Therm usage

wsdave

I live in West Springfield, MA in a three story colonial which is about 1800 sq ft.
The walls have blown in insulation w/3/4" foam insulation under vinyl siding. All windows are double glazed. The attic area is finished and used as master bedroom.
I have a one pipe steam system.

I have been "tweaking" this system (with LOTS of help from these pros) since 2005-2006 heating season. I was at 6.78 therms per degree day back then which I thought as a bit high. Repiping, proper venting, insulating, etc has really improved the operation of this system.

My December/January usage is right in line with yours 176 therms and 241 therms for 5.44 and 5.53 therms per degree day.

HTH

Dave

ceksenior

Therm usage

Over the last 2 years Ive educated myself with all the resources and knowlegeable professionals on this site and I want to see if what Ive learned is actually saving me money on my heating bill as compared to my fellow New Yorkers. Let me start by giving some vitals. I live in Whitestone Queens and have a 1200 sq ft 2 story house. It is uninsulated but has new windows and an upgraded boiler. I have a Burnham Independence Steam boiler with a hot water loop. It consists of 4 zones total with 1 hot water zone being in the basement and 2 hot water zones on ground floor level and 1 steam zone on the second floor bedroom levels. The attic is insulated with small ball like insulation which I think is vermiculite asbestos insulation. Although Ive saved about 20% switching from the old boiler to the new one by checking the old owners records I wanted to see if my therm usage was in line with other New Yorkers. As you Know its been a cold Dec and Jan in New York so my therm usage in Dec was 172 and my therm usage in Jan was 212. So after all this rambling do you think my therm usage is excessive, average, or Im saving money as compared to my neighbors.

Frank_63

Therm Use

I just started tracking my therm usage on my gas meter. I live in a four story, four unit apt bldg in Brooklyn. Square footage for all apts is approximately 4100. During this January we used 650 therms. During that month, we used temp setting at 70 w/nighttime setback (11 pm to 5:30 am) and daytime setback (8:45 am to 3:15 pm) of between 62 and 66 (depending on how cold it got and from my experimenting with different setback levels). No daytime setback on weekends.

ceksenior

This is exactly the kind of information I'm looking for. Thank you for your reply. If you use oil I'm looking for your replys too. Comon everyone please chime in!

Don Robertson

150 Therms

My last bill Dec15-Jan15 was 150 therms. 1200 Sf dutch colonial Southington CT. Forced Air 90% furnace (6-7 years old) I have not touched the house since I bought it 4 years ago. R30 in attic and fairly new windows most still have the old storms on the outside. I also heat hot water, dry clothes and cook with natural gas. I know the house could still be sealed better a couple of windows and doors should be replaced. I don't believe there is any wall insulation. Hope this helps a little.

ceksenior

Therm usage

I also have gas hot water, gas dryer and gas stove. With all the baths my son takes and the constant laundry I'm sure about 30 therms a month can be atributed to those uses. Im quite sure if I insulate this house my therm usage will decline quite a bit. Just standing near an outside wall in my house gives me the shivers. And having all these zones definately makes the boiler cycle on and off more than just having one zone. But hey the whole house is a consistant 66degrees all day and night. I found that any setback in this house costs me allot more money on my heating bill.

gman_5

Therms

I have a 2600 sq foot hi ranch. December was 212 Therms and January was 295 Therms. The last 12 months to heat this home is about $$ 2500 for the year.

It's a rental unit they pay the heat so I don't know what they set it at. January heat bill was almost 500.

Gordy

Comparisions like this are usless

Unless you are all using the same formula to compare each other. Btus per HDD, per square foot.

If you want to compare heating performance, or your structures.


Gordy

Dave Miller_2

Therm usage

(WS)Dave,

I made the same mistake when computing my usage to see if my tweaking had made much difference. I was thinking therms per degree day, as you state, when I really want to think degree days per therm. Therefore, the higher the number the better. (The colder it is, the more HDD's in a month)

I started out at 3.85 HDD's/Therm, replaced the 70 yr. old boiler, went to 5.2, then fully insulated the 2200 sf house in the NY Fingerlakes and now am running 7.4 HDD's/Therm.

I looked up HDD's for Albany (NOAA) and your usage would be 6.39 in Dec. and 5.98 for Jan. Your numbers for 2005/2006 are actually better, for some strange reason.

I don't mean to stir the pot here, just trying to help in the same way someone else did for me in another similar thread.

(Fingerlakes)Dave

PS_3

Comparing to the Jones'

WSDave,
I hope you meant to say HDD/therm - not therm/HDD

To the original poster - you can compare your usage to your neighbors by comparing therms/sq ft, or if your neighbor uses oil - convert consumption to MBtus/sq ft by multiplying therms X 100 for gas and gals delivered X 140 for oil (best if oil is averaged over at least a period of a year as oil deliveries vary in amount and frequency - which will skew monthly calculations).

If you want to compare to others here with different square footage and HDD, you convert your fuel source consumption as above, multiply X 1000 (Btus) and then further divide by your local HDD for the consumption period.

For the record - My heating/dhw gas consumption last month was ~7.5 HDD/therm, for an annualized 58.1 MBtu/sq ft or 8.5 Btu/Sq ft/HDD for a 1,600 sq ft cape with very little wall insulation, leaky windows, R-30 in the attic, ~6,800 HDD (Central MA)- BUT also a 3-yr old mod con with ODR and constant circ to standing CI rads. Very sweet!

wsdave

Correction please

Please correct me if I'm doing this improperly...

I track my local heating degree days and enter into spreadsheet.

I use the therms used for the month from my monthly gas bill.

I calculate the total degree days for the reading month and divide this number by the therms used for that month.

This is wrong? It would be too funny since I've done it this way since 2005! LOL

Dave

PS_3

WSDave,

You're doing this correctly. In your first post - you inadvertantly stated your numbers were therms/HDD, but your last post states you're calculating HDD/therms. I figured you were doing it correctly - I just wanted to clarify the actual calc and units for others reading this thread.

wsdave

Thanks

Thanks for reply.

When I first posted it was after work....I work nights.
Being 50+ and working nights leads to "brain farts" at times!! LOL

Thanks again

Dave