silverbirch

Talking to my son last night who lives in Michigan in an old house built in the 40's.
His house is 1900 square feet, he is away most weekends with his job and yet his gas bills are very high.
In November his gas bill was $300.
December he was away for nearly 3 weeks in all, yet his gas bill was $300, again ,and this month it was $500.
When he is out of town he always turns down his furnace.
There has to be something wrng here, but when he rings them they always fob him off.
Maybe he would be better to change his supplier,can anyone tell me the cheapest provider for Michigan, or where I can get information off the internet.
In the U.K. we have a list of gas suppliers under the heading " You Switch " and it gives all the prices of gas over here, so you can get a cheaper supplier if you wish to change.
I would like to know if there is anything like this in Michigan.
Thanks.

paddingtongreen

He should call in someone like this:

http://www.michiganheat.com/

They will show where the heat loss is occuring. He probably has little insulation, ill-fitting doors and single pane windows.

silverbirch

Thank you for replying paddington, I will pass this info on to him.

silverbirch

What happened to my post?
I may have got more replys but it got wiped off.

Ash UK/US

Keep in mind that it is really cold in MI right now... our furnace runs around every 15-20 mins. Although 300 is a bit steep.

Does he have snow on the roof? that is a serious question, he may want to check how well the house is insulated.

silverbirch

Thanks Ash, good point about snow on the roof I'll ask him tonight, also how often his furnace runs, something he won't have thought of.

silverbirch

Just checked a photo he sent me last week and the roof is thick with snow so it can't be that.
I'm thinking it must be his windows, they are the sash cord ones and not double glazed so his heat is going through the windows I think as paddington said.
Also his heating is the warm air type, not as good as the radiators we have over here I don't think.

MsElui

add thermal liners to his existing curtains - and maybe keep curtains closed all the time in unused rooms. make sure any blinds are thermal ones (ie honeycomb style).

Bill_S

It might be that there's nothing "wrong" other than a combination of circumstances. How much is he paying for gas (dollars per thousand cubic feet)? How much insulation in the house? (likely to be little or none). How old is the furnace? You've said the windows are old, that's a major source of heat loss.

Little insulation + old windows + old furnace + high gas price + very cold winter = a $500 gas bill. I have an old house (1920s) with little insulation. We have high gas bills in the winter as well. The house is bigger than your son's but we have a fairly new high efficiency furnace and have replaced most of the old windows. Even turning the thermostat down at night, and keeping the place pretty cool the rest of the time, we still pay over $300 per month.

Bob

Also get that crappy shrink wrap stuff for the windows to seal them in....right bugger to get off though, but it works pretty well...also get those door jam sock thingys for the front door/basement etc.

Old places usually have shit insulation around pipe too, so might be worth getting some insulation put in around pipes that go into the kitchen appliances etc.

Bob

It got moved because the lounge is a general area of chat whilst this is the US section, so more relevant, and you wouldn't have lost any posts.

Michael

Also make sure he turns the temperature down on the water heater when he leaves for any period of time.

Ash UK/US

Also, how high is he keeping the temp? My husbands grandparent used to keep their house around 78f

How low does he turn it down when he leaves? turn it too far down and you will pay big for the 'catch up' when he comes back.

silverbirch

Some good tips there, thank you every one.
Not sure how high he leaves the temperature at when he leaves Ash.
I will have to ask him

lansbury

Doesn't make much difference.

I think the warm system we have here, with a new furnace costs less than the radiator system which we put in new in the UK.

700 sq ft house in the UK gas bill averaged about £35 a month over the year. Here also paying a fixed amount each month a 1600 sq ft house costs $80 a month. While I appreciate you have to factor in gas prices in each country if you are comparing UK to US to decide his bills are high it gives a perspective on it.