Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Is there a figure for heating oil/square foot per month?
Way too many variables involved to come up with a formula like that. Insulation type and thickness, windows and door seals and construction, age of furnace and how well it has been maintained, etc.... there are literally hundreds of things that will make two outwardly identical homes right next door to each other have big differences in heating and cooling costs.
As for the Electric rates, you might want to check into them. Maine has some of the highest electric rates in the Country. Don't just look at the electric supply rates, Maine electric companies also charge for the delivery of each and every kilowatt hour you use, generally the delivery charge is as high or higher than the actual electric usage charge. You need to find the utilities supply AND delivery charges per kilowatt/hour to get the whole picture.
I have an oil furnace ( boiler, hot water heat) here in Minnesota and my heating bills are quite high. 1456 sq ft 1955 rambler with plastic covering on windows.
I just filled Friday--------220 gallons,$2.34 per gallon, $518.88
We last filled on December 15 (38 days before)
We did have extremely cold weather for much of that time span
That breaks down to $13.65 per day.
Very expensive, but the entire house is heated and we keep the thermostat at 68.
Way too many variables involved to come up with a formula like that. Insulation type and thickness, windows and door seals and construction, age of furnace and how well it has been maintained, etc.... there are literally hundreds of things that will make two outwardly identical homes right next door to each other have big differences in heating and cooling costs.
As for the Electric rates, you might want to check into them. Maine has some of the highest electric rates in the Country. Don't just look at the electric supply rates, Maine electric companies also charge for the delivery of each and every kilowatt hour you use, generally the delivery charge is as high or higher than the actual electric usage charge. You need to find the utilities supply AND delivery charges per kilowatt/hour to get the whole picture.
Got it. I have to scrounge up a recent PG&E bill. California has various ways of handling electricity. We have PG&E which is delivery and supplier. They have tiered rates, which begin at $.08 per kWh and go up to $.22 or $.24 per kWh depending on usage. I think most of our usage is in the upper tier. But, we heat and cool with electric. I think our hot water heater is gas (pilot light). Natural gas used to be really inexpensive, but it's caught up with electricity, so there's no real financial benefit to natural gas anymore. I'm not sure if $.15 per kWh is more overall than PG&E's tiered rate structure. We pay a lot at the top tier.
We also pay for water service. It runs about $100-$200 per month due to drought rates; it's normally about $75/month. And, we pay $400/year for wastewater.
I know that Maine sellers disclose their energy use, but a buyer doesn't know how high the sellers keep the thermostat, etc.
Is there a figure for heating oil/square foot per month? We're looking at moving to Southern Maine (York, Kennebunk, Arundel), and are trying to determine how much our heating costs would be. It appears that most homes don't have air conditioning, so high electric bills are not an issue during the summer? We can keep our home no higher than 63 degrees and can keep it much lower at night. We're looking at buying a 2700sf+ home, and I'm just trying to figure out the difference (if any) what my energy costs would be year-round (i.e., higher winter costs may be offset by lower summer costs -- no central air).
We currently probably average about $300/month year-round for heating and cooling (natural gas and electric).
Thanks!
You could find out what oil company the previous owner used and ask them how many gallons they used per year.
The best way that I've found to calculate my oil usage is by using Heating Degree Days. The HDD is a measure of the difference between the outdoor temperature and some baseline measure of a temperature in which you wouldn't need heat, usually 65 degrees. For example, if the average daily temperature on January 1 was 40 degrees, this gives a reading of 25 Heating Degree Days for January 1. I know how much oil my house uses based on the gallons of oil I use per HDD.
My city averages about 4900 HDD per year. I use an average of 360 gallons of oil per year. I can estimate that I will use about .07 gallons for each HDD. If I lower my thermostat from 68 to 63, I'll save the equivalent of 5 HDD or about a third of a gallon which is about $1 per day at current prices.
If your house has been around for a while then find out how many gallons of oil the previous owners have bought on average per year. My power utility has a great chart that shows HDD by month at Seattle City Light | Degree Day Record that makes it easy to budget oil expenses. Hopefully you can find something like that for Maine.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
