Gas heating costs for 525 sq ft/1 br apartment? (Sacramento: apartments, lease)

[daytripper84]

So we're new customers to Socal Gas and just got a bill for $54.59 for 16 days of use! ($43.71 gas use + $3.78 customer charge + $7.10 taxes & fees)

For the other 7 days in the billing period, we were out of town and the pilot was off.

We only have a gas wall heater in the living room and 2 people in the apartment. The heater is off (dial on 0) but pilot on during the day. We turn the heat on when it gets dark & cold in the evening, and either turn it back to 0 before bed, or leave it on the setting where it stays off most of the time, but will come on for a short period if it's very cold.

We heat the living room (not whole apartment) to upper 60s/low 70s in the evening but it probably gets mid 60s overnight.

How can using 39 therms in only 16 days be right? At that rate, our monthly therm use would be 76 and our bill over $100! Average winter gas consumption of all dwellings in our area is 31 therms or $38 monthly--that includes houses with gas heating, cooking, water heater, dryer.

Are we correct in suspecting there's other apartments attached to our meter... or a leak? We've never had gas heat before but have always heard how much cheaper it is than electric.

We lived in an all-electric 2 br apt in Sacramento prior to this and our bill in the winter was $125. That's for everything, incl. cooking, water heater, and really inefficient (old) central heat. We're baffled how gas heating this small apartment--in a warmer winter climate--could cost more in utilities.

Thoughts, experiences?

[marcopolo666]

goggling "how can I measure my gas usage" and "what is using so much gas in my home" will find you all the answers you need.

[CCbaxter]

Your $125 seems low. When I first moved to CA it was the late fall. Being from MN I rarely used the heat in my one bedroom apartment. I would turn it on when I got up and then turned it off when I left for work and didn’t turn it on until the next morning. The only hot water I used was for my morning shower, no laundry in my unit and only washed dishes once a week or so.
PG&E was getting nearly 150 a month for that. As I recall in the spring I was still paying like 50 with no heat at all

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by CCbaxter

Your $125 seems low. When I first moved to CA it was the late fall. Being from MN I rarely used the heat in my one bedroom apartment. I would turn it on when I got up and then turned it off when I left for work and didn’t turn it on until the next morning. The only hot water I used was for my morning shower, no laundry in my unit and only washed dishes once a week or so.
PG&E was getting nearly 150 a month for that. As I recall in the spring I was still paying like 50 with no heat at all

Wow I think I am glad I do not live in CA anymore and have to try and stay warm or cool!!! The $125 isn't bad, the other samples being giving seem really high!!!

[saibot]

Gosh, our last gas bill was $25 (SoCalGas) and I was annoyed because it was higher than average even though we were gone for a week in December. I have three teenagers who like to take long, hot showers. I spoke to them about that!

$125 or $150 for gas seems incomprehensible. I'd be looking to see if the meter was broken or something.

[Ultrarunner]

A apartment friend always had a high electric and just paid it for almost two decades...she was away for 3 weeks and turned off her utilities... this is California so no worry about freezing and she was just wanted to be safe.

Anyway turned out she was paying for the electricity running a dewatering sump pump for the building... Several ground floor apartments had standing water... what a mess. Apartment tried to blame her so we filed multiple complaints as nothing about common areas in her lease... they owed her about the eqivalent of 9 months rent running 20 years...

Turn off the gas fired appliances in your apartment and the see how much gas used which should be zero...

Who knows...your gas could have a leak which happened at a building a managed or your gas is going somewhere unknown...