Water Bill High During Winter/Leak in Pipes?
Our water bill for the past 3 months was $670.00. Is that from the boiler? When the boiler is not running, it is $300 or so. Does this mean we have a leak in the pipes?
Our water bill for the past 3 months was $670.00. Is that from the boiler? When the boiler is not running, it is $300 or so. Does this mean we have a leak in the pipes?
To monitor your steam boiler’s water consumption, turn off the valve to your automatic water feeder and see how often you need to go and manually add water so the boiler will run.
Nearly all the boilers I’ve installed in the last several years have included a water feeder with a digital meter so that we can monitor what’s going on in the system.
It costs little more than an ordinary feeder that doesn’t count the gallons and it’s worth every penny.
Check it out:
http://www.hydrolevel.com/new/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=101&Itemid=64
Just wanted to let everyone know it was my tenant’s running toilet. We turned the water off up there and then showed no water usage on the AMR site.
Obviously,MasterPlumber is spot on about that post stating steam heating systems using large amounts of water. They shouldn’t, if operating properly. The great percentage of the steam should return to the boiler as condensate thus eliminating the necessity for water replacement. Go on us, you have a steam leak somewhere in your system. I’ve had several steam systems and none ever used anything near what you are reporting. Check your you air valves at the radiators and piping connections.
I forgot to mention: if someone physically comes to read the water meter (i.e. its not hooked up to the wireless meter reader), Check to see 1) if its just an incorret physical reading and 2) as landl0rd said, that your previous or current bill was not an estimate.
TO CHECK FOR LEAKS:
Locate water meter. Turn off all water faucets and appliances that use water. (you can shut off your boiler and the water to it as well) Check the position of the dial and “cubic foot” reading (or depending on your meter, gallons or cubic meter). After noting the numbers and dial, check again in 30 minutes with everything off. Nothing should have moved. If it did, you have a leak. You can try to trace the leak by closing all the shutoff valves at the base of all toilets and repeat test. Ditto for having the boiler being the only thing “on” and seeing how much water is being used.
If you go about your business as normal, its easy to forget you just by habit went to the bathroom, flushed the toilet and washed your hands without consciously remembering it (been there!). So just hang out and read a magazine by the meter. Ideally when your tenant is not home. If other people are home, put a sticky on all the faucets and toilet.
One tip: sometimes a toilet flapper/arm mechanism will catch, sometimes it will not and it comes and goes. This can be frustrating if it is not repeatable every time. I open up the tank and physically test the arm/flapper/action 10-20 times to see if there is side/side or too much play or how a hard/soft jerk can affect where the flapper or ball lands. I’ve had some of these issues even with new-ish toilets. It will drive you crazy and you can’t trust a tenant to check it. If there is any doubt, change the whole mechanism!!
Also don’t forget outside spigots. A pipe could have been compromised in cold weather at some point in its history, and if yours have shutoff valves it makes it that much easier to test.
TO TEST YOUR METER: If you have no leaks, you can easily manually test your meter for accuracy. If you have leaks, you’ll have to fix them first.
Get something where you can precisely measure gallons or quarts. Take reading with the large dial on meter, fill up / empty 5 (precise!) gallons in the sink. Take reading again. If your meter is in cubic feet, use an online calculator to see how many cu ft that should be (I can tell you 5 gallons is 0.67 cu ft).
So for example, my meter has a large red dial that counts from 0-9, one whole turn = 1 cu ft. The dial should have moved 6.7 units or 2/3 of a full turn. So there is a little getting to know your meter but it is peace of mind well spent. http://www.nyc.gov/html/dep/pdf/readmeter.pdf
If you repeat this test and the meter has an issue, then you need to call DEP. I believe they would be responsible for the meter if its not your fault through negligence (freezing, damage from construction etc). Don’t quote me on that though.
So Master Plvmber, it sounds like I may have the same problem too. Because my water bill is about $400 higher each quarter during the winter. Is there any way to tell whether it is the boiler?
We did check the tenant’s toilet and it was running. So I’m going to see if that was the problem. We do have the AMR where we can check online for daily usage. Again, thanks for all the great advice. I am wondering why some are saying DON’T CALL DEP. Are they difficult to deal with?
go on us, you have a major problem.
Your boiler is using 1.5 x the amount of water the whole building uses to cook, consume, wash and flush during a single quarter?
A typical residential boiler should use about 2 gallons every 2-3 weeks. A small multi-family about a gallon more than that.
Starting to check water usage on website. My water bill is around $180/$190 per quarter in a 2 family with steam heat. Sound about right?
K
we had an extremely high bill which turned out to be a hosepipe which mysteriously turned on over the holiday period – our tenants had turned if off but not mentioned they found it turned on. We found out from the dep website showing 10x normal useage for 2/3 days.