how much oil will a small/medium apartment in portland use? (apartments, lease) - Maine (ME) -Portland, ME metro area - City-Data Forum

charley789 · 06-13-2008, 10:44 AM

I'm in the process of looking for a new apartment and I am completely new to having to deal with oil heat. It seems that most of the places available are not including heat (like my previous landlords have), probably because of the increase in price. I am looking at an apartment that has low ceilings and isn't too big and that runs heat through radiators. Hot water is included in the rent but heat is separate that is split between what would be our floor and the floor below. The landlord gave an estimate that each floor used about 300 gallons last year, but I'm not sure if he meant for the whole heating season or per month. What do you think he meant? What is an average amount for an apartment this size to be using?

On a side note, this may sound dumb but I really don't have any experience dealing with this, but heating in the winter would obviously be more expensive since you would use more, but what about in the summer? Will we really being using anything if we don't need to heat water since its paid for? I'm trying to figure out how much we can afford - at either this place or another - since its becoming increasingly hard to find apartments with rents that include everything. Thank you for your help.

PMBird · 06-13-2008, 10:54 AM

I don't live in Portland, but my apt (which is fairly large and old) used about 400 gal of oil for the entire heating season this past winter. I almost always wore an extra layer of clothing so I could keep the temp low and not use more oil and I also put plastic on the windows to keep as much cold air out as possible. If your hot water is included then you shouldn't need the oil during the summer ... I do because my hot water is not included, but that was only 100 gal from spring to fall.

charley789 · 06-13-2008, 11:00 AM

So he probably meant 300 gallons for the whole season. I think the people downstairs are college kids and not a family so they are probably less likely to use more heat, unless they are wasteful. The only other thing that concerns me is that I'm not sure hot water is included in their rent and if we have to split it there is no way to tell who really uses what, which is sort of unfair and stupid.

PMBird · 06-13-2008, 11:04 AM

If they waste heat it wouldn't be good, but it wouldn't be a total loss. I used to live in a 2nd floor apt and used less heat because "heat rises" the people down stairs kept their apt pretty warm, my apt wasn't hard to heat. Also, right now I live on the 1st floor so I don't have anything besides a cold empty cellar under my feet.

juststoppinby · 06-13-2008, 07:05 PM

We are getting ready to move in a couple of weeks to a new apartment (not in Portland). I refused to rent anything that did not include heat and hot water. It might be a little more expensive but at least I know exactly what my bills will be this winter except the electric bill. The apartment we are currently in includes heat but not hot water. The hot water heater is electric. There are only two of us here and our bill runs us between $100-$120 a month. Waaaaay to high in my opinion. I have thought since we moved here a year and a half ago that we are paying some of the electric for the tenants downstairs. Anyway, my feeling is to rent with heat and hot water included. Some think it is wiser to pay a lower rent, pay their own heat and then in the summer they willl have the lower rent without the heating cost and it will come out better in the end for them. That might be true but I would not want to pay the heating bill this coming winter with the soaring price of oil. Another thing to keep in mind if you are paying the heating bill...how well built and insulated is the building? Are the windows newer windows? I will shut up now but thought I would throw my 2 cents in.

Northern Maine Land Man · 06-14-2008, 04:33 AM

sdstlouis is on the right track. I would add that you control part of this with your thermostat setting. Get a programmable thermostat and set it for 50 or 55 degrees when you are not there. I have mine set to go up to 70 at 5 AM and drop back to 55 at 8 AM. It goes up to 65 at 5 PM and drops to 55 at 10 PM. Why heat a whole house when you are under a down comforter?

Of course none of this actually happens when the wood stove is going. Do you have kids that are in and out every 10 minutes? Do you want to run around the house in a T-shirt in January? Most Mainers wear a sweat shirt or fleece jacket all winter, even in the house.

Turn the thermostat on your hot water heater down to 115 degrees. It makes no sense to pay to heat your hot water to 140 degrees and then run cold water to cool it back down.

K-Luv · 06-14-2008, 10:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by charley789

I'm in the process of looking for a new apartment and I am completely new to having to deal with oil heat. It seems that most of the places available are not including heat (like my previous landlords have), probably because of the increase in price.

You'd be surprised at how many apartments in Portland actually do include heat in the rent. Mine does, and many apartments that I have been looking into (my lease is almost up) do as well.

Look on Craigslist.