Gas+Electric heating bill (Bellevue: loft, how much, townhouse)

[migdalskiy]

Hi,

How much do you pay for heating? Is it normal to pay ~$250/month for heating (electrical+gas) in Bellevue, given:

1800 sqft house with a loft (equivalent of 2-level 2000sqft house)
250 sqft of double-pane windows and 2 skylights (4 sqft each)
I used 30 kWh + 4 Therms / day in December (I used 1.5kW electric heater in the bedroom)
I kept the house at 60-70F
House was built in 1981 year, central gas heating

Is it normal to spend 4 Therms/day in winter or should I do something about it? Is 250sqft of windows per 1800 sqft loft more or less than average for the area? For this year of construction? For this type of construction (it's a loft/townhouse with one common wall)

Thanks,
-S

[tortoisegirl]

I could see how that sounds about right. We have electric only, 1200 sg ft, thermostat about the same--our bill is nearing $200 in the coldest months this time of year. You can check your own meters if possible and see if they look right. I have heard of the meters being read wrong, etc, to lead to a high bill--but yours is not astronomically high if you know what I mean. What kind of bills were you getting in the fall? I assume this is a new place for you so you don't have years of bills to compare. I also believe that rates went up in the last couple months.

[CityGirl72]

we are abot 2400 sqft total to heat, and I keep my thermostat at 75 year round - I spend about $325 a month (all day long cuz I have family in the house 24/7)

[allforcats]

In Bellevue for many, many years, I've never checked the "Therms" so can't speak to that. The dollars sound right. With cats inside all the time, serious warmth is essential in more than half of my home, so I keep it cranked up in the winter for them.

You can phone the company and tell them you want to be on their budget plan. What that will do is average your costs based on your past year's usage (or the past-year usage of whoever lived in the house before you), so that you'll pay the same amount each month all year long, obviously a great deal less than $250, and not get hit with $250 bills in the winter months. I do that. When we have a warmish winter, for the ensuing year my monthly bill goes down a few dollars. When we have a colder winter, it goes up a few. But it's never a sudden shock.

[Heiwos]

Sounds about right to me. I conserve quite a bit (e.g. 50 degrees at night or nobody's home) but it saves only about 30% I'd say. I take heart in having a relatively small bill for the other half of the year. You need some fresh air always, so there's a limit to how airtight one should make the house.

[jinj]

75°F, wow, that is a high temp to keep it at. I hate it any warmer than 70°F any time of the year.

[CityGirl72]

Originally Posted by jinj

75°F, wow, that is a high temp to keep it at. I hate it any warmer than 70°F any time of the year.

Now you know why I'm moving the h*ll of out here

My old house I kept it at 85 degrees, but that's because it's over 70 degrees outside 6 to 8 months of the year.

[texastrigirl]

My bill was $255 last month for 2500 sq ft. 2 story. I keep it at 68 degrees and I have new high efficiency windows. My house was built in 1983 I think. My neighbors bills are not quite double mine so I know the window make a big difference.

[kengrubb]

Originally Posted by migdalskiy

How much do you pay for heating? Is it normal to pay ~$250/month for heating (electrical+gas) in Bellevue
...
House was built in 1981 year, central gas heating

I presume we're talking forced air with a natural gas furnace.

Several random questions:

Do you have a heat pump?
Is it the original 1981 furnace?
Have you checked out the insulation in your attic?
Are they the original 1981 double pane windows?
Are they the original 1981 skylights?

You might consider doing an energy audit, and some companies do them free of charge.

However, there are things you can do yourself and on the cheap. Caulking, sealing, weatherstripping around doors and behind lightswitch and outlet plates on outside walls.

More expensive things involve adding more attic insulation. PSE offers a rebate, and it should pay back very soon.
http://www.pse.com/SiteCollectionDocuments/residential/frm3701Weatherization.pdf (broken link)

A more expensive but much more efficient choice would be professionally installed spray foam insulation. Fiberglass averages an R-value of about 3 per inch. Spray foam hits R7 to R9 per inch. In the attic, that's huge.

Here are more of PSE's Rebates (http://www.pse.com/solutions/forbusiness/pages/comRebates.aspx - broken link).

Check out the DSire website
for energy efficiency rebates.