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.
Checked the system this weekend. It looks like my furnace is 85k BTU with a Beckett oil burner. It recommends an 80* B (solid spray) .65 GPH nozzle, but mine currently is 80* A (hollow) .75 GPH. This could account for the higher oil usage. My HVAC brother is going to get the correct nozzle, and give the system a good check-up to optimize it. He said it may run just as long, but would use less oil doing so. I hope so- today is the 20th, and the heater's been on 138 hours so far this month!
3.5 cords of wood- Free and self split
Aprox. 350 gals of oil /year for hot water and occasional heat, basement heat, and when away. Hopefully stays cheap.
120/month electric balanced bill.
1400 sq' ranch w full finished bsmt- never gets below 68 in here.
I hope it's not too late to jump in on this thread. I too have a Nest thermostat (love it), and I was also wondering how much heat usage others are experiencing. I don't know how my house compares to others, or if there is a need to make it more efficient.
Here's my house info: Philadelphia, PA, 1650 sf. 3 BR ranch with oil-fired forced air heat. When I bought the house in 2012, it needed a ton of work. I had every wall replaced with new drywall, and R-15 insulation put in the exterior walls. The attic and crawl space were also insulated to R-30. The ductwork was replaced and insulated to increase airflow. I had the hardwood floors redone to seal everything up. Six of the 9 windows were replaced, including a large sliding patio door. I would say the house is now mostly air-tight.
I keep the house at 67* when home, 64 when away, and down to 63 at night. Last winter when the average temp was 29* or colder, the heat was on for 223 hours in January and 190 in February. This was before some of the above work was done. I was burning through 150 gallons of oil a month! Last month, after all the work was done, it was on for 119 hours. The average daily temp here was roughly 41*.
For those of you with a similar home and in similar environments, how does your heat usage compare to this? Thanks for your input.
Just installed an hour meter on my boiler, 2,000 sq ft split. In one week, I'm averaging 6.5 Hrs runtime / day at .6 GPH on Peerless Boiler / Riello F40 burner, so just under 4 gals/day. From fill up to fill up, i average about 5 gals/day so i'll compare that to my hour meter to see how it compares once the next fill up is done.
I have an 1850 Sq/Ft split (4br, 3 bath, and finished basement) with two Nest thermostats installed (a third one to be installed in a few days) for about almost two months now. I took advantage of a Black Friday sale at Lowes, which sold it for $200 each, and I added a 10% coupon to reduce it down to $180 each.
I've attached a jpg of my daily schedule and energy history today.
[IMG][/IMG]
So far, I've received only one monthly report from nest, which showed that I used 305 hours combined for both heating zones - the bedroom zone had higher usage than the basement zone, but unfortunately, Nest does not give me a breakdown of the hours per zone, only one aggregate number. My National Grid bill for December 2014 showed an estimated usage of 10 Therms, and the bill was $28.25.
The Nest replaced two ancient White-Rodgers mercury thermostats, which never worked properly; the timer switch on those things never worked and I was adjusting them manually several times a day in all three zones. A major PITA. Now, I just click on the Nest app and adjust from the comfort of wherever I happen to be.
Our house is pretty old....built 1974....central heating in about half of it, the other half doesn't have any real heating, but we have wacky thermodynamics in our house anyway. Our windows are all single-pane.
We keep the heat:
Off
or....
somewhere between 55-60 degrees. Usually around 57-58.
No heat in the bedroom at all.
We leave windows cracked also because fresh air is always good and preferable to the same old stale air continually recirculating
I have an 1850 Sq/Ft split (4br, 3 bath, and finished basement) with two Nest thermostats installed (a third one to be installed in a few days) for about almost two months now. I took advantage of a Black Friday sale at Lowes, which sold it for $200 each, and I added a 10% coupon to reduce it down to $180 each.
I've attached a jpg of my daily schedule and energy history today.
[IMG][/IMG]
So far, I've received only one monthly report from nest, which showed that I used 305 hours combined for both heating zones - the bedroom zone had higher usage than the basement zone, but unfortunately, Nest does not give me a breakdown of the hours per zone, only one aggregate number. My National Grid bill for December 2014 showed an estimated usage of 10 Therms, and the bill was $28.25.
The Nest replaced two ancient White-Rodgers mercury thermostats, which never worked properly; the timer switch on those things never worked and I was adjusting them manually several times a day in all three zones. A major PITA. Now, I just click on the Nest app and adjust from the comfort of wherever I happen to be.
I saw the usage and went "wow" until you explained that they are aggregate numbers. Makes a lot more sense! They should be able to break it down. I doesn't make sense not to be able to...? Make a request to Nest?
I'm taking your Dec 10 therm bill with a big pinch of salt since it was estimated, but please post back when they take an actual metering for Jan! I use more than 10 therms for my hot water and cooking during BBQ season!!!
Update: over the weekend I installed the new, properly sized nozzle (80B, .65) and vaccumed out the access ports. The results are that the air feels much warmer, and the airflow is slightly increased. My heater is now running 10-20% less each day, meaning I am hopefully saving some oil. It's much more optimized now
Over the summer I noticed that there is air from the heater/AC blowing into the furnace closet, but I can't find the source. I've looked around all the ductwork in there, and sealed all cracks and holes, but this did not stop the air loss. I'm certain this is causing the airflow to be reduced.
@ rycelover, you may want to see how long it takes to raise your temp from 64 to 70. It may not be worth it to set it down that low, as it may take more time to bring it back up than if it were set a bit higher, say 67. Just a suggestion. I found that, on really cold days, the heater runs the same time regardless of whether it's set at 64 or 67. But it takes much longer to bring it back up from a low temp.
We have oil too and this is our first winter needing real heat (we moved from Las Vegas to real winter). The oil tank is I think over 200gal and it cost us about $700+ trying to fill it for the winter when the gas prices were high during early fall. Never again will I consider a house with heating oil...
We have oil too and this is our first winter needing real heat (we moved from Las Vegas to real winter). The oil tank is I think over 200gal and it cost us about $700+ trying to fill it for the winter when the gas prices were high during early fall. Never again will I consider a house with heating oil...
you should happy you have a small tank and use so little for the whole winter.
$700 for 4 months(Oct to Feb)?....that's $175 per month for heat. Not bad at all.
Quote:
Originally Posted by HattieB
We have oil too and this is our first winter needing real heat (we moved from Las Vegas to real winter). The oil tank is I think over 200gal and it cost us about $700+ trying to fill it for the winter when the gas prices were high during early fall. Never again will I consider a house with heating oil...
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.
My experiences with Nest
