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Is it normal to have this high of a bill? *Update* I'm a moron

episodic

episodic

Lifer
158$ gas bill when the only thing in your house powered by gas is the hot water heater???

Edit

Turns out our heat is gas.

I did not know because when the gas man came, he only lit the water heater. We called the landlord - were told the gas heat was 'electric ignition' - and it is all in the attic, that I can't get to, so I had no idea. I figured no pilot light = electric furnace.


So our bill makes sense now.
 
Only if you have one that is 60 years old, uninsulated, and keeping your water heated at 200 degrees.

Are you sure you don't have a gas furnace?

 
Where is your hot water heater? I had an apartment back in the day where the electric water heater was more or less outside in an uninsulated closet. Wrapping some insulation around the hot water heater saved me a ton of money. $20 out of pocket for the insulation and I probably broke even in a week.

Also, you sure it's not quarterly billing?
 
If all you really have is the gas water heater, there is definitely something wrong.
 
if it's just hot water, your bill should not drastically fluctuate from month to month unless you change your usage. If the heater is uninsulated and in an unconditioned space during winter, it could drive up the cost, but not likely to double it or anything.

what was last months bill? what was your December 2007 bill?
 
Everyone should be required to take a class on how not to waste natural resources. This should set off giant red flags in your brain that something is wrong. You probably have it turned up too high as well as a combination of other things. If you can't hold your hands under the hot water without adding cold water to it, it's too hot and you are wasting natural gas by heating it unnecessarily. I have mine turned down so I can turn the shower knob all the way to hot and it is just barely too hot so there is some wiggle room if the tank gets low and the average temperature drops a few degrees. The people who lived in the house before we did had it turned 75% of the way up and they said they were paying about $60/mo for it. I turned it down to the temperature I described (just barely too hot to hold your hands under in the sink) and it dropped by 70%.

The only thing you do by turning down the temperature is use more hot water which obviously has to be heated. However, even if you empty the tank, it still takes less energy to reheat 50 gallons of cold water to a lower temperature than it does to sustain a higher temperature for an entire day.
 
Last months was 101 - I thought it was a fluke - but this month 158. . . ouch. I don't smell any gas leaking. It is a tiny house. It was an old style house that had 'capped' gas lines in rooms from back in the day when you had gas floor heaters. The only thing left gas is the hot water, though.


It sits in the back of the house - a pantry. We did have the water 2 notches from high - but it was always there.


How can you tell if a bill is 'estimated'?

Can you call someone out from the gas company to investigate - or should I contact the landlord (I hate to do that, cause then I feel like I have to clean the place from top to bottom 😛)


 
Originally posted by: episodic
Last months was 101 - I thought it was a fluke - but this month 158. . . ouch. I don't smell any gas leaking. It is a tiny house. It was an old style house that had 'capped' gas lines in rooms from back in the day when you had gas floor heaters. The only thing left gas is the hot water, though.


It sits in the back of the house - a pantry. We did have the water 2 notches from high - but it was always there.


How can you tell if a bill is 'estimated'?

Can you call someone out from the gas company to investigate - or should I contact the landlord (I hate to do that, cause then I feel like I have to clean the place from top to bottom 😛)
Click to expand...

Turn it down. That's a waste unless 2 notches from high is close to low, which I'm guessing it isn't.
 
Originally posted by: episodic
Last months was 101 - I thought it was a fluke - but this month 158. . . ouch. I don't smell any gas leaking. It is a tiny house. It was an old style house that had 'capped' gas lines in rooms from back in the day when you had gas floor heaters. The only thing left gas is the hot water, though.


It sits in the back of the house - a pantry. We did have the water 2 notches from high - but it was always there.


How can you tell if a bill is 'estimated'?

Can you call someone out from the gas company to investigate - or should I contact the landlord (I hate to do that, cause then I feel like I have to clean the place from top to bottom 😛)
Click to expand...

something is definitely up....call the gas company and have them come check it out.

did you live there last year?...what was the bill this time last year?
 
Nah this is my first year living here. Normally, the wife pays the bills and I never look at them. I just happened to notice this time around. She just 'pays' them and never thinks about it. . .
 
It sounds like you might have a leak or something. :Q

That's the type of bill you would expect from having a gas furnace.
 
I read the back and taught myself how to read a meter:
on 12/2/08 it was 2093
on 1/5/09 it was 2191

So I used 98 CCF (cubic feet of gas)


So I went out and read the meter just now

on 1/5 - it should have been 2191

it is 1/12/09 and it is on 2214 so in 7 days I've used 23 CCF

 
Crawl under the house and use a match to find your way?

Call your natural gas company asap.. they are usually cool.. and tell them something really seems wrong..

maybe you have a family of immigrants living in your basement that you don't know about?
 
Originally posted by: episodic
I read the back and taught myself how to read a meter:
on 12/2/08 it was 2093
on 1/5/09 it was 2191

So I used 98 CCF (cubic feet of gas)


So I went out and read the meter just now

on 1/5 - it should have been 2191

it is 1/12/09 and it is on 2214 so in 7 days I've used 23 CCF
Click to expand...

hmmmm.

98 cubic feet of gas isn't that much.. And that cost you $158?

That's 1 therm.....

Something is wonky here.
 
Here is the bill in detail - maybe gas is just 'high' here per Eli's comment


Customer Charge 9.75
Dist Rate 50CCF @ 0.34655/CCF 17.33
Dist Rate 48CCF @ 0.16664/CCF 8.00
Gas Supply Rate 98CCF @ 1.05694/CCF 103.58
Weather Normalization 98CCF @ 0.01113/CCF 1.09
Base ADJ Rate 0.29
EE Cost Rate 0.36
Municipal Franchise Adustment 5.97
City Tax 1.83
County Tax 2.93
State Tax 8.78

Total 159.61

 
No way. I just checked my gas water heater. The Energystar sticker showed a range of $285-331 per year. I'm not sure what the capacity of mine is, but it's 5' tall and about 20" wide.

Originally posted by: SoulAssassin
Where is your hot water heater? I had an apartment back in the day where the electric water heater was more or less outside in an uninsulated closet. Wrapping some insulation around the hot water heater saved me a ton of money. $20 out of pocket for the insulation and I probably broke even in a week.

Also, you sure it's not quarterly billing?
Click to expand...

Ouch. :Q
 
Originally posted by: episodic
Here is the bill in detail - maybe gas is just 'high' here per Eli's comment


Customer Charge 9.75
Dist Rate 50CCF @ 0.34655/CCF 17.3
Dist Rate 48CCF @ 0.16664/CCF 8.00
Gas Supply Rate 98CCF @ 1.05694/CCF 103.58
Weather Normalization 98CCF @ 0.01113/CCF 1.09
Base ADJ Rate 0.29
EE Cost Rate 0.36
Municipal Franchise Adustment 5.97
City Tax 1.83
County Tax 2.93
State Tax 8.78

Total 159.61
Click to expand...

Minus taxes and fees, you're paying $1.571243/CCF?!

:shocked:

My last bill, we used 26 Therms(2600CCF), and our bill was $34.44.
 
mine is around $50 a month in the summer for gas stove and water heater. Sounds like you either left the water on or have a leak
 
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