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valis2Okay, so I've been waiting for our first gas bill here at the house. At the apartment we had a bill of about $120 per month during winter, so we've been pretty spoiled.
Husband's grandma, who, as you know, lived here before us, had a bill for November that was $285. And the house was pretty much empty for most of that month. So I was expecting a huge bill for December. Especially because I take a bath every day, and we ran 2496853 loads of dishes when we moved in (and laundry, though I do most of my laundry in cold water), and we had the doors open for nearly two days while moving in furniture, etc.
I'm a bit crazy about furnaces and vents. Please do not be offended if you believe the opposite, but I do not think that closing off a room and turning off the vent inside it really works. You are still heating the air that travels in the vent; it's just not getting into the room. (I have a theory that returning colder-than-normal air through the cold-air return doesn't help either, but I could easily be wrong.)
Anyway, I did a tour of the house vents when we moved in, and Grandma had seven vents open, and six vents closed. Two of the vents were in open rooms (living room and kitchen), which makes even less sense than walling off rooms in your house. So. I opened all of the vents. And kept the heat at 70, and programmed the thermostat to go down to 60 while we're not here during the day--however, I was home almost every day for that month.
We also took out this birdfeeder thing that you can mount in an open window in your home. You put slats of wood on either side of it. It was huge, and cold air came in from the top of the window nonstop. I also noticed that she had left a window open (just a crack) in the living room. And she always left all of the curtains and shades wide open. And she left the garage door open nearly the whole time she was awake each day.
Still, I really was expecting the worst. Like I said, laundry and baths and two people instead of one. Though the first week was just the painter, so we left it at 60 the whole time. And the furnace is top-of-the-line energy efficient and brand new as of last winter. So then I thought maybe these things would balance out. I thought...$300. Maybe even more. In fact, today I nearly freaked when I thought it might be something like $500.
Okay, so the bill?
$104.
*screams in joy*
Husband's grandma, who, as you know, lived here before us, had a bill for November that was $285. And the house was pretty much empty for most of that month. So I was expecting a huge bill for December. Especially because I take a bath every day, and we ran 2496853 loads of dishes when we moved in (and laundry, though I do most of my laundry in cold water), and we had the doors open for nearly two days while moving in furniture, etc.
I'm a bit crazy about furnaces and vents. Please do not be offended if you believe the opposite, but I do not think that closing off a room and turning off the vent inside it really works. You are still heating the air that travels in the vent; it's just not getting into the room. (I have a theory that returning colder-than-normal air through the cold-air return doesn't help either, but I could easily be wrong.)
Anyway, I did a tour of the house vents when we moved in, and Grandma had seven vents open, and six vents closed. Two of the vents were in open rooms (living room and kitchen), which makes even less sense than walling off rooms in your house. So. I opened all of the vents. And kept the heat at 70, and programmed the thermostat to go down to 60 while we're not here during the day--however, I was home almost every day for that month.
We also took out this birdfeeder thing that you can mount in an open window in your home. You put slats of wood on either side of it. It was huge, and cold air came in from the top of the window nonstop. I also noticed that she had left a window open (just a crack) in the living room. And she always left all of the curtains and shades wide open. And she left the garage door open nearly the whole time she was awake each day.
Still, I really was expecting the worst. Like I said, laundry and baths and two people instead of one. Though the first week was just the painter, so we left it at 60 the whole time. And the furnace is top-of-the-line energy efficient and brand new as of last winter. So then I thought maybe these things would balance out. I thought...$300. Maybe even more. In fact, today I nearly freaked when I thought it might be something like $500.
Okay, so the bill?
$104.
*screams in joy*
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(no subject)
Date: 2009-01-14 08:58 am (UTC)It's amazing, in our old flat we had half the heating and water bill that the previous couple had, even though I was at home all the time and kept pushing the heating up so I wouldn't get cold feet.
In the house now, we use about as much oil as the previous owners. I need to get one more window isolated though. It's drafty.
(no subject)
Date: 2009-01-15 12:29 am (UTC)I'm completely obsessed! ha! And I tell you, by the time I actually got to the bill I really did think it would be $500.
It's amazing, in our old flat we had half the heating and water bill that the previous couple had, even though I was at home all the time and kept pushing the heating up so I wouldn't get cold feet.
Our old apartment had bills of $120 in the winter. So this is a pleasant surprise, seriously! I think it might be because the insulation got damaged during a mini flood.