I should note that California alots only 2 therms a day for baseline costs
of about $1.22 per therm (plus 5 cents per therm PPP Surcharge); so
apparently I'm consuming double the natural gas energy California allows
(regardless of home size or number of people) for base rates.
The over-baseline charges are $1.37 per therm plus that same 5 cents per
therm additional charge for poor people (i.e., the California Gas PPP
Surcharge).
Does ANYONE actually use just 2 therms per day for their gas furnace and
hot-water heater for two people living in a small 1,500 sqft house?
I'm only one person but I average about 5 therms a month.
In the winter it's slightly more.
Anthony
Well, how cold is your climate? How well insulated is your house? What
is your indoor temperature?
I'm in a mild climate (~ 2700 degree days a year, that's cooler than
LA and warmer than San Francisco) with nightime average lows in the
30's. Currently I'm all electric, with electric space heaters and am
living in about half of a 2000 SF house. I used 850 kWhrs or about 30
therms last month and I think it may have historically been a bit above
average in temps.
Now, I actively try to reduce consumption (I'm in a 1920 house). Your
useage for a mild climate seems high to me. Not for a cold climate though.
Jeff
We use about 100MCF per year for 2600 square feet. We used 22.3 or almost a
1/4 of our yearly usage last month.
That was with a 37.7 average daily temperature. That should be our coldest 4
weeks of the winter. Knock on wood! :)
To be fair, I was home more during the day than normal so I over-rode the
setback more.
Once upon a time I could convert therms to MCF but that is long since
forgotten.
>Once upon a time I could convert therms to MCF but that is long since
>forgotten.
10.31 therms = 1 MCF
Wow. 5 therms a month is extremely low, it seems to me.
The US Department of Energy assumes the "average" houshold uses a bit less
than 1/2 a therm a day *just* for the water heater alone!
43,302 kJ/day = 41,045 Btu/day = 0.4105 therm/day
That would be 15 therms a month just for hot water for the average
household in America. I wonder if Europe uses the same amount?
REFERENCES:
Calculating water heater costs for meaningful comparisons
http://www.daviddarling.info/encyclopedia/W/AE_water_heater_cost.html
365 × 0.4105/EF × fuel cost (therm) = estimated annual cost of operation
Review of hot water heaters
http://www.consumersearch.com/www/house_and_home/water-heaters/review.html
365 X 0.4105/EF X Fuel Cost (therm) = estimated annual cost of operation
--
The e-mail address in our reply-to line is reversed in an attempt to
minimize spam. Our true address is of the form che...@prodigy.net.
> On Sat, 16 Feb 2008 14:14:46 -0800, Anthony Matonak wrote:
>
>>I'm only one person but I average about 5 therms a month.
>
>
> Wow. 5 therms a month is extremely low, it seems to me.
>
> The US Department of Energy assumes the "average" houshold uses a bit less
> than 1/2 a therm a day *just* for the water heater alone!
>
> 43,302 kJ/day = 41,045 Btu/day = 0.4105 therm/day
>
> That would be 15 therms a month just for hot water for the average
> household in America.
FWIW, we're apparently almost exactly average.
I wonder if Europe uses the same amount?
>
> REFERENCES:
> Calculating water heater costs for meaningful comparisons
> http://www.daviddarling.info/encyclopedia/W/AE_water_heater_cost.html
> 365 × 0.4105/EF × fuel cost (therm) = estimated annual cost of operation
>
> Review of hot water heaters
> http://www.consumersearch.com/www/house_and_home/water-heaters/review.html
> 365 X 0.4105/EF X Fuel Cost (therm) = estimated annual cost of operation
That is really low. But how much hot water do you use and how well
insulated is the tank? Also, that average is probably for a 4 person
household.
>
> 43,302 kJ/day = 41,045 Btu/day = 0.4105 therm/day
OK. That's about 62 gallons of water raised 80F each day (That's 2 1/2
CCF / month), not including losses. An good insulated blanket will cut
tank thermal losses dramatically for much less cost than a tankless.
>
> That would be 15 therms a month just for hot water for the average
> household in America. I wonder if Europe uses the same amount?
Nobody wastes energy like the US.
Jeff
On Feb 16, 3:24 pm, "Donna Ohl, Grady Volunteer Coordinator"
>I used 120 therms in the past 30 days (about 4 therms per day).
>HOW MANY THERMS DID YOU USE LAST MONTH?
Mine isn't billed in therms, but in cubic feet; between the two houses,
21600 in January.
>I do realize that there are _many_ factors that affect usage but there is
>only one number for your final usage. That's what I'd like to compare.
Since we just went through water usage, let me preempt the next inquiries:
Electricity 1,011 KWH
Sewer $23.04
Garbage pickup $29.00
Tax $15.01
As above, that's for two houses, total of about 1900 square feet, one
occupant.
Gary
--
Gary Heston ghe...@hiwaay.net http://www.thebreastcancersite.com/
We live in amazing times, when one person can invent both the Internet
and global warming, then get awarded a "peace prize".
> Since we just went through water usage, let me preempt the next inquiries:
>
> Electricity 1,011 KWH
> Sewer $23.04
> Garbage pickup $29.00
> Tax $15.01
>
> As above, that's for two houses, total of about 1900 square feet, one
> occupant.
>
>
> Gary
>
Is your garbage pickup through city workers or a private entity? It
seems a lot of people on this group pay more for garbage pickup than we
do, which is $30.00 every 3 months, unlimited. We are in a suburb. The
nearest city used to get free pickup, but they now have to pay an extra
$10.00/month.
Marsha/Ohio
My bill states 27 days in the last billing period. 158ccf is the
amount of natural gas that I am being billed for. Is that the same
unit you are referencing?
In my city (CT, USA) we have to contract with a private company for
trash removal. There are about a half dozen companies to choose from,
and the price is very close for all of them We pay $24 per month for
weekly trash and recycling pickup.
> My bill states 27 days in the last billing period. 158ccf is the
> amount of natural gas that I am being billed for. Is that the same
> unit you are referencing?
I should probably have mentioned 30degrees F average daily temperature
for this billing period. 2200 Square foot house, everyone home all
day long, this includes heat and hot water.
Hi Tony Hwang in Australia,
The average American houshold (supposedly) uses:
43,302 kJ/day = 41,045 Btu/day = 0.4105 therm/day
to heat their hot water (kindly calculated by Jeff at
62 US gallons of water raised 80F (27C) each day or 2 1/2
CCF/month.
That would be, in Australian ... something like
0.043302 GigaJoule's per day or 15.8 Giga Joules per year (1.32 Giga Joules
per month on average) just to heat the hot water.
Do you Australians use about 1.32 Giga Joules per month for your hot water?
As for the quantity, 62 US gallons a day would be 1,886 gallons per month,
or 7,135 liters a month in Australian.
This is just for your hot-water needs (120 degree F or 49 degree Celcius
setting on your hot-water heater thermostat).
Does that sound reasonable in Australia?
I use about 5-7 a month for two people in a small house during the
summer, but that includes a stove and dryer as well. I think about 90 a
month for a cold winter month, and this is in a 1948 house that is
pretty much uninsulated except for the attic floor.
nate
--
replace "roosters" with "cox" to reply.
http://members.cox.net/njnagel
> On Sat, 16 Feb 2008 23:53:17 GMT, Tony Hwang wrote:
>> What is therm? Here in Alberta measurement is by the Giga Joule.
>
> Hi Tony Hwang in Australia,
Oooooops. Canada.
I was thinking Australia when you said Alberta.
Dunno why ... but the math is the same in Albertian that I provided.
>What is therm?
Approximately 105 megajoules. It's a common billing unit in the US.
>My bill states 27 days in the last billing period. 158ccf is the
>amount of natural gas that I am being billed for. Is that the same
>unit you are referencing?
Roughly, yes. Your local utility can adjust the ratio though.
FWIW, out gas bill comes with averages so you can compare. For
November, their average was just under 30 ccf with an average temp of
44 F
>> As above, that's for two houses, total of about 1900 square feet, one
>> occupant.
>Is your garbage pickup through city workers or a private entity? It
>seems a lot of people on this group pay more for garbage pickup than we
>do, which is $30.00 every 3 months, unlimited. We are in a suburb. The
>nearest city used to get free pickup, but they now have to pay an extra
>$10.00/month.
My pickup is by the city; with two houses, I pay two fees for one person.
It's a flat rate per address, and I generate so little that I put out
perhaps one can a month. Someone who puts out one every month pays the
same as I do. No way around it, though.
Don in Tracy, Calif.
"Donna Ohl, Grady Volunteer Coordinator" <donn...@sbcglobal.net> wrote in
message news:yvItj.756$pl4...@newssvr22.news.prodigy.net...
By definition it is 100,000 BTU's. Blame the British and their Thermal
Units!
Jeff
Only in Calforny what the hell is a therm come from Canada and never
heard such a term take it it is to rate you energy use why not just
double the rates and wear sweaters. We are at -29 celius right now and
our gas meters are spinning away to the gas companies delight.
I used 64 therms (2.13 per day) during my last billing cycle. This
should be about the peak usage for the year based upon past history. The
house is a 2400sf 1960s brick rancher with not nearly enough insulation
where gas is used solely for central heating.
--
John McGaw
[Knoxville, TN, USA]
http://johnmcgaw.com
To each their own. I suppose we'll keep therms and you can keep Flesh
Freeze Times.
Jeff
>
>Does ANYONE actually use just 2 therms per day for their gas furnace and
>hot-water heater for two people living in a small 1,500 sqft house?
>
>
Possibly in south FL.
>On Sat, 16 Feb 2008 14:14:46 -0800, Anthony Matonak wrote:
>
>
>>I'm only one person but I average about 5 therms a month.
>>
>>
>
>Wow. 5 therms a month is extremely low, it seems to me.
>
>The US Department of Energy assumes the "average" houshold uses a bit less
>than 1/2 a therm a day *just* for the water heater alone!
>
>43,302 kJ/day = 41,045 Btu/day = 0.4105 therm/day
>
>That would be 15 therms a month just for hot water for the average
>household in America. I wonder if Europe uses the same amount?
>
>
>
We used 30 therms in both July / Aug (hot water & furnace pilot) - US.
Well if you don't pay attention to climate, you're data is going to be 'all
over the map'.
My bill for last month was 155 therms for a 2600 sqft house and family of
four (gas laundry, gas water heater, gas stove, gas furnace). That's about
5.2 Therm/day. Mind you, in upstate NY we average about 1200 degree-days in
January alone. So I average about 0.11 Therms/degree-day. My neighbors
think that's a pretty low bill for January.
daestrom
--
CCF stands for 'hundred cubic feet' (think of the Roman numeral for 100,
'C')
Since natural gas is almost pure methane in most parts, and methane has an
energy content of something like 1050 BTU/ft^3, then 100 ft^3 of methane is
about 105,000 BTU.
In many states, the gas company is required to sample their gas regularly
and analyse its true heating value. Based on this, they come up with a
conversion between CCF of their gas supply and BTU. For those billed in
'Therms', you will see CCF and a conversion to Therms somewhere on your
bill. If your usage is small (say, <100 CCF), the numbers come out the same
almost all the time. For higher usage there will be some difference in the
two (such as mine last month, 151 CCF and 155 Therm).
By billing in Therms, customers don't get 'cheated' into paying the same for
a cubic foot of low-grade NG that has significant amounts of CO2 mixed in it
as they would pay for higher-grade NG.
Maybe you're state regulates the gas content instead so that a CCF is
guaranteed a certain minimum heating value??
daestrom
>In article <fp81vi$gnn$2...@news.datemas.de>, Marsha <m...@bex.net> wrote:
>>Gary Heston wrote:
> [ ... ]
>>> Since we just went through water usage, let me preempt the next inquiries:
> [ ... ]
>>> Garbage pickup $29.00
> [ ... ]
>
>>> As above, that's for two houses, total of about 1900 square feet, one
>>> occupant.
>
>>Is your garbage pickup through city workers or a private entity? It
>>seems a lot of people on this group pay more for garbage pickup than we
>>do, which is $30.00 every 3 months, unlimited. We are in a suburb. The
>>nearest city used to get free pickup, but they now have to pay an extra
>>$10.00/month.
>
>My pickup is by the city; with two houses, I pay two fees for one person.
>It's a flat rate per address, and I generate so little that I put out
>perhaps one can a month. Someone who puts out one every month pays the
>same as I do. No way around it, though.
>
>
>Gary
We pay $11/mo tacked on to the power bill, but were able to get one of
ours deferred by the health department (we have two power drops, one
on each side of the road.)
Do they ever actually meter therms, or measure ccf and convert?
It seems to me to actually measure the therms, they'd need to
continuously monitor the heating value of the gas being delivered,
and that seems quite difficult compared with just measuring cf.
Of course, assuming they've stripped the gas down to nearly pure
methane, the conversion is easy, but natural gas can vary according
to ethane and higher content.
--
The e-mail address in our reply-to line is reversed in an attempt to
minimize spam. Our true address is of the form che...@prodigy.net.
>
>Do they ever actually meter therms, or measure ccf and convert?
>It seems to me to actually measure the therms, they'd need to
>continuously monitor the heating value of the gas being delivered,
>and that seems quite difficult compared with just measuring cf.
>Of course, assuming they've stripped the gas down to nearly pure
>methane, the conversion is easy, but natural gas can vary according
>to ethane and higher content.
They do here... Meter reading is by CCF, then a conversion factor applied to get
therm, multiplied by the rate per therm. The factor changes slightly every
month...
At last! Someone using a rational energy unit.
> By definition it is 100,000 BTU's. Blame the British and their Thermal
> Units!
In fact, the BTU is one of the best of the British (actually now just
American) units. It's 1055 Joules, but as a rule of thumb you can think
of it as a kJ.
But having different units for every single energy source is just nuts.
Who else uses the therm, roughly .1 GJ, but the U.S. Gas industry?
www.oilnergy.com lists natural gas prices in MMBtu, where MM=1000*1000
or one million. That's pretty nice, just about the same thing as a GJ,
so we and the Canucks can actually think we are talking the same language.
[And MMBtu ~= MCF, so we have a three-way match]
--
George Cornelius cornelius ( A T ) eisner.decus.org
It's fairly useful for energy calculations when everything else is in
SAE, or whatever you call not metric. Insulation (in the US) is rated in
BTUs, square feet and degrees F. The amount of specific heat stored is 1
BTU per degree F per pound of water. Now if you mix in any metric, it
all becomes completely unwieldly. Either all metric or none at all makes
the most sense. I think we've had some rockets that smacked Mars because
of that.
Jeff
>I'm curious how I compare with others in my natural gas usage.
>
>I used 120 therms in the past 30 days (about 4 therms per day).
>HOW MANY THERMS DID YOU USE LAST MONTH?
>
>I do realize that there are _many_ factors that affect usage but there is
>only one number for your final usage. That's what I'd like to compare.
Jan use: 220 therms (old masonry house, upstate NY)
Annual: 1450
In the winter, we pretty consistently run about 0.2 therms per
degree-day.
G
Last year we used a total of 71.5 MCF (734 therms at 10.27 therm/MCF).
That's an average of 61.2 therms/month. Highest monthly usage was 17.4
MCF (178.7 therms) for 1/23/2007~2/22/2007 for which the average
temperature was 22 deg. F. Most recent monthly usage (33 days:
12/21/2007~1/24/2008) was 13.3 MCF (136.6 therms) with an average
temperature of 32 deg. F. In the summer months the usage was 1.2 MCF
(12.3 therms) per month.
This is a 1750 sq. foot, 53 year old brick and stone ranch style house
with fairly new double pane windows. We are in Pittsburgh, PA. Gas is
used for heating (forced air), hot water, and cooking, for two people.
We keep the thermostat at 58 degrees at night and 68 degrees in the
daytime in the winter.
I live in Los Angeles, California and I can't recall the last time I
needed to fire up the heater. This winter has been fairly warm with
an average of around 60F. I'm hardly home enough to cook even if I
did have the inclination and I don't have any teenagers that take
incredibly long showers. This probably explains the low gas use. :)
This just shows how useless it is to ask the whole world how much
gas they use. Someone in Fargo is going to need a little more heating
than someone in Key West. :)
Anthony
For measurement units, it says:
Natural gas in the U.S. is measured in CCF (100 cubic feet), which is
converted to a standardized heat content unit called the therm, equal to
100,000 British thermal units. A BTU is the energy required to raise one
pound of water by one degree Fahrenheit. A U.S. gallon of water weighs 8.3
pounds. So, to raise a 40-gallon tank of 55 °F water up to 105 °F would
require 40 x 8.3 x (105 − 55) / 100,000 BTU, or approximately 0.17 CCF, at
100% efficiency. A 40,000 BTU (per hour) heater would take 25 minutes to do
this, at 100% efficiency. At $1 per therm, the cost of the gas would be
about 17 cents.
As for usage ... it goes on to say:
Water enters residences in the US at about 10 °C (50 °F) (varies with
latitude and season). Adults generally prefer shower temperatures of 40–49
°C (105–120 °F), requiring the water temperature to be raised about 30 °C
(55 °F) or more, if the hot water is later mixed with cold water. The
Uniform Plumbing Code reference shower flow rate is 2.5 gpm (gallons per
minute); sink and dishwasher usages range from 1–3 gpm.
It's been friggin cold near Chicago , 117 total therms or 3.77 per day
www.cheapogroovo.com
http://cheapogroovo.vox.com
In article <b4059b0a-383b-4aee-bf87-c338803924d8@
34g2000hsz.googlegroups.com>, bigji...@gmail.com says...
> For the past billing cycle, I used 5.96 therms per day. Last year I
> used 6.81 per day. Average temp was 37 F both years. I have replaced
> half of the windows in our mid '30's home. I think this helped. I
> will replace the others this year and see if I can lower usage more.
>
>
> On Feb 16, 3:24 pm, "Donna Ohl, Grady Volunteer Coordinator"
> <donna....@sbcglobal.net> wrote:
> > I'm curious how I compare with others in my natural gas usage.
> >
> > I used 120 therms in the past 30 days (about 4 therms per day).
> > HOW MANY THERMS DID YOU USE LAST MONTH?
> >
ASSUMING that one therm equals 100 cubic feet (CCF) of (Ohio) gas, in
2001 just before we installed a high efficiency (sucks air and and blows
exahust via ground level tubes) we used (Columbia Gas here reads meters
only every other month, so I divided true reading deltas by two)
between 21 (summer) and 234 CCF (Winter).
The summer 8-20 CCF is hotwater plus gas dryer.
House is 1,500 square feet, with half-basement.
We are empty-nesters.
In summary:
2000: 20 - 188 CCF
2001: 21 - 234 CCF
In October, 2001, we insalled the Hi-eff ("90%") furnace, and then the
consumptions became:
2002: 8 to 136 CCF.
2003: --
2004: 9 - 150 CCF
2005: 12 - 153 CCF
2006: 11 - 157 CCF
2007: 9 - 164 CCF
rough summary:
Annually before, 1100 CCF/yr
Annually after, 850 CCF/yr
The stated effficiency of the old furnace was 60% (40% went up the
chimney). (120,000 BTU burner)
The new furnace is 90% (10% goes out the exhaust, and water condensate
trickles into my sump pump well). (90,000 BTU burner.
> I should note that California alots only 2 therms a day for baseline costs
> of about $1.22 per therm (plus 5 cents per therm PPP Surcharge); so
> apparently I'm consuming double the natural gas energy California allows
> (regardless of home size or number of people) for base rates.
We (me & wife) use just over two per day.
> The over-baseline charges are $1.37 per therm plus that same 5 cents per
> therm additional charge for poor people (i.e., the California Gas PPP
> Surcharge).
Our rates are "all over the place".
> Does ANYONE actually use just 2 therms per day for their gas furnace and
> hot-water heater for two people living in a small 1,500 sqft house?
Sometimes. As our two boys were growing up, it was a bit crowded at
times. But we prevailed: They left the nest, and now here we are!
Angelo campanella
Our recent (Ohio) gas bill was $248 for 187 CCF = $1.33 per CCF.
Angelo campanella
When I had a furnace with a pilot light, I always shut it off except during the
heating season.
Based upon the "heating value" of that month's gas, I assume.
Our research and experience shows that homes that have gone through a home
performance contractor retrofit will cost between 10c to 20c per sqft to
heat and cool in Northern California. For a 2,000 sqft home the heating
and cooling bill would therefore run between $200 and $400 per year.(per
year NOT per month). For more information look at the California Building
Performance Contractors Association website.
-------------------------------------
Donna Ohl, Grady Volunteer Coo wrote:
> > I used 120 therms in the past 30 days (about 4 therms per day).
>> HOW MANY THERMS DID YOU USE LAST MONTH?
> I should note that California alots only 2 therms a day for baseline
> costs
> of about $1.22 per therm (plus 5 cents per therm PPP Surcharge); so
> apparently I'm consuming double the natural gas energy California
> allows
> (regardless of home size or number of people) for base rates.
> The over-baseline charges are $1.37 per therm plus that same 5 cents
> per
> therm additional charge for poor people (i.e., the California Gas PPP
> Surcharge).
> Does ANYONE actually use just 2 therms per day for their gas furnace
> and
> hot-water heater for two people living in a small 1,500 sqft house?
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> I used 120 therms in the past 30 days (about 4 therms per day).
> HOW MANY THERMS DID YOU USE LAST MONTH?
>
> I should note that California alots only 2 therms a day for baseline costs of
> about $1.22 per therm (plus 5 cents per therm PPP Surcharge); so apparently
> I'm consuming double the natural gas energy California allows (regardless of
> home size or number of people) for base rates.
>
> Does ANYONE actually use just 2 therms per day for their gas furnace and
> hot-water heater for two people living in a small 1,500 sqft house?
Seattle, heat & water, 2800 sqft house (about 1800 sqft heated): My last bill
shows 3.8 therms/day last month and about 2.5 therms/day average for the past
year.
Since San Jose is considerably warmer than Seattle, I suspect you could get
close to 2 therms/day down there...
> Donna Ohl, Grady Volunteer Coo wrote:
>
>> I used 120 therms in the past 30 days (about 4 therms per day).
>> HOW MANY THERMS DID YOU USE LAST MONTH?
>>
Here's what a year in Chicago runs for us.
http://i192.photobucket.com/albums/z95/dollymadis/Graphic_5_3_20093_38_32PM.jpg