Yikes..Could this Heating Bill be Right?
We moved into a large victorian house last spring, so this is our first winter in the house. We were expecting to pay a ton for winter heating, but we just got our National Grid bill for Nov…it’s over $700. We replaced the boiler last month, so I can’t imagine that eating up gas. We…
We moved into a large victorian house last spring, so this is our first winter in the house. We were expecting to pay a ton for winter heating, but we just got our National Grid bill for Nov…it’s over $700.
We replaced the boiler last month, so I can’t imagine that eating up gas. We also keep the thermostat at 68 degrees…often to the dismay of our office tenants on the first floor.
Is this what others pay for heat in the winter? Or are we out of whack? Granted, the house is big (4000 square feet), three stories, detached, and drafty. But $700/month??? I shudder to think of what Dec and Jan will look like. Tell me it ain’t so…
We just got a $500+ gas bill from National Grid on our 3 family brownstone which is a bit smaller than yours, square footage wise and also connected. So yours sounds like it is within reason compared to ours. Of course…we also freaked and are scared of what we’ll see in the colder months. We’re doing renovations right now, which doesn’t help.
It is possible. However — we also moved into a new place (apt) and National Grid charged us $800 for one month of heat.
Long story short, they finally admitted they hadn’t been out to read the meter in over three years.
Then to make another long story short, turned out the boiler had been replaced just when we moved in. Our meter outside was running twice the meter inside.
The problem was supposedly resolved, but we just got an estimated bill for $300 for one month. (We keep the thermostat at 68.)
So I’m gonna get back on the phone…
For month of Nov, mine is $204 for a 1700sq ft semi-attached brick rowhouse. Covering up the drafty windows and basement door with plastic really helped. The house feels warmer than last year with a lower thermostat setting!
I program the thermostat to:
weekday 6am @ 68, 9am @ 55, 6:30pm @ 68, 12am @ 67
weekend 7am @ 68, 12pm @ 55, 6pm @ 68, 12am @ 68
Sometimes, I would bum it up to 69 if it’s not warm enough.
Do try the drapes, Donatella. Our bedroom in our old coop had an old drafty window in it that made our bedroom freeze, plus we had inadequate heating on top of it. I had a very heavy chenille tapestry lined drape made and it was pretty amazing how much warmer that room became. When I’d put my hand behind the closed drape there would be a pocket of frigid air behind it.
Oh, I neglected to say I have a 4 story attached brownstone. I do not have the most efficient situation though. My upstairs tenant is cold and I need to figure out how to give her enough heat without creating a sauna situation for myself. I think her windows need caulking and the skylights are a disaster re drafts. I agree with tradionalmod on the drapes thing, which I have not done. I think that would really create warmth (and quiet). I have to see what I can do in that department.
I do levelized billing and pay 300 dollars a month – last year I got a little money back, but considering what a cold November we had, I think that sounds on the money. And nat gas has been relatively cheap lately.
Lah…I have a victorian frame as well. The $700 bill sounds about right. actually its a bit low if the house is 4000 sq feet and drafty (my house is 2000 sq feet and my bill was 400).
as mentioned earlier, expect the bill to be much higher in the coming months. last feb. I paid $1200
I’d love to have a freestanding house. I’m weary of sharing walls with people. But it does help with heating costs to have an attached house. I worry less if we’re away for a weekend or longer and the boiler goes out. We closed on our house in Winter and it sat empty weeks without heat but still never got so cold it was uncomfortable or made pipes burst. The house stayed a temp in the high 50’s and low 60’s.
To the insulation advice I’d add this: Don’t get too minimalist or flimsy with your window treatments. You have you have to do as the Victorians who built your house did — put up heavy lined or even thermal drapes on windows in Winter. Open the drapes on sunny days. Then keep drapes closed when it’s cloudy out or nighttime. Doing this really makes a big difference. Added bonus, they cut street noise outside at night. If you’re on a budget and can’t do custom drapes yet, JC Penney has decent thermal drapes online. I got some textured ones with a modern designer look for one room and they look fine.
I have a big drafty old house. I can run $1500 a month for heating on a bad month and I keep my thermostat at 63.