High gas bill

[meadowlands]

Hey guys,

I live in central nj near the shore. I have a new furnace in a crawlspace. During October and November, my gas bills were $240 for the two months combined. All of a sudden, my Dec bill was $250. I keep the heat at 68-69. Recently sealed my ducts with mastic and started insulating them. I am hoping the bill is lower but am wondering how my bill got so high when the avg temp has been 40. Was thinking of bringing an hvac guy in to see what is wrong. Any thoughts? Thanks!

[Senior Tech]

Hey guys,

I live in central nj near the shore. I have a new furnace in a crawlspace. During October and November, my gas bills were $240 for the two months combined. All of a sudden, my Dec bill was $250. I keep the heat at 68-69. Recently sealed my ducts with mastic and started insulating them. I am hoping the bill is lower but am wondering how my bill got so high when the avg temp has been 40. Was thinking of bringing an hvac guy in to see what is wrong. Any thoughts? Thanks!

My first thought is have them check for a gas leak, especially around the new furnace.

[meadowlands]

My first thought is have them check for a gas leak, especially around the new furnace.

I had the gas company replace the meter and had the guy check for leaks. He did not find any coming from the furnace or hot water heater.

[jtrammel]

Something's not right, what were your gas bills prior to the new furnace?

[martyinlincoln]

Call the installing company up and have them check things out. Leaking ducts in an unconditioned space can add a lot of load. Any duct in the unconditioned space should have been insulated.

[meadowlands]

We moved in here in September and the furnace was put in right before we moved in. We have a gas dryer and stove, but our first bill without using the furnace was $25. Bills in our apartment were $88 and it was 2200 sq ft opposed to our 1400 sq ft house. I had some leaks but have since sealed them using mastic and started by insulating the area around the furnace and the duct coming into the bedrooms. I also insulated the pipes going to the bathroom. The furnace shows an energy usage range of 78 to 93...ours is 80, so it is not the most efficient.

[jtrammel]

Your gas bill should definitely not be that high for 1400sqft and 80% furnace. Either your water heater is leaking and running all the time, you have a sizable gas leak, or something else is terribly wrong. You need to call for service asap

[meadowlands]

I checked the water heater, but since our bill was so low when we moved in, it does not seem to be the culprit. Maybe it was the leaky ducts prior to my repair but then why would my bill go from 240 for 2 months to 250 for one month.

Calling njng only produces excuses and blame on it being one degree colder than the previous month. Never had an issue when I had pse&g. Seems like they lost a lot of money during sandy and are making up for it by ripping people off....

[Sleuth]

.

Is it possible the amount used was estimated?

Can you check the meter readings against the reported usage?
..

[meadowlands]

Looks like it was actual.

[jtrammel]

You can turn all gas appliances off including any pilot flames, then clock the meter. If its moving with all appliances off you have a gas leak, if it moves fast you have a large leak and need to turn gas off at meter and contact the gas company.

[energy_rater_La]

Recently sealed my ducts with mastic and started insulating them.

have you finished insulating them?
what are you insulating with?
are any ducts not insulated?
if the ducts were uninsulated for the month with the
higher utility bill...it makes sense.
but...do check to see if there is another issue.
gas leaks are nothing to play around with.

best of luck

[tipsrfine]

Your area had about 330 heating degree days in Oct, and 870 in December. Your gas provider may charge more for gas in Winter. May want to get an energy audit of your home to see what you can do to to improve its envelope -air leakage, insulation.

[meadowlands]

Recently sealed my ducts with mastic and started insulating them.

have you finished insulating them?
what are you insulating with?
are any ducts not insulated?
if the ducts were uninsulated for the month with the
higher utility bill...it makes sense.
but...do check to see if there is another issue.
gas leaks are nothing to play around with.

best of luck

I started sealing the ducts after the bill and am using this to insulate

http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1...&storeId=10051

Just started working in the crawlspace since we were busy with a problem with another room.

Heat comes out really hot and fast now with the exception of the furthest ducts in the kitchen. I started insulating the exchange and the ducts coming into the bedroom. The other ducts need replaced since whoever did the work has a round duct going into a square one and the other is just so compressed it had gaping holes which I fixed. The other is a flex duct which is just horrible, so I just sealed those till I replace em.

[meadowlands]

Hey guys, I am still having issues. I was away for 3 weeks, had the temp set at 60. This months bill was $148 even with the temp set so low. Had the hot water heater set to low and nothing else was being used.

Having a tech fron NJR home services come to check things out on Friday.

This makes no sense to me since my 2 floor apartment set at 72 (on all the time) generated a bill of $88 at its highest. Apartment was also 700 sqft larger as well and was an end unit.

[heaterman]

How many CU FT are you using per month, what all do you have that's gas and what are the firing rates? Do you have a fireplace(s). Are exhaust fans running a lot? What is the humidity level it the house? All crawl space? Attached garage? Unusual exposures, such as open fields, lakes, sitting on a hill exposed?

[meadowlands]

How many CU FT are you using per month, what all do you have that's gas and what are the firing rates? Do you have a fireplace(s). Are exhaust fans running a lot? What is the humidity level it the house? All crawl space? Attached garage? Unusual exposures, such as open fields, lakes, sitting on a hill exposed? .

For this month it shows I used about 117 cuft and 124 therms. The stove, water heater and dryer are gas, however, those were not being used during this billing cycle (Bill was $25 before using the furnace)

I have a fireplace. I do not think the exhaust fans run alot. It is not very humid in the house, but it is not uncomfortable. It is all crawl space, no garage. Not exposed at all. In fact, the sun is blasting my house most of the day (front door gets real hot in the morning, sun blasts the back in the afternoon.

I just installed a new wifi thermostat and for example, the house is at 65 and it is 40 outside, temp set at 62.

This is a new furnace and it is my first winter with it. Guys had come out before I started using it to wite a duct fan they had disconnected when the old furnace was there. Wondering if they messed something up or if the furnace is just not installed properly.

[motoguy128]

IF you entire home averaged R4 (walls, ceilings, floor) and has 200CFM of air leaks with an 80% furance could consume 315 therms with an average daily temp of 40F and average indoor temp of 65F. It is possible.

My last home was 1300sqft with a full basement instead of crawlspace and still used 150 therms in December.

Remember your apartment had shared walls and probably didn't have a crawlspace. Overall square footage tells you little about actual heat loss rate. Furhter, small homes have more surface area compared to their square footage, so a 2800sqft home won't have 2X the bills of a 1400sqft home. If 2 stary a home twice the size of your might only be 60% higher.

Just wait for your electric bill in summer!

[meadowlands]

My electric bill for September was $77 using the ac at 75 degrees

[motoguy128]

I'd expect AC to be just a little higher. I'm with others, it still sounds like a small gas leak somewhere or the furnace is not set-up right at all.