas in the apt is the water heater.

Not to mention temps have been way above average for this time of year up until now.

Im wondering if maybe a turn on fee was apart of that.. or is natural gas just that expensive??

 

[racketboy]

mine's $75 or so.

Is there lights being left on or appliances that run all the time?

 

[Curtis]

How about a leaking hot water outlet?

 

[RitualOfTheTrout]

The Lights are all flouresent, the electric bill is a nice 24 a month.. not bad at all.. and nothing is on all the time that uses gas.. the oven is electric also..

Ill hafta check the hot water tank.. maybe it is leaking or possibly set really high.

The only other thing i can think of is that they only check the meter every other month and do an average for the month that they do not read the meter.. so maybe this month was based on the previous tenants gas usuage?

Keep in mind this is a house, she rents the downstairs and someone else rents the upstaris. So we are talking this much to heat half of a house.

 

[racketboy]

wow -- I thought you mean gas AND electric.

I'm paying about $75 for BOTH for my 1-bedroom apartmenr

 

[lordofduct]

Lucky son of a bitch... I pay 250 a month in electric. No gas here though.

Ummm, you should check how much gas in total she is using. Ask neighbors how much gas they use... also where are you located, gas prices fluctuate horribly, they are much more affordable then electric charges for their gas! But it still fluctuates. But I will say, SOMETHING is going on, may it be water heater, dryer, or what else is hooked to it. If the water heater is poorly insulated or a small heater that gets used a lot it would use more.

 

[RitualOfTheTrout]

It does seem odd.. hopefully I can figure it out. I could see if the heater was on at like 80 or something.. but like i said its at about 60 -62 all the tiime.

The only other thing I can think of would be if this is a bill for like a month and a half of serivuce.. ie we had it turned on in the middle of a billing cycle and they charge you a month in advance.. Either way gotta find out before the really cold weather sets in cause then the damn bill will be like 300 some.

I wont get a chance to look until sunday though..

BTW we are in Pennsylvania.

Anyways keep given me some ideas to check.

Maybe they read the wrong meter? 😛

 

[Alexvrb]

As example of a serious heat loss: I had an out-of-the-way floor vent in the dining room that apparently wasn't connected to its duct. At some recent point, the duct had fallen off and so that particular duct was busy heating the crawlspace. Hurray. Probably wouldn't have even noticed for some time if we didn't have to go down there to replace some coax. It wasn't the only vent in the room, and the downstairs is open enough that every room is the same temp.

 

[it290]

Heh - you guys are lucky bastards. My gas/electric bill averages at about $250 during the winter months, and that's with the thermostat set at 60. I live in a very old house, and there's not much I can do to keep heat from escaping. On top of that, the boiler in the basement is an ancient monster. I'm fearing for my wallet, since there's supposed to be a 70% increase in gas prices this year (damn you Xcel!).

 

[reX dart: eskimo spy]

I'm in college. 😱wned

 

[schi0249]

It seems a little odd. For my 1000 sq ft apt, I pay maybe $75-80/month for gas and electric.

 

[Alexvrb]

Originally posted by it290@Sat, 2004-12-11 @ 12:06 PM

I live in a very old house, and there's not much I can do to keep heat from escaping.

Staple gun + insulation? 😛

 

[it290]

The walls are insulated, it's mostly the windows that are the problem. That problem could be solved by replacing all the window frames or maybe caulking all the windows shut, but either way it's not really worth it. Besides, I rent the place.

 

[dibz]

Our house is about $70 electric on average, without gas. Of course we have fuel oil for heating, and that costs about $300 to fill and so far we havent had to fill it again yet this winter but it probably won't be long.

 

[RitualOfTheTrout]

Ok, well here is an update.

We got the second bill and it is 126!!!!

Asking around people who heat entire houses have bills that are about the same or even lower..

So I guess its time to call the gas company and see what the heck is going on.. maybe somehow we r paying for the neighbor upstairs gas too??

We have had record high temps still in this area.. 50 -60 degrees and the thermostat is at 58 - 60 and the stove is electric.

Anybody have any ideas of what to look for as the cause? ie maybe a leak? How would I find a leak etc... Can a furnace be that ineffecient?

 

[it290]

It's possible that there was a screwup and you're getting the bill for upstairs, too. That would seem to be the most likely explanation. Are there multiple meters on the house?

Keep in mind, though, that if you leave the thermostat on at night, the house still has to be heated during that time. I doubt it's a leak. Is the furnace really old? That could explain it. My boiler dates back to the 1930's, and that's certainly part of my problem. Also, how's the insulation?

Really, $126/month for half a house in Pennsylvania during the winter doesn't sound bad to me at all, but I don't know what the rates are around there.

 

[RitualOfTheTrout]

Well the gas company says the average for that house is 103 and gave us some tips for insulating. They also gave us the budget plan, so it will be about 85 dollars every month.

I guess its just a combination of an old furnace (looks like the original furnace while the neighbor has a nice new one) and poor insulation. After some more investigation both of the doors you can see through to the outside underneath and on the side. And although all the windows have storm windows also, they are wooden which is another part of the problem.

I gues son the upside, at least the electric is reasonable.