Home heating costs?

[Daox]

Hey guys. I've been looking at houses since late winter now. I guess I'd like to see what you guys are paying on a monthly basis for electric/gas? Mention if you have any efficiency things done. I'd like some numbers to aim for.

The house I'm currently looking at is around $75/mo (yearly average) for electric which seems high to me (but I don't know anything about this stuff) and $93/mo for gas. It has gas forced air heat and central air conditioning. I'm not sure if the water heater is gas or electric. My guess would be gas. The windows are old and I'm sure very leaky. It has a dish washer too. Square footage is around 1500 and its a two story house.

[Arminius]

Since you and I live within spitting distance, I will say that my last gas bill was about $174 for a 4,500 sq ft home, which is kept at 60 degrees except for about 6 hours a day when it is at 68 degrees in half the house. The month before that, I believe the bill was about $400, because it was very cold and my son was home from college for a few weeks and was up all day and night trying to use up as much natural gas as possible.

Edit: Part of my house is a mother-in-law suite, and I don't know what she keeps her thermostat at. I suspect she keeps it at 66 degrees all day and night. But the numbers above include her energy use as well as mine.

Edit: My house has four separate zones, each with its own thermostat. The air/heat is only on in 50% of the house at any give time.

[Arminius]

Sorry, I forgot to mention electricity. That bill is usually about $170 average. Half the 150 lights are cfl. All of them would be, but my wife hates their color. In the summer we don't run the air except for the upstairs, which is set at 65 degrees (no, that is not a typo) from 9 pm until 6:30 am.

Because my mother-in-law is a German from pre-WWII Ukraine, she has issues with saving food, so she has two full sized fridges just for herself and any guests she has. She also likes to open her windows for an hour a day with the heat/air running to get the "bat air" (<--German accent for "bad air") out of the house. (Yeah, I know, it's crazy, but you gotta be nice to a 89 year old lady, right?)

[Who]

Family of 4 - around 2400 SF - 1975 construction, fairly tight, but the insulation could be way better if I wanted to rip open all the walls (which I don't).

Electricity is typically around $90 at $0.10/KWH although the last 2 months it was under $60.

NG works out to around $100 month averaged out, this being for heat from a high efficiency boiler, hot water from an indirect tank fired off the boiler and a gas BBQ.

NG is around $0.50 per M3 which I think would be around $1.30 per 100,000 BTUs.

[jjackstone]

Daox,
That actually sounds pretty good for your part of the country. While I currently live in northern California, I grew up in Illinois and I definitely remember those freezing winters and hot humid summers. You'd need to find out how much you're paying per Kwh for the electricity to get a decent comparison to anyone who answers here. I pay over
$.15/kwh here including taxes and add-on fees and averaged about $55/mo over the last two years in a 25 y/o 1600 sq.ft. house with minimal insulation. Natural gas is a bit lower overall but runs about $1/therm..
Other than your heating/cooling bills the largest energy eater is normally your fridge. Get a Kill-A-Watt meter if you don't already have one. You can directly check how much electricity most appliances use. My thought is that a modern fridge should be less than 1.5kwh per day. The one in my house actually uses 3kwh per day....yuck.
JJ

[Daox]

Thanks guys. It looks like the current rates are around $.16/kwh and $1.15 per therm. So, maybe the bill isn't abnormally high.

I've been going a bit crazy lately reading up on solar power and all that good stuff. I'd love to do in floor radiant heat with solar water heating panels. I'm getting head of myself, but its good to know something about it when looking at houses.

I'd love to get a kill-a-watt, I just haven't done it yet. Its definitly on the list to get though. Anyone have a recommended place/website to buy from?

I also found what seems like a great product called the smart power strip. It supposidly powers the entire strip on or off based on turning one component of the strip on. So, you plug your tv into the control plug, and when the tv comes on then power can go to everything else. Otherwise, there isn't any juice going to them at all. Sounds like a great idea. I just wonder if that makes the tv/vcr loose the chanel programming? Kill-a-watt would see weather its worth it to plug in just that one appliance to retain the memory I guess.

[Who]

Before getting a Kill-O-Watt or WattsUp (my choice for measuring individual small loads), you might want to think about getting a TED (The Energy Detective). Then you can measure the whole home or individual circuits.

I'm no expert but I have looked into solar a fair amount and the best bang for the buck in somewhere like Wisconsin would simply be in preheating the water going into your domestic water heater. The colder the ground water the more effective the preheat will be. It would probably do most of your summer hot water and a significant portion in the winter time. Domestic hot water for your local might be one fifth of your gas bill. If your annual gas bill was $1500, then DHW might be $300 and of that you'd probably save half. A system like that might run you $4K and the rebates and incentives vary widely and change often. Solar home heating would probably have an even worse return. The best return is on caulking.

[Arminius]

Originally Posted by Daox

I'd love to get a kill-a-watt, I just haven't done it yet. Its definitly on the list to get though. Anyone have a recommended place/website to buy from?

I also found what seems like a great product called the smart power strip. It supposidly powers the entire strip on or off based on turning one component of the strip on. So, you plug your tv into the control plug, and when the tv comes on then power can go to everything else. Otherwise, there isn't any juice going to them at all. Sounds like a great idea. I just wonder if that makes the tv/vcr loose the chanel programming? Kill-a-watt would see weather its worth it to plug in just that one appliance to retain the memory I guess.

I've got those in boxes in my home. Hopefully some day (within the next month) they'll actually be used.

[bennelson]

Hey Doax,

My house is 1500 square feet.
All gas appliances.

Gas bill had been $77 monthly year-round (budget plan). After I turned down the water heater and thermostat a tad, it dropped to $55.

Electric bill runs around $35. We use compact fluorescent light bulbs pretty much everywhere and have pretty good daylighting.

House was remodeled a few years back with good modern windows, good insulation, and two skylights. I know skylights are bad for thermal, but great for lighting!

If my house wasn't under a tree and pointed the wrong way, I would go for a solar hot water heater to preheat water going into my gas water heater. It is amazing what difference a few degrees makes with water.

[Daox]

What did you turn the water down to and what was it at?

Sounds like quite an efficient home compared to what I've seen talking to coworkers and friends. They all seem to think $170 is pretty average.